eBay

ba0701 · ‎02-10-2021

Not sure if this is the right place to put this thread, I'll gladly move it if needed.

So, long story short, I purchased an item on Ebay, and a week after it was purchased I asked the seller for a tracking number, as one was not posted, which the seller did. The only information available with the FedEx tracking number was that it was heading to my city. The day the package showed delivered, there was no package, and none was delivered to my home as I have multiple cameras around my home, nobody had approached my home all day, so I opened a case with FedEx. FedEx called me back, asking to speak to a woman I had never heard of. Thinking there was a mistake, I explained I was the person who had opened the case on this tracking number, and the FedEx employee stated that the person, and the address this 1lbs package was shipped to was entirely different from me, and she stated that I had been provided a "fraudulent tracking number". The item I ordered was a large air compressor, the package provided in the tracking number was 1LBS, clearly not an air compressor.

I opened a case with Ebay, which was then denied, as it stated the package had been delivered. I appealed that decision, and the guy I spoke to stated that it was on me to prove that the package had not been shipped to me. I explained that I have no ability to do that, as the tracking number only lists the shipped to city, no further details. He told me he would do me a one time favor and reverse the decision so that I get a refund, but that in the future I would have to get on touch with FedEx to get them to provide me with a letter that states the package was not shipped to me. Yes, you read that correctly, Ebay policy is for the buyer to prove a package was not shipped to them, literally LOL over the ridiculousness of the entire thing.

I went and looked at the case, and it states I was refunded because Ebay had determined the package had been stolen after delivery. I never said anything about stolen, in fact I told them the exact opposite, that the package had never been shipped to me.

I spoke with FedEx, and just as I told the Ebay guy, they will not provide me with such a letter. So, when someone provides you with a fraudulent tracking number, it is on you to prove it wasn't shipped to you, which is something you literally have no way of proving.

Figured I would leave the seller some feedback, so as to warn others not to buy from him, and the next day my feedback had been removed.

So, Ebay, in their infinite wisdom has decided it is better to side with a literal fraud/scammer who has 8 feedback, against an upstanding Ebayer who has had their account since 1998, and not so much as a neutral feedback. Go figure, just be warned folks, Ebay used to look after both sellers and buyers doing their best to protect from fraud, but in my case they are literally protecting the fraudulent party at every turn.

ba0701 · ‎02-10-2021

Copied directly from the OP, "He told me he would do me a one time favor and reverse the decision so that I get a refund, but that in the future I would have to get on touch with FedEx to get them to provide me with a letter that states the package was not shipped to me"

How does one get a hold of a person at Ebay that is actually helpful? Serious question, because the last few people I dealt with wouldn't listen to what I was trying to explain to them, they kept saying the tracking shows delivered. The only person I spoke to with common sense said the case would def get ruled in my favor based on the 1LBS issue alone, but that I would have to wait the 3 days before I could ask for their help. Ebay has intentionally removed access to any and all phone numbers, when I have emailed them I get nothing but generic canned responses, they clearly have no desire to actually put themselves in a position to help those who have actually been wronged, at least not without making the process as painful as possible. It shouldn't be this difficult, when it clearly didn't use to be. Ebay has made a conscious choice that they'd rather deal with scammers, than the other 90% who are actually good honest people. Sad, but lesson learned.

I see threads on here, a lot of power sellers have also been leaving recently, seems Ebay chose to side with scammers as buys and sellers, over the rest of their user base. Things don't go from really good, the Ebay of old, to this bad without some real intent on the part of Ebay, there were conscious decisions made in order for things to get to this level. The rest of us will simply take our $ and move onto sites that provide better protections, and that are more friendly to honest and trustworthy commerce.

