WTH? Former seller, now former buyer

[stonevintage]

I was.. a long time seller - then shipping got to be to much so just a buyer for the last 2 years. I had a recent experience you guys need to know about. Here 'tis.

Purchased an item (8511 masks on 6/5/20) Description said 2 box, 10 items (masks) in that box. I purchased and 1 day later thought to go back and purchase a 2nd box. Seller had ended the listing and relisted. Now, only 1 single mask for 30.00.  I had purchased my box of 10 (in factory box) 6 photos showed a stack of 10 masks with original 3M box. I received one mask in a cardboard box unwrapped.

So, got on the phone with Ebay, filed a claim (as a previous long term seller here) insisted that this go past customer service to Trust & Safety (seller only had 3 feedback rating) - so that obvious fraud could be document and seller booted.  They walked thru the listing with me, sent me a transcript of conversation and documentation.

I received stock results - send back for refund.  I am corona'd in my house and can't get to PO to mail back. Have no printer. So, decided to eat the 30 bucks knowing that the neg feedback I left, plus the 1/2 hour on phone would likely see justice come to this scammer.

Not, they have removed my neg and seller is still out there.  Sorry to say, I will NEVER purchase from this site again. This solely due to the neg getting removed and to my walking baby steps with trust and safety thru the fraud listing.  I feel I did what I could to get the neg to stick.   Just a heads up, apparently - no matter how far you go to get bad sellers off this site... there is a force working against honest buyers and sellers.  Sad...

[kensgiftshop]

Since the seller was selling a banned item, that should tell you what kind of a seller they are.

[golfingaddict]

I had a buyer on another Site pull that "I can't print a label garbage"  The thing is, she didn't want to pay to return the item.  She begged me to mail her a label because she could print one.  (the label was provided, but the buyer had to pay and print it off)  she tried opening a gift return, and a regular return, but each time she would have to pay for the return.  She went back and forth with me using all kinds of excuses why she could not print a label.  And I should MAIL her a label, which I refused to do.

 I finally simply said.  "here is my address, take it to the post office and mail it back"  

Then she told me that the UPS store quoted her $48 to return the item (should cost about $10) 

I finally quit responding to her and she shipped it back.  USPS for $10

SMH  the lengths people will go to ...

[mam98031]

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@stonevintage wrote:

Thanks Mam - karma will do its thing.  I just felt, as in the past working with trust & safety that the whole reason for contacting them specifically and explaining the situation was to "interrupt" the system from automatically doing its thing.  They sent me transcripts of our conversation and it was very clear they understood what the seller had done. 

 In other words, regardless if I returned the item or not - refund or not... they still should have dealt with a bad seller when the evidence was right there in front of them.  This was not an item condition issue.

Just posting here to alert sellers.  I know how hard good sellers work to maintain their rep and as always, they need to know what the playing field looks like. I am pro seller. IMO, its good to hear from a buyers prospective from time to time. Its important to know what experiences they may be having that are detrimental to business.

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Ebay will take care of the seller in time.  They are breaking the price gouging rules as well as selling a banned item.  So Ebay will catch up with them.

For the future, it is important to acknowledge what some of the other posters have said to you.  If you can not figure out a way to have a friend or neighbor help you with printing off a return label in case you find the need to return something you have purchased on the internet.  You may not want to purchase off the internet anymore.

While this item was regarding price gouging, your other purchases are likely not and your seller has every right to expect if you file a Request for Return that you have the ability to actually return the item.  The street goes both ways.  Your seller needs to give you proper customer service and you as the buyer needs to give the seller their products back.  If you can't do that, it is completely unfair to the seller.

But I bet if you put your mind to it, you can find someone to help you if the need arises in the future.  And you don't have to actually go to the PO to mail it back.  You can mail it from home by putting it with your outgoing mail.  If it won't fit in your box, you can go to USPS.com and request a carrier pick up for free.

Knowing that you couldn't actually return the item, I'm unsure why you opened a Request for return case.  What was it that you expected?  And why are you mad at Ebay.  Ebay didn't do anything wrong here.  You were unable to follow through with the Request for Return you filed.  That isn't on Ebay or the seller, even thought he seller was wrong in what they were selling.

