1. Sellers tend not to believe my-kid-bid stories even if you say it's true.
2. A seller is charged 10% of the auction fee when someone wins.
3. The seller can't file the unpaid item dispute for 2 days. If you get the email saying it's a mutually agreed to cancel, say yes.
4. Go to your paypal account and see if it shows the refund. In my experience the refund richocets through Paypal back to the card, but as a credit, it won't show on the card until the monthly statement is run.
You need to be very patient - seriously. The key issue here was fraud on your end of the transaction, which has placed the seller in a very awkward position. They have to follow eBay protocol to cover themselves due to your sons actions of making a fraudulent charge. Most likely the issue the seller is facing is their concern over a double removal of the funds... their refund and the fraud case refund.
You have cost the seller money, they need to cancel the transaction as a mutual agreement and that isn't as easy as it may seem due to the way eBay handles seller defects. When you receive that message from eBay, agree to the cancellation.
When this is all done, both thank and apologize to the seller - and do not even think of filing a claim of any sort. You will likely be banned from eBay. Accept it and go on.
I think I should contact ebay actually now because It's quite clear that he isn't sending me the item I paid for anyway. I'm sure he just needs more time for some reason but who knows.
Contact the seller again, I'd give them a couple of chances.
If not, dispute the charge with your bank. I'm not sure though that your son using your card is going to be grounds to dispute the charge.
If not, your son just lost his allowance till he makes this up.
