actually i talked directly to the seller, and since i had no negative feedback, he believed me. it's happened twice to me already. one was when the package failed to arrive, and the second was when i got an item that was defective. both times, i dealt with the seller directly. i'm probably lucky to have encountered level headed sellers. that's why it's important to deal with sellers who have good feedback ratings. if direct communication with the seller doesn't help, paypal/ebay has this "dispute" corner where they themselves will mediate among the buyer and seller. i haven't tried this though...