SELLER BEWARE: No returns accepted means returns accepted!

[yzingerr706]

Ebay is a complete joke.

I had an auction that clearly stated no returns accepted. The buyer opened a case and eBay decided it in his favor. I called them and asked how the buyer could possibly win the case when it says no returns accepted and they basically told me they side on the buyers most of the time. He told me that no returns accepted basically means nothing at all.

[luciawucinic2012]

Sellers must be very cautious. Selling items on ebay from your own home , not a business can be very risky. Buyers will come up with every excuse possible for a full refund. Because you have no returns , or as is , means absolutely nothing. Ebay has a very good way of always sticking up for the buyer not the seller. You sell an item , use the money for whatever you need or reason, then the next thing you know you have to come up with the money again to send back. Some buyers use the the most outrageous reasons for requesting a refund it is horrible. They smell cigarette smoke, well how do you prove there was no cigarette smoke on the item ? Or first the shipping box was damaged, then the box inside , then the item. There are alot of people out there that like to play games , so again beware. Ebay automatically takes the side of the buyer. If they can find the exact same item for cheaper , or try to get an additional discount, these people will try it. So listing your items as no refunds means absolutely nothing on ebay. Beware.

[amity150]

By the way, I know its just an expression, but the expression goes "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT."  If I am shopping in a bricks and mortar store (which I rarely do anymore) I expect a full refund provided the item has not been used.  If I say it was broken when I bought it, that's accepted by every store.  Why would eBay be any different?  

The only time I had a misadventure on eBay was when I bought an item that the seller "omitted" to mention was dry clean only.  Her policy was "no returns" but sure enough eBay sided with me.  And they were right.  She left something important out of her description, she is responsible for the accuracy of her listing.  She was p.o.'d but had to accept the skirt back, pay shipping in both directions, and learn a lesson about ethics.  

[drewk2]

Another twist on this subject that is really nice.....if a seller does state that, for example, "returns are accepted within 14 days and the buyer is responsible for return shipping"...that means absolutely nothing. All a buyer has to do is state that the item was "not as described" and the seller then becomes responsible for return shipping.

This is becoming a HUGE issue with vintage electronics. Many scamming buyers are receiving good items from sellers, removing good parts from the good items, and then putting in claims that the item does not work or is not as described.

[gifteeze]

One of the many reasons why I don't sell on ebay anymore....my favorite is when I was selling a very popular item that was directly purchased from the inventor who I knew. I even saw his patents. Ebay took them down because someone said they were the only one that could sell it. The inventor was **bleep** off about that. In the end ebay sided with the other liar because I needed to prove I could be selling it with a whole bunch of forms and other BS. A few months later the scummy company was advertising it all over tv and selling a ton. Pretty sure like the scum they are they knocked it off, didn't want it to be shown in the US until they wanted to sell it and knew how ebay works to abuse other sellers. Ebay can rot to death like they are now. I cannot wait until another venue I know of gets their marketing started because this site will collapse.

[jamesc4321]

I have been selling on Ebay for  a long time and they have made good money off of me.  I am cancelling my account with them since I have had it with their return policy which enables people to steal product from me.  I have a large amount of very hard to find, discontinued Perfumes and creams etc.  The scam is that they order one from me and then say it contains something else in it ("not as described").  The trick is to receive the item, empty out the real product into a different container and then refill my container with cheap whatever.  My add clearly states "NO REFUNDS ACCEPTED"  This just happened again and the buyer is calling ME a crook!!  I have already delisted all of my products and will cancel my account after they refund this dirt-bag.  The kick in the teeth is that I have to pay for him to return the altered product back to me !!!   I will no longer sell OR BUY from these idiots.  They don't back the sellers AT ALL and we are their bread and butter.  If enough of us leave maybe Ebay will reconsider this flawed policy.  It's getting as bad as the Craigslist scams.  I will look into selling on Amazon, maybe they are more seller friendly.

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[citizenguy]

Ebay should allow sellers to give negative ratings, so we can be warned if a buyer frequently asks for refunds.

These people are like scammers who file false insurance claims to get money.

[savanna.dance]

@jamesc4321 AZ is as strict, if not more so, in some areas. Also many of their categories are gated. I'm not 100% but I think perfumes and cosmetics fall into that realm.

[vintageranch]

Only if you accept the return do you get your item back. I lost about 4 or 5 items from not accepting the return. Then you have postal rates going up. Which is because the post office has stamps.com. that gives free shipping credits. I didn't notice any major increase in wage. As some, worker still get paid 3 dollarson an hour to wait tables, cashier, do dishes, and buss tables.

[mellottiracingltd]

You could pick up a dictionary before you go....

[benzexpert]

I just spoke with an ebay rep who swears they will side with me if the buyer files a claim.

