Buyer Returns A Different Item than Sold

[lady0011]

I know this has been covered many times, but I don't know how to find the answers.  

Recently sold a small music box - buyer stated it was received broken and sent one picture.    The way it was worded my gut told me they were lying.  I told them to open a case and return the item - which she did.  Fortunately, the piece is numbered and when I received the broken piece back today the number on the bottom is different, plus there was more damage than what she noted.  Not only that, she sent the item back in a large Priority Mail box, when item was shipped ground advantage.   

This is a clear case of fraud. I know if I contact CS they will tell me to not refund and then appeal the case, which I will lose because of Ebay's MBG program.  Person has over 1,000 feedback so she must buy a lot (I'm sure this is not the first time she has done this).  I will be out app. $50.00 which I hate to lose, but know I will.  This person must be stopped from stealing from honest sellers.   

I know I can report the buyer using the report a buyer for abuse of MBG program, I don't think anyone reads those (I could be wrong) - what is the best way to let Ebay know about this crook.   I don't think the dollar amount is enough for a police report, I will try filing fraud with the Post Office.  

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.   Thank you.

[colfaxstation]

porting buyers for abuse has worked for me.  It seems to direct future actions to an individual rather than a systemic action.

[12345jamesstamps]

You can report the buyer...in the item purchased.

But need to do the refund. Block the seller. 

Hope for an OK feedback. Don't email buyer anymore.

Not every buyer is an honest buyer. 

I got back a dark plastic gooey bag and refused it. Contested and got charged another $20 bucks. It part of the business. I also got back a girlie post card. I sell stamps. I got over it and moved on.

[inhawaii]

As I understand it, you got back the broken item that wasn't even yours to begin with.

Issue the buyer a refund if you haven't already, otherwise ebay will do it for you.

Report the buyer to ebay.  Nothing will come of it but at least it MIGHT prevent the buyer from doing this repeatedly to other sellers.

Don't forget to block this buyer.

Sorry this happened to you. 

[lady0011]

Thank you all for your responses - i have reported the buyer and blocked them.  It just irks me that a  person can so blatantly steal from someone and think it's okay . 

Whenever someone e-mails me that an item arrived damaged or not as described, I always tell them to open a case so I can send them a return shipping label - it's amazing they never open a case and I never hear back from them.   I always assume that they have lost their MBG privileges.  I was surprised when this buyer actually opened a case and sent the item back.    I was even  more surprised how stupid they were as the piece is numbered.  

I have called Ebay and they sent me an affidavit to sign and I sent them pictures of the items.  Who knows, maybe I'll be surprised again and Ebay will deny the refund.  

I am over it now and have accepted the fact that I'll be out money.  I just wonder how many people just send refunds for damaged items not realizing they are being scammed.    

Again, thank you all for your responses.

P.S.  Buyer already left positive feedback!!

[xray360]

eBay will sometimes cover the refund. I had eBay cover a return after proving the item returned wasn't in my inventory. I took a screen shot of my inventory showing all the SKUs I carry, and the item returned didn't match any of them.

It's a good chance eBay covers since the numbers don't match and OP has pictures to prove it. 

[gator08041971]

This is why I now send the buyer a message after their item is packed and ready to go out.  Those messages include pictures of their item, how it was packed, what the package looks like and their shipping label clear so they can read the tracking and address.

Anything that has serial numbers, identifying marks, are all recorded and visible within those messages.  And those go through eBay so they also have a copy.

I have been doing that now for over a year.  And have gotten a lot of positive responses from buyers in my messages when doing that, as well as feedback about it.  No one has been negative or not appreciative of it, or at least in writing.

But now that I'm in the habit, its part of the process and fairly simple.  Phone takes pictures as I package, uploads to the cloud, then on the PC is already downloaded, I just go and grab them and add.  Simple.

[lady0011]

Ebay has found in my favor and refunded the buyer without any impact on me.  I am happy with the outcome except the buyer gets away with stealing.  Well, at least they are on Ebay's radar and I hope none of you have the misfortune of selling to them,  

[juvikingnorway]

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@lady0011 wrote:

This person must be stopped from stealing from honest sellers.   

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Back in the day we had something called negative feedback which effectively barred such users from continuing their thievery.