Buyer Filed a FALSE Item not as described claim... What should I do?

[abelandlilysmommy]

Hi I am a new seller and I had a buyer file an item not as described claim against me but then messaged me and said they wanted a refund because the items did not meet their expectations and then stated that the item was worn, but i listed the items as used and posted several pictures plus I described them as they were and posted that they were sold as is no returns and to ask any questions before bidding but the buyer never asked any questions. Then the buyer took nine days to file the case? This seems like she had buyers remorse to me and is misusing the system but I am new to this so maybe I misunderstood it. The reason I don't like to do returns is because its time consuming and a hassle. I don't think I should have to refund their money this is the second buyer who has done this. What should I do?? I would really appreciate any advice that would help me. Thanks

[susieandcathy]

File an appeal and be sure it gets looked at again, the whole transaction.

[komokwa]

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@susieandcathy wrote:

File an appeal and be sure it gets looked at again, the whole transaction.

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stagz wrote.....Like the idiot I am i refunded his money

.so S&C...just what kind of an appeal would you suggest ???

& to whom ???

[zacboy7_sales]

In general Ebay is squeezing small business operators out. The mom & pop operation (who made Ebay great in the begining, and very wealthy) cannot take the expenses of the return policy fraud and just plain rip offs that the policies makes them absorb. So the message is, bummer for you. They expect us to soak up the cost of shipping returns and buy new merchandise without being able to access our funds until AFTER the buyer has received the item. How can I pay my drop ship vendor when I cannot get the funds from the sale?

  Who is the genius who thought this up?

   I am a public school bus driver, so I am out of work during the summer. To work around children I have to pass drug & background checks, and constant evaluation. But Ebay thinks I am unable to conduct my own Ebay sales, which I have done for 14 years. The hardship that they have caused my family is crippling. The additude I get from them is of total uncaring. I have called them about this, I get a person reading a response off a sheet of paper like a trained animal.

  The amount of money I have paid them in 14 years is staggering. I estimate I have shipped  20,000 packages in those years to almost every country on Earth.

 The amount of loss I have absorbed in the last year alone would pay for my summer unemployment with a vacation trip to boot. As sellers we need an organised voice to fight for us.

  The bottom line is the Ebay system is broken

[tlr71912012]

I will not sell on Ebay again.  I sold an almost mint condition iPhone 5 with Applecare, meaning if anything went wrong with the  phone, even if they broke the screen, it was covered.  I shipped immediately.  A week after receving the phone, the buyer made a complaint that the item was not as described.  lol...he couldn't restore his backup.  That means that there is something wrong with the backup, not the phone.  Being a new seller, I gladly sent him two messages, but he never responded.  Another week passes and no response, so I contact Ebay.  I was doing everything I could to make it right.  I would have even called the buyer and helped him if needed.  They escalate the case.  Next thing I know a couple days later I get an email stating that they have recommended that the phone be sent back.  Yet another week passes.  I finally receive the phone and guess what, the top has scratches all over it.  Yes, I restored a backup with no problem.  That night I get a message that they have refunded the buyer....I was livid.  Now my bank account is in the negative, the phone is not worth near as much as it was...  Ebay's response?  "There is nothing we can do, you have to contact the buyer."   Nothing...oh...and a bill for "selling" my phone.  I disputed the charge with my bank.  I will have to find a way to pay Ebay.  I'm so distraught I don't know what to do.  I am barely making it as it is.

[komokwa]

never sell anything on ebay that you can not afford to lose.

specially electronics

they scratched the screen on purpose out of spite....

[junket2mars]

yup, same thing just happened here. shocked to discover that eB's so-called Buyer Protection Plan basically gives carte blanche to fraudulent "not as described" claims = free stuff to the big fat cheaters.
can't tell you how disappointed & disgusted i am with this "new & more streamlined process" ...its hardly worth it for the small seller to take this sort of gamble only to come up short every single time some scammer makes another bogus SNAD claim- as a small volume vendor, i make only a bit of mad money for all my time & effort as it is.
i think i'm about done here. for all eB cares, until THEY start losing $$$ they won't give a rat's***. jaded me is pretty sure they want the mom&pops gone, the only seller protection is at the "power sell" level now.

[kansas_gal06]

Welcome to the part timer sellers board, junket2mars!

Sorry to read the negative FB. Also saw your comments on the cafe thread.  I think you're correct; it was buyer's remorse. Your photos don't show it being used, scratched, and soiled.

How did you answer the SNAD claim? I hope you asked the buyer to return it.

Everything I sell on ebay, I do not want to take returns. All the same, I have a 14-day return policy, since I know ebay buyer protection means I might have to give a refund.

The 1st negative/neutral is the hardest. And yes, that year takes forever for it to drop off.

While you can't leave buyer feedback, you can reply to feedback left.

