As a person who has been buyer and seller on Ebay for 20 years, I have seen a lot change in that time. I recently ran into an issue with a buyer who I believe was attempting a scam, and Ebay did not back me at all. This buyer purchased a camera off of me for $560, they had zero feedback and opened the account the very day the won my camera. Yes, I know everyone needs to start somewhere, but that is a red flag with a high ticket item.
They received the item, and near 3 weeks pass before they file a claim against me for a full refund ISNAD. Claiming the camera, which was used only twice "Made a strange noise", which to me it didn't. No pictures, no evidence, just that it made a strange noise. Ok, so how is that "Significantly not as described"? Well, according to Ebay, it is.
I emailed the buyer, they never responded. They never contacted me directly when they had this alleged issue. Brand new to ebay and they jump right to the open a case tab before contacting me? Sounds a little shady to me!
After 3 days, they never responded, and Ebay kept emailing ME, stating I needed to contact them, which I had done, but for some reason they don't see that on their end. So at day 4, I contacted ebay stating that I believe this was a scam, and the buyer never responded to me, have zero feedback with a brand new account, and that this is a problem on this site.
Ebay replied with, "We've reviewed this case and we've sided with the buyer". **bleep**?! I've been here for 20 years with an above average account and you side with them???
So here, I'm going to share with you the email I sent to the buyer, which I believe helped my situation.
I see eBay sided with you, congratulations. Someone who just registered their account a few hours before buying a high ticket item from a 20 year seller. Then wants a refund after a few weeks? And doesn’t respond when I message? Nor contacted me directly with any questions? That sounds like fraud to me.
So, here’s what’s going to happen. If I receive anything other than what I shipped you, in any other condition than what I shipped you, you can expect this.
I may live in Delaware now, but I just moved down from Elizabeth NJ. Where my husband is very close friends with 6 NYPD officers. One of which is a detective. So, I can bypass filing a fraud report through my local PD and go directly to the source. And being that we’re friends, they won’t sit on the paperwork. They’ll have your address and meet you at your door charged with fraud and mail fraud.
So, if you do decide to go through with this, and the item isn’t what I sent you, expect the above to happen. You can be guaranteed of that.
A few days later, they replied that they had taken the camera into the shop and that the noise was normal, however there's dust in the lens. You have got to be kidding me!!! I responded a few times with links to articles that dust cant be avoided, its normal, and that they cant just change their reasoning for the return.
From that point, they went dark, and I never heard from them again. They were given 14 days to return the camera, and they never did. Maybe they didn't want to take the chance if I was bluffing or truthful about having NYPD come out. They'll never know!
I want to leave you with this. This was the 3rd case opened against me in a month. The other 2 were because they wanted to know why the post office was taking so long to deliver their items! SERIOUSLY! With that, I'm done ebay. You sided with a con artist and I refuse to sell here any longer. Its not worth it anymore, and that's a shame