This is also a real question, not being a smart ass. Why would I be upset with FedEx? FedEx was paid to deliver a 1LBS package to Knoxville, TN and they saw their contractual obligations through successfully. I am not the shipper or the recipient of this package, in fact as far as FedEx is concerned they have no business with me whatsoever, in this transaction. FedEx didn't provide me with a fraudulent tracking number, though they do allow fraud such as this to be perpetrated easier through their service by not providing the zip code, but they have no monetary obligation to provide any letter, or even so much as an email to me. I understand their side, why would they pay one of their employees to provide me with a letter because some scammer decided to fraudulently provide me with a tracking number on a site with no connection to them or their company? That literally makes no sense to me. This package wasn't shipped to me, it had nothing to do with me, this guy got a tracking number from another sale, or perhaps he works in a drop ship distributor as mentioned earlier, either way he got a tracking number coming to my city that was in no way related to the transaction I had with him. That transaction was completed on Ebay, but had nothing to do with FedEx at all. So, it was the seller/scammers responsibility to make right, when that didn't happen it should have fallen on Ebay, but that also didn't happen until after a ton of time was spent and aggravation had taken place. Then when I tried to warn others, using Ebays system for doing so, the feedback gets deleted. Saddest thing is these scammers are reading this thread right now, and putting an action plan together so as to get away with even more fraud, because a glaring deficiency has been found in Ebay's policies, and Ebay shows no desire to rectify it.

FedEx did not F up at all, this was not a package shipped to me but delivered to the wrong address, this was not an air compressor at all. FedEx has the recipient's name and address, neither of which are related to me in any way, so FedEx has not done a thing wrong in this case.

myangelandmyprincess · ‎02-10-2021

Because despite fed ex not doing anything wrong they are the only ones with evidence of the scam...if it was something that went to court they could legally be required to provide that info. So it's not unreasonable for them to provide that evidence without it having to get that far.

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

ba0701 · ‎02-10-2021

I don't disagree with your sentiments, at all. It certainly would make things much easier from my point of view. I am only going off the fact that they were very adamant that they would not provide this information, and from a business stand point, I understand where they are coming from, given I am in no way related to that package, and they have not received any $ from me or on my behalf.

myangelandmyprincess · ‎02-10-2021

I would say showing your purchase connected with the tracking number to the tracking number should give them reason to provide just a letter saying it was not sent your your address. Others have successfully gotten such letters from shipping companies as long as it didn't give out personal info about where it was shipped. Of course since they already gave you that info anyhow it makes refusing to give you any letter at all make even less sense.

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

ba0701 · ‎02-10-2021

She didn't initially give me the recipient info intentionally, it was clearly a mistake made by her. When she called, she began by asking for the actual recipient, instead of me who opened the case. I explained to her I had gotten the tracking # from my Ebay purchase, and I am the recipient of said package, as I literally thought she may have gotten one case confused with another one. She then asked for the # again, I gave it to her, she mentioned the address, before asking me my address, then when she saw that was different as well, she asked me what the item was. I told her an air compressor, and she stated that I had been given a fraudulent tracking number, telling me this package was 1LBS, and it was contained in a FedEx shipping box. So, her giving me the name and address were a mistake as far as I could tell.

whgamer · ‎02-10-2021

Sounds like a case for good old pro Ebay Griff. Is he still around? Get in touch.

ba0701 · ‎02-10-2021

If he can help, I'll absolutely talk to him. Is he a user here, under that name?

myangelandmyprincess · ‎02-10-2021

I realize it was a mistake but being they had already given personal info even by mistake would violate privacy rules. And since they gave you that refusing to give something that wouldn't violate privacy is silly

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

be_4101 · ‎02-10-2021

@ba0701 wrote:
1. I purchased an item on Ebay, and a week after it was purchased I asked the seller for a tracking number, as one was not posted, which the seller did.

2. The only information available with the FedEx tracking number was that it was heading to my city.

3. The day the package showed delivered, there was no package, and none was delivered to my home

4. I opened a case with FedEx.

Domestically, DHL, FedEx, and UPS all show the

-- city and state

-- in tracking

-- publicly

as soon as the tracking number is created.

This creates a data leak so if a seller-scammer needed a tracking number that will eventually prove delivery to a buyer-pigeon in e.g. South Charleston WV, the scammer could use

-- any number of websites or apps

-- that can provide a DHL/FedEx/UPS tracking number

-- that's predestined for delivery soon in e.g. South Charleston WV.

