How long before e-bay steps in on an open case?

[chattychatchat]

I have sold an item on e-bay and have had a case opened. The buyer and I can not agree to an outcome - does anyone know how long it will take for e-bay to deal with this??

the case needs to be escalated before eBay steps in - is the option there for you to escalate it? What is the problem? Buyer can escalate after 10 days

Usually you can ask Ebay to make a decision on the outcome of a case 7 days after it has been opened. They can take a further 2-3 days to respond though so you can expect the process to take up to 10 days.
Usually they are much quicker though.
Is your case open with Ebay or Paypal ? You can escalate Paypal cases virtually immediately and they normally respond within 24 hours.
It's a shame you can't come to an agreement with your buyer as a dispute not resolved by the seller can have an affect on your account status.
Can you give any information as to what the issue is ? Perhaps someone here can help with advice on how to move forwards.

I sold an item of clothing and posted day are buyer paid, she came back to me a week later saying "I have just picked this up from the post office and I don't like it, I want to send it back." I said no and she came back to me to say it was damaged.

I told her to return to me and I have never received it. She opened a case with e-bay but I don't want to refund until I get the item back. She wants a refund anyway because item is damanged. I have told her I am happy with e bay sorting it out but she is sending me messages all the time asking when she will get her money and I am trying to be calm with her but to be honest just want her to go away.

Case is open with e-bay not paypal.

without proof of delivery eBay or Paypal will not refund her. You are right not to refund until you receive it back in the condition in which it was sent. I guess she wants a refund and to keep the item.

Can you not select within the case for her to return the item for a refund?

I have and she said it was sent and she had all the proof but when it came to filling in the tracking numbers she wouldn't put it in and has then said she has only proof of postage.

Am I right in sticking to not refunding as I have only been selling a couple of weeks and I am worried about this.

yes you are totally right - never refund until you receive the item back. Do not be bullied. I would ignore her messages from now on and let eBay sort it out. If she has been asked for tracking the case must already have been escalated? If the item is lost in the post she can use her proof and claim with royal mail for the missing item can't she?

You are right 100% do not refund her at all.

I've had 5 cases like this in last 6 Mths and tho it has adversely affected my feedback, I've stuck to my guns everytime.

There are things abt eBay which really do annoy me
Having said that though, I've just changed all my settings so eBay now does things on my behalf if buyers don't pay etc and instead of waiting for 32 days, cases are opened after 3 days of item ending.

Thanks, as said I am new to this but was getting a little annoyed with her hounding me about this. I will stick to my guns and not refund until I receive the item.

The advice you've been given by fergoose and Babylon is quite right. If the buyer cannot prove tracking information and you don't have the item back then do not refund them.
Sit tight and escalate it when you are able to, Ebay may refund the buyer as a "no fault" which will not affect you at all.
If you receive a neg for feedback I would appeal it in this case as you have followed the correct procedure and offered a refund upon return, there is not much else you can do.
Unfortunately there are a few buyers out there who try it on and want to keep items and have a refund as well. Ebay are normally very fair to the seller when there is no proof of return delivery so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

The last one I had, she rtnd the item, ordered me to pay her run postage and STILL left me negative feedback. Beauty of that is that you can respond to feedback left now, so anyone checking can see whether you're being unreasonable or not!