Lack of Support from EBay

Before purchasing the car, didn't the ebay policy state you may return
the car if unsatisfied within 5days of recieving the car?

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html

"Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process

If you have paid for an item, but didn't receive it, or if you paid
for and received an item, but it was significantly different from the
item description, you should communicate directly with your seller to
find a solution. Most problems can be solved by direct communication
between buyers and sellers (see tips for communicating with your
trading partner). Our User Agreement states that sellers must deliver
the items that buyers purchase from them.

If you have tried to contact the seller by email but haven't received
a response, you can also request the seller's contact information and
phone them.

How to communicate with the seller
To help you to communicate with the seller, we have developed the
dispute console. This online communication tool helps you track,
discuss, and resolve a problem as quickly as possible. All information
posted in this tool is accessible anytime by you, the seller and eBay
Customer Support. Learn more about reporting and tracking disputes.

If the dispute can't be resolved, you can report the seller to our
Trust and Safety team. Our Trust and Safety team may take appropriate
actions if they find the seller has violated our Seller
Non-Performance policy.

Important:

The eBay dispute process is separate from the process of filing claims
to get your money back. eBay only facilitates buyer and seller
conversations through the Item Not Received (INR) or Significantly Not
as Described process. As a result of the discussion, the seller may or
may not decide to issue a refund to you. Depending on your payment
method, you can request Buyer Protection, which covers eligible
purchases up to a certain amount. Learn more about buyer protection on
eBay For information about PayPal Protection Programs see PayPal
dispute resolutions.

There are time limitations to both file a dispute and to file claims.
It is important to know these time deadlines and plan your actions
accordingly. For example, the buyer has 60 days to file a dispute, but
PayPal claims must be filed within 45 days of the PayPal payment.

How to report and resolve a problem

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5







The buyer opens a dispute (between 10 and 60 days after the purchase
date)
eBay contacts the seller (immediately after you've reported a
dispute)
The seller responds (any time within the next 10 days)
The buyer and seller communicate
The dispute is closed (either escalated to Trust and Safety or closed
by mutual agreement)


Step 1: The buyer opens a dispute


To report a problem with an item that was not received or
significantly not as described, go to eBay's dispute console. The
problem needs to be reported between 10 and 60 days after the purchase
date.

When you report an item, you indicate that you haven't received the
item or that you have received it, but it was significantly different
from the item description.

Report a problem with an item

View your open disputes in the dispute console overview

Note: Your eligibility for reimbursement through our buyer protection
programs is determined by the payment method that you've used and the
eBay country site where you have purchased the item.

If you've paid with PayPal, you are covered by PayPal Buyer Protection
and will be redirected to the PayPal Web site to report your problem.


You can only report a problem on the specific eBay country site where
you've purchased the item. Learn more about buyer protection on eBay.

If you bought the item as a guest, you will need to register to open a
dispute.

Step 2: eBay contacts the seller


After you've reported your problem on the dispute console, we contact
the seller, informing them that you've reported a problem with an item
and encourage them to communicate with you within the next 10 days.

Most of the time, this direct communication resolves the dispute
before you have to take further steps.

Step 3: The seller responds


If the seller responds, you'll be notified by email. The seller has
the following response options:

I'd like to communicate with the buyer to resolve this dispute. The
seller can then post a message for you to review.

For a dispute with an item not received, the seller can also respond:

I haven't received payment or the payment has not yet cleared.

I already shipped the item. If the item has already been shipped, the
seller may provide shipping details for you to review.

I'd like to offer the buyer a full refund. The seller can offer to
return your payment.

For a dispute with an item significantly not as described, the seller
can also respond:

I'd like to offer the buyer a full refund. The seller can offer to
return your payment.

Step 4: The buyer and seller communicate


After the seller has responded, you can communicate with him or her
directly through the dispute console to resolve the problem.

All information posted in this tool will be accessible anytime by you,
the seller, and eBay Customer Support.

Step 5: The dispute is closed


You have two options to close the dispute:

My concerns have been resolved I want to close the dispute.

Choose this option if your issues haven been completely resolved. For
example, make sure that you have received the item and it is exactly
as described, or that you have received a refund. A closed dispute
can't be re-opened and you can't file another dispute for this
purchase.

My concerns haven't been resolved I want to report this seller to the
eBay Trust and Safety team.

When you select this option, our Trust and Safety team is immediately
alerted about the problem and may take appropriate actions if they
find the seller has violated our Seller Non-Performance policy.
Actions may include restrictions or suspension of the seller's
account.

Timeline: The buyer can close the dispute at any time if the issue is
resolved. The buyer can report the seller if the seller does not
respond within 10 days, or anytime after the seller responds.

A dispute can only be open for 90 days after the purchase date. If you
don't close the dispute within 90 days, it will be automatically
closed. When a dispute is automatically closed, the seller is not
reported to eBay's Trust and Safety team.

Leaving Feedback
After you file a dispute, we encourage you to leave Feedback for the
transaction. Please be honest, fair, and factual. This will help make
other members aware of your experience and help keep eBay a safe place
to buy and sell.

The Feedback Score of buyers and sellers who were involved in a
dispute reported through our dispute console is not automatically
affected."

I think you need to send a copy of this letter to the media: PC
Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, the Associated Press, Popular
Mechanics, The Miami Herald. And send a copy of the letter to the
delaer and let them know that this is only the beginning; that your
printer still has lots of toner in it and that you love to type.

Good luck!

You will need to file an "item not as described" through ebay. Keep
all your documentation, as you may need it. Did you pay through
paypal? Credit Card? Recourse there too. Good Luck!

