Ebay sellers usually take a longer time than other sellers to ship so I pay immediately when I can (cause I want it NOW). They have expressed views that do not match mine so they are a last resort for me though.
I haven't noticed this. As a sometimes seller I ship the same business day, telling buyers up front that I ship the following business day.
Under promise, over deliver.
I recently bought a notebook computer through Ebay, paid with PayPal. It arrived with a cracked screen. Seller had packaged it very poorly (practically non-existent). UPS determined it was poor packaging and denied the insurance claim.
Seller was reporting health issues which I had no way of knowing were true or not. A lot of back and forth which felt like delays. Seller would ask numerous questions that already had obvious answers. It smelled like a stall technique.
Both EB and PP were VERY helpful. I was able to talk to BOTH places without a long wait for 'the next available agent'. Seller was not available or wasn't cooperating. (At the end I was supposedly dealing with the seller's mother in the EB messaging system as adult son was now in ICU). PP had to force the resolution refunding my $125.
It took 3 weeks after my first call to get my refund. I complicated the issue with a 1.5 months delay in not having put EB and PP on notice ASAP while waiting on the UPS determination.
Like anything, documentation and using EBay's messaging system to show the record of communication are important.
I think many Ebay or PayPal 'horror' stories are because people don't understand the process you'll have to go through to get resolved,
OR THE TIME IT WILL TAKE to be resolved. It can't happen the same or next day.
EB and PP will follow their pre-declared guideless and timelines. They have to do their due diligence to protect both seller and buyer.