eBay has quite an intricate and long-winded dispute resolution procedure. In this email, Ill try to break each step down for you, so you can see whats involved and how long it takes.
As an example, lets go through what you would do if you paid for an item but didnt receive it from the seller.
Before you open a dispute: Give the seller a chance to send the item before you get ahead of yourself and open a dispute. If youre concerned about how long the item is taking to arrive, the first thing you should do is send a polite email to the seller saying that you havent received it and asking whether they have posted it. You should also check your own email address in eBays options, to make sure that the seller can reply to you. As a last resort before opening a dispute, you should try to call the seller on the number eBay has for them. You might have to pay long-distance charges for the call, but thats better than dragging the auction through mediation for months.
Step 1 – You open an Item Not Received dispute: You can do this here: http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?InrCreateDispute.
All you need to do is enter the item number and say that...