Mark: After reading your comments below (and thanks for taking the
time to give us clarification on the details of this transaction), it
appears that you did due diligence before purchasing the car in the
form of getting a CarFax report that somehow did not have a record of
the accident. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the damage to this vehicle
appears to be cosmetic (paint) and not a mechanical issue. So I think
your major issue regarding this situation is that the broker lied to
you and now you no longer want the car as you will always be wondering
what else he didn't tell you about.

Either way, the party you need to go after is the broker, not eBay, as
they are the ones that actually sold you the car. It's too bad that
eBay won't become involved on your behalf and that your claim appears
to fall outside of their buyer protection plan for motor vehicles.

Lots of people purchase cars via eBay and never have a problem.

Please keep us posted as to how you are finally able to resolve this
dispute.

Holy crap- I can not IMAGINE buying a CAR on eBay...

Who does that?!

You have to go after the seller, not Ebay. You bought a car, sight
unseen, for $25,000. That's amazing. "I made sure to ask the broker
to let me know if the car had been damaged or in an accident, he
informed me that the car was perfect, in excellent shape." I note
that the broker didn't answer your question.

There are only a few reasons a new or newer car ends up for sale on
ebay. A main reason is something is wrong with it. You should have
had the car checked by someone before agreeing to purchase it.

What do you want ebay to do?

On another note, i have tried to contact the Seller, Lester Adams at
Escalade Leasing Corp in Miami, Florida, he said he know nothing about
the car being in an accident in many a phone call with him...then in
one phone call he did the same thing, told me he knew nothing about
this vehicle being in an accident and then minutes later disclosed to
me that he had the accident report from Chattanooga Tennessee from
February 2008 by the Police Department, so which is it, he knew or he
didn't know? Gotta love Used Cars Sale People.

Hi everyone:

I appreciate your comments on this matter that i have posted as my
support from ebay, i ran a CarFax report and all came out clean. I was
informed, after the fact, that CarFax doesn't report a lot of
information, i found out the hard way that AUTOCHECK.com is the place
to have an auto report done prior to purchasing any car. I was also
informed, by Ebay, before purchasing the car, that if there was
anything wrong with the vehicle, that since the listing and deal was
done thru an Ebay Auction, as a means to facilitate the transaction,
that Ebay would back any issues with a car up to $50,000, that's not
the case, what they didn't disclose to me was that the $50,000 only
kicks in when a car arrives, damaged and needs to be repaired with a
minimum work order of $1,500 or more...this was not the case with my
car, it looked perfect, until i took it to the local Saturn Dealer,
they informed me of the hidden damages, that's when i started my
investigation, believe me to all of you, I have done my homework
here, and thought i was protected, but thats not the case...

Mark

A. eBay does not sell vehicles (or anything else). Their purpose on
earth is to provide a method for sellers to list items.
B. Therefore, your complaint is against the broker who sold you the
car, not eBay.
C. You state that you "made sure to ask the broker to let me know if
the car had been damaged or in an accident". It was your
responsibility to get the VIN number and run a CarFax report on the
vehicle before shelling out $25K.

The first page that pops up when you go to eBay Motors cautions the
buyers, more than once, to order a history report, which you did not
do.

However, I read the eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection plan and it
appears that you may be able to have your situation resolved by
reading and following the procedures. There is a time limit on this
plan so I would strongly suggest you pursue this avenue ASAP instead
of wasting your time making demands on a third part website.

Mark M.,

Now that you have announced to the world that eBay lacks support for
your effort one has to wonder how quickly they will run to your aid.

That being said eBay is the venue for the purchase and just that. If
you look at the agreement you signed when you joined ebay you will
find wording to that effect.

You asking for a refund for the registration fee in California leads
me to believe that you thought that this fee was avoidable if you
puchased it over eBay.

You mention that the car was in an accident. Was that noted in the
eBay listing or on the CarFax Report you got on the car prior to
purchase?

$2,500 these days is a skinned bumper and on the face of it not much
at all. Did the Saturn Dealer in your area simply agree with your
thoughts or was an evaluation done on the vehicle to determine it's
roadworthiness?

I would wait a few days and see if you get any response ftom eBay and
then take it up with the seller.

In the mean time you might set a date on your calendar at which time
you can get all the family together to discuss how this happened and
what can be done in the future ( read the eBay Tutoiral ) to prevent
this from happening again.

Good luck and stop back and let us know what happens.

BillR.

The third paragraph offers two options for a resolution to this
problem. The final line, however, makes a demand only for the first
of the original two options.

Which one does the OP want? I recommend making certain the letter
flows logically before submitting it.

Also, I would never purchase a vehicle online at all, much less buying
one without doing an appropriate check on its background.

I guess my attitude is, why buy such an expensive item sight unseen
over the internet? It's just too risky for my liking. It's bad
enough when you think of people who get ripped off this way over $100
or $500 items, but $25K? I think I'll keep my big purchases local,
where I have a LOT more control.

All eBay did was provide a venue for you to locate the item you wanted
to purchase, and a venue for the broker to offer an item for sale. On
the vehicle listings, it is very clear that you can order a vehicle
history report (Carfax). If the vehicle was misrepresented, then your
complaint is with the actual seller/broker of the vehicle. eBay made
no representation of the vehicle to you.

Are there just no Saturn Outlooks in California, so you had to buy one
sight-unseen from across the country?

Why are you sending this to ebay? They didn't sell you the car. A
"broker" did. Have you contacted the "broker" about this issue.

Where there no Saturn Outlooks in Northern CA?

All you can do is file a dispute with E-Bay. They are not the ones to
refund your money, it's the seller. I have to agree with SuzieCat,
you should have bought a CarFax report before buying a car, sight
unseen on E-Bay.

You didnt get the VIN and order a CarFax report before buying a car
sight unseen? EEEEK!!!

being used, you may be stuck in an "as is" situation.

Good luck and I hope you are able to reach some sort of resolution.