[pjcdn2005]

I don't assume that someone who opens a nad case and doesn't return the item is a scammer. There could be other reasons why they changed their mind. I think that in some cases, they feel it just isn't worth the effort. Until I started selling on ebay, I never had any packing materials at home...if I wanted to mail a package to someone, I had to specifically go out and get packing tape, find a box etc. and it was a pain.  In those days internet shopping wasn't a big thing so I didn't have tons of boxes from other stores  like I do now.

Or, I've read tons of posts from buyers who get frustrated because the seller is international and they won't send money for a label. If they don't know how to proceed from there, they may just not bother to try and figure it out.

Or...I'm a horrible procrastinator and I have been known to wait to late to do something...for example return an item. There were no ill intentions however, let's say the item I ordered was advertised as new in box and the item sent was obviously well used.  I wouldn't expect a refund if I didn't sent the item back but I would be upset if I couldn't leave honest feedback.

Perhaps those aren't great reasons but they are examples of a buyer opening a return and then not returning an item.  If they are willing to forgo the refund....I don't think they should have to forgo feedback too. 

I do understand your point than some people do not have good intentions but I don't think that is the norm.

[pjcdn2005]

My impression is that they are upset at ebay because the feedback was removed.  I see quite a few posts from buyers who get frustrated that their feedback was removed when they feel that it was justified feedback.

[golfingaddict]

I don't think that everyone is a scammer.  I don't think  everyone has bad intentions. That is not even close to my experiences.  I just think that if you buy online and you file a case that something is wrong with the transaction or the item, then you should be prepared to return that item, and if you can't or won't, then you should not be able to slam the seller with negative feedback.   If you can't or won't return the item, then why the case?  You wanted something.. refund? Partial refund?  refund without return? Cause harm to the seller?  Obviously, ebay agrees.

The OP states she wanted to get the seller off the site.  She didn't want a refund for a bad product/bad description.  She spent 30 minutes on the phone with trust and safety.   and in her words she wanted "justice to the scammer"

We don't even know if the seller was a scammer, in fact, it is possible that the seller made an error and that is why the listing was ended and relisted.  She did not spend time trying to find a solution to printing a label, she spent that time trying to get the seller kicked off of ebay.   

[bonjourami]

As previously mentioned, seems a long time seller would have a printer, and its simple enough to schedule a pkg pick up at your home.Which I presume a long time seller would know.

[stonevintage]

Yes pjc, that is why I was upset.  I didn't  file a case against the seller.  I did a "verbal" walk thru of the listing and subsequent changes with trust & safety and left them to it.  They told me they would contact me to notify of their decision.  2 days later I received the email saying that they filed a claim on my behalf and I was to return the item. That was their "decision"?  They made no mention of what sanctions if any they were going to put on the seller. I wanted them off but also figured that what they would do is let a neg stick and put the seller on probation.   It wasn't until a week later that I looked at the sellers account that I saw the neg removed and the sellers feedback at 100% positive. 

Our small city in the last three weeks has gone from 89 covid cases to 996 cases. I had originally planned to go to the post office to return, then as things quickly got worse here, thought I would return the item with postage stamps affixed (and requesting pickup from local mailman) until I read about the tracking requirement. I could not find the answer how to get tracking when mailing from home without a label. 

Our small city went from 89 Virus cases on 6/23 to 994 cases by 7/15. We became a "red zone" city and so I just decided to eat the money rather than go to the post office.

 But I still felt that trust & safety would take some action to prevent this seller from being able to do this again. I feel he knew what he did and it was no accident.

When I said this was a new seller, it looked by his feedback that he used to sell on a regular basis... then a year lag or so in feedback then new recent listings, this item being one of the 4 he had up for sale.

I still shop online Amazon fulfillment and direct purchases from retailers. Fast, great communication and no problems.   No more 3rd party transactions for me.  

[bonjourami]

Probably for the best..and Ebay will never tell you of any sanctions against a seller, due to privacy rules here.

[moondogblues]

Hope this gets worked out for you but there are masks for sale at a drugstore (W) 50 for about 18.00.  They ship.