If it sounds calm & professional that can be a good thing, but calling the buyer a liar or thief just makes sellers look like jerks. I avoid those kinds of sellers. I'd be more likely to go with someone who wrote "Offered full refund"

[junket2mars]

thanks, kansas_gal06... i appreciate the encouraging note. well, i just received ebay's verdict. relieved to say that even though they are issuing a refund to my bad buyer, they also said they found me the seller Not At Fault.
here's the text of their message to me:

"eBay opened a case because of an issue with an item purchased from you. We reviewed the case and have decided to issue the buyer a refund of $14.95 without any impact to you. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping.
This case is now closed. You are not required to reimburse the buyer or eBay, and this case will not be counted in your seller performance evaluation."

i highly doubt i will see the item returned... even if it does come back i expect it would arrive with some sort of obvious damage rendering it unsellable. i think she will just keep it, given her brag of having a collection of over 300 (-!) Wonder how many other unsuspecting vendors have been on the receiving end of her little scam 😛

im going to follow your advice on allowing some sort of return policy. never needed one before, but i can see the terrain's changed... i saw another seller's comment that in EBs current heavily buyer-biased environment, having an all sales final policy just puts an unwary seller right on Scammer Radar.

wonder if the unfair negative feedback might actually be removed? unfortunately, i am not allowed to make a reply to her feedback accusation, the only option given is to file a report, which i did. so if EB does not see fit to remove her nasty remark, i guess i'll be stuck with it for the next year.

not sure yet if i'll keep trying to sell here or not, regardless of this hassle being over a small ticket item, it was highly stressful to me. the semi-positive, or at least neutral, outcome allows me to feel a bit less jaded. but i just don't know if i want to embrace the anxiety i know i will experience every time i carefully & thoughtfully post another item, worrying that if it actually does sell it might be to another vindictive scammer who will gouge another notch out of my honest reputation. it's not so much about the piddly few dollars, you know... as someone who takes pride in dealing honestly, the reputation i've worked hard to build matters a lot to me ...sigh

[junket2mars]

...somehow a smiley got into my post. i wasnt smiling... i was rudely sticking out my tongue at the situation!

[junket2mars]

i said i wasnt able to leave a reply to her feedback, but i was wrong... glad that option is still available to sellers! and no, i didnt leave a rude remark. simply being able to refute the accusation is reply enough.

[damijoska]

Oh, wow, similar situation here. I'm a first time seller. Not gonna sell EVER again on eBay.

Yesterday the buyer wrote to me that s/he "demands the money back" because the phone is not as described/doesn't work. Claiming that I didn't indicate whether the phone was prepaid or not. I had let buyers know that they're buying at their own risk because all I know that the phone works with Verizon, but I'm not sure if it's Straight Talk or not. I also clearly stated to read and ask necessary questions before buying. I didn't have any return policy, just left a default setting of "no returns accepted" and obviously got used and abused. 

The buyer bought the phone without contacting me and then hesitated to pay like for a week. I messaged them and said I'll send the phone out once they pay and if they have any questions about the phone, they should feel free to contact me. Silence. This was already suspicious to me. Finally they paid and I shipped. Right the day when they were supposed to get it, they demanded the money back because in the description it wasn't said that the phone is prepaid. There was no statement on my side that it wasn't prepaid either. They instantly left negative feedback for me.

So basically they buy a phone without reading the description and without knowing what they're buying and without asking any questions and blame it on the seller. So now that I have paid for shipping and will have to pay for getting it back and wasting a lot of time.

What should I do?

[kansas_gal06]

Welcome to the part time sellers board!

Answer the case "return for refund". Otherwise you are out initial shipping plus the item, and all the money that was paid.

The buyer has to send it back with delivery confirmation, and then you refund them, not before. At least if you get it back, you could still possibly sell it on craigslist.

Don't argue or anything,which is difficult to resist, I know. Just keep repeating "return for refund" & give the return address in the message.

The listing says Straight Talk and 2GB in the detailed item info section, and that info is contradicted later in the listing...

If you do ever sell on ebay again, set up your selling account to use ebay's unpaid item assistant, so you don't have to wait a week to get paid.

[damijoska]

Thanks so much! There was no option for me to do that unfortunately because the buyer instantly opened the case through eBay and I didn't even have a chance... The only options I had were to either give a full refund or full refund and pay them for shipping so I chose full refund only, afraid that they will ship me a damaged phone and choose unreasonable shipping price on purpose...

[kansas_gal06]

Yes, I am wondering if the buyer can claim outrageous return postage since ebay changed the rules where sellers need to pay return shipping on SNAD cases.


If they ship back a damaged item you can use the 'report a buyer' link. Which won't do anything right away, but if the buyer is doing this over and over to multiple sellers, the buyer will eventually be banned from ebay.
Same thing if they ship back a box of rocks, report them for mail fraud.

[dhand34]

There is a class action law suit being filed on behalf of eBay sellers now