I have proof a buyer committed fraud against me and eBay will do nothing about it.

[varietymailers]

I've been selling on ebay for 20 years and I've never had to deal with an issue like this. Here's the short version ... Buyer  purchased items that weighed approximately SIX POUNDS. As soon as they received the items they opened a return against me, saying item was damaged. (pure **bleep**) I noticed a tracking number associated with the return so I watched it and it was never scanned by USPS. After a week I get a notice that a case was opened against me, then two minutes later the case was closed in the buyer's favor and they received a full refund. I appealed. I received no notice the item was shipped, no tracking number and I never received the items. In their reply, ebay supplied a different tracking number which showed a package was delivered in the town I live in with the same zip code. I called USPS and was told, that the tracking supplied by ebay showed that a FOUR OUNCE package was shipped to a different address than mine. Not delivered by accident, it was purposely addressed to a completely different address. I went to the post office and picked up a copy of the documents that prove it was a scam. I have attempted to reopened the appeal FIVE TIMES. I have spoken to FIVE different ebay reps who have all agreed this is a scam, they take down all of the relevant information but the say they can't do anything and they have to escalate the appeal. They say I will be contacted within 24 to 48 hours. So what happens next is I get a lame form letter email stating the case has been closed and I should open a LOST PACKAGE case with USPS. This has happened four times now. And now after this fifth service report I haven't heard anything. I am posting here to appeal to any reseller YouTubers out there to caution their ebay sellers that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EBAY SELLER PROTECTION. What little protection we had in the past is now GONE.

[chrispass918]

I believe eBay is right 

[ittybitnot · Accepted solution]

@varietymailers 

What you are describing is nothing new.  It is sometimes called the "cheap trinket return scam" or the seller victim variation of a fake tracking scam.   When it happens to a buyer (cheap item sent to an address in their Zipcode), they at least have the opportunity of file a credit card chargeback.  When it happens to a seller it is not so easy.  eBay's protocol is designed to help EBAY, not the victims be they a seller or buyer. 

Do not appeal again, (because eBay's latest excuse has been something in order of you exhausting the amount of allowed appeals or some such) and the regular customer service you get from the outsourced foreign call center reps in a call back or chat have no authority to help you other then insist there is tracking showing delivery. The "24-48 hour promise of a call back" is typically  code for NEVER.  

If you have documents from USPS that shows the parcel with the tracking number was not a parcel intended for you, you are halfway there.  USPS (as well as eBay) knows all about this scam.  USPS seems to be much more cooperative of late in helping victims with this problem.  They will often give you a photo of the actual label with that tracking number used against you, or a signed and dated letter from your Post Master attesting to same. 

Your next step is to contact eBay through their social media portals.  Use the blue MESSAGE button on this page:

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness

OR

https://twitter.com/askebay

You will need to likely provide your USER ID, item number, a brief description of the issue and upload copies of your documentation.  If your buyer is no longer a registered user, that is useful information as well. 

Of an additional note, the scam you are experiencing is often a function of internationally based buyers who use a freight forwarding address in the US.  These are typically located (but not limited to) Delaware, Florida, Oregon, Texas etc.   If that was the case for your sale, the buyer should have been prohibited from filing a Money Back Guarantee against you in the first place.  eBay does not take that sort of preventative  action on their own, and it is up to the seller to point that out, usually when the claim first begins.  So, I would also check on that before compiling your report. 

Please let us know how this works out for you, or if you have any additional questions. 

[klhmdg]

You are correct - eBay will not protect the seller.

You can try going to the eBay FB page and sending a private message.

Keep it just information. 

They will contact you and can look into this.

Calling CS is known to not get the best response or information.

[varietymailers]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

[vintagecraze50]

You got the fake delivery to the wrong address which in the same zip code scam. With something like this you have to get evidence from the post office showing that the tracking for the package given to ebay has falsified address on the package. This is really BLATANT MAIL FRAUD and you should go to the receiving PO and get EVERY BIT OF INFO on where this package went and try to get the PO TO COOPERATE WITH A MAIL FRAUD SCAM AND GIVE YOU THE NECESSARY INFO TO SUBMIT to ebay in an appeal. 

[varietymailers]

I received all of my money back this morning after reaching out on Facebook. I never would have thought to do that, so big thanks to everyone who helped me here, I appreciate it. I was reaching a desperate stage and probably would have ended up getting my account suspended had I not thought to post here before really starting some trouble. It was a ridiculous journey that never should have happened. I am so disappointed in eBay for not having a better system for reporting this. eBay is a huge customer of USPS, you can't tell me they can't work with them to be able to easily verify detailed tracking info, so scams like this can be detected and resolved quickly. Good sellers are the face of this company and they need to realize that.  Why would anyone continue selling on this platform if it allows scams like this to easily be committed and then ignored when reported?

The scammer has been unregistered by eBay.

Thanks again, Jim

[lakefor94]

Nice work @varietymailers and @ittybitnot 

[ittybitnot]

@varietymailers 

Good for you!  So glad it worked out for you.  And yes, eBay needs man up and post some sort of procedure for fake tracking scam issues be the victim a buyer or a seller.  

[maryk2510]

Lucky you to at least get all your money back through FB, not all of us have social media so have lost the funds of the sale.  You are correct "good sellers are the face of [Ebay] and should be protected.

[isaiah53-57]

In my opinion, with policies and service like this as well as outlandish fees, I don't see how anyone with anything of value would sell here anymore - From our experience, buyers like this just keep right on scamming as little to nothing is done about it - We were scammed by a buyer who had innumerable false-positive feedback(wish we had seen that to begin with) - It was our intention to try to get the scammer booted, so we contacted the sellers who had dealings with the buyer - We found a large number had already reported the thief and many others said they would report him/her after our contact - 4 to 6 months down the road, the thief was still buying with impunity and had a bunch of new false positive feedback - Nothing changed - They may still be at it...

I personally think they cant remove ANY buyers, no matter how bad they are because they are so desperate for them... That experience was enough for us to know it was time to get out before it got worse... and that was about 4 to 5 years ago when they had more buyers than they do now... Happy ebaying

[bhester12]

At least you didnt buy a stolen truck from someone, ebay does nothing about anything. And theyll let the seller continue to screw people. Ebay sucks 

[nh_sales_lv]

That's nothing. I had proof also submitted by the buyer himself to Ebay Directly via Ebay's messaging system. I won on Appeal and got the Appeal Certification letter directly from CS.

The following few days after i won my Appeal some Alfonso or Eduardo from Ebay sent me a message claiming Everything that's happened up to this point is considered MISINFORMATION, You Lose HAHA !

I lost a Snowblower and a few thousand dollars.