Filing disputes beyond the eligibility window

I just had an exchange with a very experienced eBay member who had a seller string them along so that they missed the filing window for an Item Not Received dispute. His question was whether it was still worth it for them to file the dispute (even though they knew they would not be able to follow through with it) just so that eBay would be aware of what happened. He also observed that some of the links to file disputes disappeared after the filing window closed, which made him even more curious.

It’s an interesting question, and I thought the issue would be valuable to raise on the Chatter.

We do in fact welcome Item Not Received (INR) or Significantly Not as Described (SNAD) reports even if you’ve passed the filing window. It’s also true that some of the links to report INRs and SNADs do disappear once the filing window has passed (such as the link in the My eBay drop-down menu next to the item).

The rationale for this is that if someone has missed the filing window it makes more sense to not to urge them to start the process as opposed to starting the process and then telling them they’re ineligible for it.

However, for savvy users who want to ensure eBay is still notified of the situation, it’s still possible to initiate the process to get the report into our system even if you are prevented from proceeding because you’re beyond the filing window. To do so, just file through one of the links that is not connected to a particular item. One such link is at the top of your dispute console – as it is not connected to any particular item, it never disappears.  Another link is available on the INR process help page.

You’ll need the item number to file on these pages (it’s automatically entered if you use the My eBay link, but if you use these links, you’ll need to enter it yourself, as the site won’t know which item you want to file the INR regarding). Once you enter the item number we’ll note the filing in our records even though you can’t continue in the process.

Folks often ask me why we limit the amount of time buyers have to report disputes.  There are some legal reasons – we have to resolve these issues before buyers lose their eligibility to file a chargeback through their credit card issuer, for instance – but we also think it’s appropriate to not make sellers liable for item disputes for all eternity after they make a sale.  In the vast majority of cases the buyer should know if they have an issue within a month or two after the transaction.