Buyer protection really ironclad?

Posted to the fb board 26 May:

Update though not really relevant to the conversation above.

The seller initiated a refund via PayPal. eBay automatically closed the case. PayPal showed the refund as "pending"; then, after 3 days, sent a "eCheck declined by the sender's bank" which seems like an "insufficient funds". I filed a dispute with my credit card.

The credit card company called me and, to my surprise, didn't really seem to understand how eBay and PayPal worked. So, I explained it to him. The credit card company set up a conference call between me, the credit card company, eBay Support and eBay Trust & Safety (I think). There was a lot of discussion as if nobody had ever heard of this happening before. Good grief.

eBay agreed to refund my money but it would take 2 weeks. Credit card company said that, if eBay didn't do the refund, they would. eBay still hasn't paid and the credit card dispute is still open. (Still waiting in the 2 week period.)

At this point, eBay Buyer Protection looks ridiculous. It reminds me of those old Publishers Clearinghouse mailers but, instead, it is like: "Your purchase MAY be protected by eBay Buyer Protection and you MAY have won 12 Million Dollars as well!"

I'll try to remember to update when it is finally over.