Hello! Hoping for a bit of advice :)
Early hours of Sunday morning while I was up feeding my baby, I bid on an item with a starting bid of 99p or BIN of £24.99. I put in a highest bid of £10 hoping to get a bargain, but sure I would get outbid by a automatic bidder, as it was a nice wooden toy set with optional personalisation and I thought others would be watching (it was new and the listing said the seller had 10 available). I was obviously in sleep deprived stupor as I didn't check the sellers ratings, they had fb of 6, none as a seller, and the account was less than a month old.
Next morning I was surprised to see I had won, at 99p (with postage total just under £6), so paid straight away on Sunday and mailed the seller asking for the name I wanted on the box. Heard nothing until I got up on Wednesday morning and found the seller had mailed me at 1:30 am to say (paraphrasing) "so sorry, this is a mistake, I can't sell this to you at this price. My BIN is £24.99. My friend listed my items while I was in hospital, didn't know what she was doing and added the auction by mistake" she then went on to say she would refund me plus £2 as a gesture. I was annoyed but mailed back saying the I was disappointed but would accept the refund given that she wasn't prepared to sell the item (figured I can't force her to complete her side of the transaction, regardless of the legal position, and I would rather have my money than nothing!). I did this yesterday morning at 8am, I've heard nothing else.
I wondered if I was supposed to open a case so she could refund, but eBay says I have to wait until the 9th Oct. as I already know she won't deliver, that seems ages!
I looked at her other items for sale and was surprised to see no other identical sets on auction (or completed) - odd as she said 10 available. Her other items seem to be listed with BIN and a reserve, so all by someone knowing how to list. I'm getting the feeling I have been had, I think she used the hospital story to make me feel bad about pursuing and the £2 offer to stop me leaving neg, but I could be cynical! Something doesn't feel right, her message suggested she sold lots of stuff on eBay, but her account tells a different story. Not confident I will see my money :(
I'm also worried what I should do, is it awful of me to report her as NPS / neg/ low stars if the error wasn't her fault (the hospital thing), given she offered the £2 compo etc... I was niggled that her handling time states 2 days and she emailed me after that to try and cancel, even that was 1:30am! so she had my money 3 days already, but my initial reaction was to leave neutral if she refunded - but the longer she takes, the more Im considering other options. I don't want to be vindictive, just protect future buyers!
Sorry for the essay, didn't want to drip feed! Thanks for any advice.