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13 OYS gets refund, resolution for West MI online retailer after lengthy dispute

“It's more about the principle and overall how I've been treated," said the retailer.

MUSKEGON, Mich. — A confusing back and forth between an e-commerce giant and shipping service UPS had a West Michigan business owner ready to throw in the towel — until the 13 Help Team stepped in. 

Shandrika Storck makes her living on the world wide web.

Her issues began several months earlier, after one of Storck’s orders was lost on a delivery with consequences that outweighed any individual sale.

A long-awaited resolution was in the process of occurring at the time of publication Wednesday.  

“I like selling because I literally can buy and sell pretty much anything if it ships for a reasonable price,” Storck explained.

She has run an eBay storefront from her home in Muskegon going on six years now.

“Dibs on Collectibles is my name that I go by on eBay,” Storck said.

She never experienced any issues until last holiday season, when Storck said a buyer notified her she’d never received an order.

“So, I said I'll reach out to UPS see what I can do on locating this package.”

She used the tracking number to find out the package had been marked ‘in transit’ around a week earlier and still showed it was out for delivery.

The confusion began, she said, when Storck attempted to file a claim with UPS.

“I got an error stating that I needed a UPS account number, which I don't have, because all of my labels come directly from eBay, or Pirate Ship, so it's not individually, me as a person buying the labels.”

Instead, Storck walked her buyer through the process of launching a case with eBay.

“As soon as she started the case, I called them on the phone,” she noted. “I said, 'Hey, this case has been officially opened, can we look to see where the package is?'”

That call led to an internal investigation, which also failed to find the buyer’s order. Because it wasn’t their error, Storck said she was told both would get their money back. 

“When the refunds went through, they refunded me and told her that she lost her money for the shoes,” she explained. “She had to appeal the case, in order to get her money back and when she appealed, they took my money and gave it to her, and then told me, 'I'm sorry, you're out the money for the shoes.'”

The package was insured, but the payout, Storck said, covered less than half the cost.

“You're running into a bit of a wall you didn't expect,” 13 OYS said.

“I am,” she replied. “It's more about the principle and overall how I've been treated.”

The big picture issue was one Storck worried may affect how customers view her store and hurt her bottom line. eBay, she said, had downgraded her seller rating as a result of the dispute.

“In my six years of selling, I have not ever received a negative review from any of my buyers on anything that I've sold… I take a lot of pride in that,” she said.

13 OYS emailed an eBay media contact ahead of publication Tuesday to try to get to the root of the issue.

Several hours later, a text from Storck took on a celebratory tone, noting a partial refund had been issued, with the remainder to follow.

The company had also erased the mark against her seller history, she said.

An eBay representative emailed us to confirm the company had been in touch with Storck and was in the process of resolving the months-long dispute.

Storck was still expecting the shipping label to be refunded as of Wednesday evening, but indicated she was satisfied with the recent progress and thanked 13 ON YOUR SIDE for intervening on her behalf.

This story will be updated once that has been received with any new developments as they arise.

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