Two weeks and still not shipped

[Andre91]

Just wondering what you guys would do in this situation. I won a phone on the 11th of February and still don't have it. The last I heard from the seller was on the 21st, when they contacted me to let me know that something had come up and that they would be shipping the phone on the 24th. The phone was not shipped that week, and I contacted the seller again on the 3rd of March and did not receive a reply. The seller has a good history, ~1500 feedback with no negatives.

[TelePlay]

Under your "purchase history" in your eBay account, is there a blue clickable tracking number in the item information? And if so, what does it say when you click on the number?

I agree with what jsowers said below. Just wanted to add here that I've had sellers ship without tracking a few times so what may not look like it was shipped, just arrives. That is frustrating no knowing if it ships but it happens. And some sellers do not reply to messages, for what ever reason they have to be too busy to help you know the current status of the shipment.

[jsowers]

You need to play nice since there's no way to really force the seller to send you your phone. Sometimes situations arise and people have other obligations like a death in the family or some other life-changing event. Of course sometimes people are just lazy, but their feedback doesn't bear that out. The weather can also be part of the problem this time of year. Like yesterday, when I lost power for over 10 hours because of an ice storm.

Send another email asking for the status and tactfully let the seller know you want a reply or a refund.

eBay used to have a non-performing seller form and from what I just read, it's kind of being ignored now. Don't threaten to leave negative feedback, but if you don't get any reply or refund in a week or so, then leave them a negative to warn others.

You didn't say whether this is a US-only transaction or if you live in Canada or Europe or what. If it has to cross borders, then it could have been shipped and it's sitting in purgatory. I don't know if you always get the "your item has been shipped" email if you live in a different country, but I did just recently when I bought something from Czechoslovakia.

[Sargeguy]

I would open a case. Just click "contact seller" and check off "I haven't received my item yet" eBay opens a case even if you are just inquiring about the item.  You need to do this so that you will get a refund if they renege.

[Andre91]

Thanks guys, There is no tracking number and the item is not marked as shipped. It's also a US-only transaction, and I did verify that the payment was processed. I'll be sending the seller another message in case the item was just forgotten about, and give it another week before opening a "I haven't received my item" case.