Ebay Problem - Use negative feedback, SquareTrade, or Item Not As Described process?

Question

I recently purchased a Vongage router from someone on Ebay.

Before the sale, the seller assured me that their account was paid-in-full and the device had been removed from the account. I have EBay messages documenting this.

Well, the device hasn't been cancelled. In fact, it still works - using the previous owner's phone number! Needless to say, Vonage won't switch a live, uncancelled device to my account (nor should they).

I sent a message two days ago to try to resolve the issue and have not received a response.

It appears EBay has three different ways I can try to resolve this, and I wondered which one(s) are the best to use in my circumstances:
1) SquareTrade dispute resolution/mediation.
2) Item not received as described report.
3) Send negative feedback.

So far, I haven't done any of these - I've just tried to contact the seller. However, I have a hunch the seller is going to dodge my calls, so I was wondering what a good next step would be.

-->Adam

Answer 1

I actually just dealt with a seller who never sent me an item. It's kind of different, but figured I'd share my opinion.

Contacting the seller is your best bet. You can request for a phone number so you can call them and get answers quicker. I'd recommend this since email can be slow.

If that doesn't work, I would go ahead and open an dispute. The seller is free to contact you within the dispute and all conversations are logged. If nothing gets resolved, you will also have the option of elevating it to a claim. I'm not sure what you used to pay the seller, but I'd also make sure there's a way to get your money back if it comes down to that. I know if you used Paypal, the dispute should freeze the money in the seller's account. Credit Cards also have protection against these kind of things.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

nope! now sellers can't leave negative feedback only the buyers can. So, no need to worry about getting negative feedback. I would definitely try and contact the seller first to see if they are willing to fix the problem before you leave the feedback.

Answer 3

I'd do 1 & 2 first and if not resolved in a few days, 3.