DO NOT USE eBay buyer "protection",unless you want to loose your money! Open dispute on paypal directly!
Here is my case,I bought this item cca 45 days ago:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160958163920?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
from UK seller betteries2udirect.
Since he is in UK I expected 10-15max. delivery time(5-7days is usual delivery time from UK seller to me),but I got package after almost a month(and I really needed those batteries).I opened package and seller sent me 2x4 AA digimax NiMh batteries,instead of 2x9V NiMh,well just great.I opened a case,Seller told me that I need to return wrong batteries back to him,he will pay return shipping cost and ship correct ones to me.So I returned wrong batteries and paid ~15$ for tracked shipping,sent a note to seller about that,but interestingly,seller was quiet from that point and just ignored my questions about refund for shipping.About 10 days later he responded that he sent correct batteries,but still no word about 15$ refund for shipping.
But problems doesn't stop there;eBay sent me a notice that if I want,I must escalate this case before 06 Feb,or else it will be automatically closed.Ok,I click "escalate" button,but "Oops,we had a technical hiccup. Please try later..." message pops out.I tried several hours later,same message.Next day,same thing,several times.Next few days-same thing.Strange? Then I googled that same message and found that it's not a techical hiccup,it's a stupid eBay scam,because everything works fine,except that "escalate case" button.Next logical thing was to contact eBay and tell them about that problem.
But when you click "Contact us" on ebay page,select "buying",contact options-zero,not a freaking customer support mail for multi-zillion dollar webpage. Found "chat with us" under seller option on ebay.uk page,and after several "please,I will switch this chat to my colleague,this is his area",they promised me they'll resolve that problem and escalate case for me.After two days they did that,and they quickly closed the case in seller's favor,of course!I didn't even have a chance to defend my case.
In the meantime correct batteries arrived,but seller still didn't refund me 15$ for shipping,and of course he never will.
So,after seller cheated me,I leaved negative feedback with explanation,but after few seconds ebay automatically erased it,with explanation that you basically can't leave a feedback after the case is closed! But this is ok to eBay-less negative feedback-more buyers-more to eBay.
And if you look seller's negative feedback profile,you'll see exactly the same thing for one buyer,no refund for return shipping,who knows how many people seller cheated,but eBay removed their feedback also.
So,the point is,if you have problems with eBay purchases,DO NOT USE eBay buyer "protection",open dispute directly on paypal.