The OP's seller @3eyedfishcatcher didn't pack or ship anything: They just uploaded a random tracking number that's already headed to the OP's city and state.

1. Your seller @ba0701 waited a week to confirm that the tracking number had started moving, as sometimes a label is created, but never used.

2. The tracking only needs to show delivery to your city and state, as

-- DHL, FedEx, and UPS

-- do not show zip codes in tracking.

Unfortunately, both eBay and PayPal accept either a zip code, or anywhere in the entire city and state, as proof of delivery.

3. The tracking number was for the package delivery to the actual recipient. Your scammer provided a copy of that tracking number. Nothing was shipped to you.

4. As you noted, you (and the scammer) are not a FedEx customer on that tracking number. FedEx has no obligation to

a. talk to you,

b. provide any information, or

c. pay an employee to write a letter for you,

as there's no profit doing any of that. And if it becomes a legal case, just like phone records for example, FedEx could still refuse to share any private information.

ba0701 · ‎02-11-2021

You 100% got it, every point was spot on. Thank you!

mc3650 · ‎09-01-2021

I just got off the phone with ebay telling me I need to somehow get UPS to put in writing, where a package that I am neither the official recipient (by name or address) of or the sender of was delivered to. Obviously this would violate UPS customer privacy and safety policies and procedures. But this is what is required of a buyer who was scammed, to be remedied.

This is after I first became suspicious when no shipping detail was provided and a 2 week estimate was given for a small 3"x 3" US domestic package.

I first asked the seller if he/she had shipped the product on 8/26/2021 the 3rd day after my buy it now payment was sent through paypal.

On Monday 8/30/2021 after no response I contacted ebay. They told me if no response by 9/3/2021 they would refund me.

The next day 8/31/2021 I see an 2 ebay message saying 1) tracking updated, 2) the package was delivered and I should respond by 9/1/2021 or my claim will be settled.

I sent 1 message to the seller saying I had not received anything, which as of now has no response.

I tried to respond to the ebay message serval times through out the day of 8/31/2021 to say I did not receive anything and the delivery info from the tracking number looks bogus. But the every time I'd hit submit on the ebay page it would say "Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later"

I then somehow got someone from ebay on the phone through the chat system and was told that my claim was still good and if I don't receive the item ebay will refund me and not to worry, ebay is holding the funds.

I explained what I believed the to be a fake tracking number scam and was told repeatedly that I was safe and the claim will be processed on 9/3/2021 as the system has to allow the seller the minimum time to remedy the issue.

9/1/2021 at 3AM I received a message saying my request (ask ebay to step in) is closed due to inactivity since the item was delivered, with the option to "send and appeal" if not satisfied. The appeal process is another email circle jerk.

The appeal page states as information you will need when appealing: "Proof that your item was delivered to the wrong address". How do I do that? I am not listed as a recipient and I did not ship it or have the shipping receipt. I'm just some guy with a tracking number. The page also says will take 24hrs or more for a response.

At this point there is no explicit way to speak to a CS agent because the transactionID is marked as delivered and related request are closed.

So somehow I went through the sellers fees Q&A chat system and got a CS agent to call me back. After I explained everything she forwarded the call to another person who then told me I need proof the packaged wasn't delivered to me. After going back and forth on the logic of requiring the buyer to prove a negative and how the courier doesn't have any official channels to do what ebay is requiring from buyers, I gave up.

I decided to just do a credit card / paypal charge back. I'll let American Express and Paypal listen to that nonsense.

Ebay has an obvious conflict of interest in dispute resolution, that they have decided to ignore.

Ebay is paid through fees from sales. It is in ebay's interest to make it very difficult for a buyer to get a refund.

When the seller is acting in good faith then this may not pose a problem but when the seller is a scammer, ebay's policies enable the furtherance of the fraud.

mc3650 · ‎09-01-2021

I just got off the phone with ebay telling me I need to somehow get UPS, to put in writing, where a package that I am neither, the official recipient (by name or address) of or the sender of, was delivered to. Obviously this would violate UPS customer privacy and safety policies and procedures. But this is what is required of a buyer who was scammed, to be remedied.