Help! eBay mistakenly sent my package to Florida

 Wandra Harmsen’s eBay order gets sent to Florida by mistake. Can she get a refund for the $387 she spent?

Q:  I ordered food products two times from eBay recently. But something went wrong with my third order. eBay sent it to an unknown address in Florida, and I didn’t catch it in time. Even after I realized what was going on, I couldn’t stop the order from being delivered to the address. 

I don’t know where the address came from. The seller blames eBay, eBay blames the seller.  

They keep saying the same thing over and over. I would like to be reimbursed for $387, the cost of the last order. Can you help me?

~ Wandra Harmsen, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

A: This is such a strange case. Who sent your package to a mysterious Florida address? And why did you have to pay for it?

I have a resolution but I don’t have a full explanation.

Before we get there, let’s take a look at your rights when you order something through eBay. 

The company’s money back guarantee states if the item you ordered didn’t arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn’t match the listing, you’ll get your money back. Your package didn’t arrive. Case closed, right? Wrong.

The package did arrive at the address given by the seller. It was just the wrong address. And no one can seem to figure out how that incorrect address got on your package. Did someone hack into your eBay account? Was the address auto-filled from your browser? Did the seller make a clerical error? Or did eBay do something to reroute your package to the wrong state? It’s unclear and, even after investigating this, no one has come forward to own up to the mislabeling. How it happened remains a mystery

It looks like you tried to resolve the problem through normal channels by initiating a chat with eBay. Although a representative promised to look into this, you didn’t hear back from anyone.

Remember: I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the eBay executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. You could have also reached out to one of them to appeal your case.

I contacted eBay on your behalf. The company refunded your $387, but did not offer any details on the address switch.

Christopher Elliott is the chief advocacy officer for Elliott Advocacy. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help with any consumer problem by contacting him at http://www.elliott.org/help.

© 2021 Christopher Elliott