Order shipped last week, and on Sat. I get a message, saying he has the product,

unopened and wants to return it.

As it was Sat. and I was out and about, I figured I'd wait till Mon.

So Mon. (today) I get a message saying tell me how to return this or he'll file a case!
I have a no return policy on this item for so many reasons,

and currently have no money in my account, all the money went out to

buy more product!

So, basically the guy is threatening to extort me if I don't provide a refund.

I called ebay and spoke to a 'specialist' in the resolution dept.

and he read the messages and agreed that this a case of buyers remorse and
I do NOT have to provide a refund.

But I DON'T TRUST EBAY. I've been scammed before and they

ALWAYS side with the seller.

But this guy SWEARS they will back me up!!!

So, even if I wanted to give a refund I just dropped 1 grand on supplies and there's no money

to give him.

I was considering offering a refund based on receipt and inspection

and then charging a 20% restocking fee.

But he'll likely not go for that and just file a case, since he's already threatening to file a case,

on an unopened package (The guy at ebay noted this....can't very well say it's SNAD if they didn't open it)

So, wondering what to do now.

When he threatened to file a case, I said I'd need to figure out to accept his return since the auction is no

returns, and to please give me 24 hours.

But according to the ebay rep. I don't need to do jack and they would absolutely find in my favor...

but do I trust them?

[savanna.dance]

@benzexpert

Well nothing is precluding your buyer from opening the package, so don't count 100% on no SNAD. Buyers, don't open cases anymore. If he decides to follow through (non SNAD) it would be a simple return request.

If it is a no returns listing, then you should be able to deny the request. That doesn't mean the buyer can't move on to PayPal and then hid credit card.

I hate to say it, but it's always a good idea to have enough money for refunds on hand.

Ideally (and believe me I don't live in this world either) you should have enough to refund everything outstanding for 180 days, because that's the amount of time a buyer has to file with PayPal.

What I do, is keep at least enough money set aside for the most expensive item still eligible for buyer protection.

So far I've never had to use it, but it helps me sleep at night. Whatever you do, don't escalate the case, should the buyer open one, yourself and don't let an eBay rep do it for you either.

So far the buyer hasn't opened a case and hope that they don't. I would not correspond any further with the buyer, at this point in time.

@hidy-hoo did I miss anything?

[benzexpert]

savanna.dance

I did infer I might give him a refund, said I needed 24 hour to figure out how to give a refund,

after he threated to file a case. I mean, that's called extortion! I was freaking and never imagined ebay would back me up.

Do I now need to reinforce that the auction is final? Will ebay look at my message and say, well you DID say you might give him

a refund.?

I've decided to go for it, and if he files a case,

sounds like I could win. I'm going to test the system.
I don't want the parts back, that would be a mess, likely send me his used parts,

and then I have another mess to resolve. I can't sell the stuff once it's been opened.

I did send him another message asking him to confirm what he already said, which was kind of stupid.

Should I send him another message and state that I will not accept a return per the terms of the auction?
I don't want ebay to see my last message as an acceptance of his request at a time when

I was in fear of being extorted. .

Also what do you mean by escalated? Can  a case be resolved (in my favor) without escalation?

[hidy-hoo]

@benzexpert  eBay CS can and will read the messages between you and the buyer if a case is opened and escalated.  Buyer escalated cases are usually found in the buyers favor...all done through bots.  As Savanna said, until you see what kind of request they open, it is difficult to guide you.

You now have an angry buyer who will likely lie and open a SNAD ~ not as described ~ case against you which means that if you lose you will be responsible for paying return shipping and will receive an unresolved defect.  CS reps will tell you what you want to hear in order to get you off the phone.

If I were you, I would accept the return...if the faux buyer hasn't opened the package tell him to write "refused" on the package and it will be sent back to you. BTW, is the negative you received from this buyer?  If you had measurements and/or descriptions of what the widget would fit, the "doesn't fit" neg may be removed.

[benzexpert]

So yes he requested a refund, says don't fit. That's his description of the reason. When I called customer service my call was escalated supposedly to someone and the department that deals with resolutions. The guy said flat out that I had basically an open-and-shut case. And yes the negative feedback is from this guy. I guess I will call customer service tomorrow and have them put me with the Department I talked to before. I already have a reference number.

[hidy-hoo]

benz ~ without knowing exactly what listing you are talking about and how "doesn't fit" applies to the specific listing, we really can't tell if the request/case qualifies for a seller "win".  

There would have to be specific information in your listing that shows that the buyer made a mistake when he bought the widget, i.e., the listing states will only fit a Mercedes and he thought it would fit a VW, or the widget is XX in length and won't work for anything else, etc. ~ you get the idea  ~ or the buyer would have to admit, via eBay messages that he made an error when ordering because he didn't understand or read the listing correctly. @benzexpert