Well it finally happened

[kkpilchers]

It finally happened.  A person ordered a palmrest/keyboard assembly from me and opened a return for it being defective. Then he returned his old assembly on which he had unsuccessfully attempted repairs.  The part he returned had totally different identification numbers on it than the one I sent and was cosmetically a mess.  The one I sent was near perfect. This buyer was scamming me.  I made ebay aware of this sending them six pictures showing the returned unit could not possibly be the unit I sent out.  And guess what ebay did?  They settled the case in my favor!!  HAHA.  Just kidding.  They found in the buyer's favor and gave him a refund just like everybody else on these forums said would happen.  I'm an idiot for even attempting this.  Of course I have a brand spanking new defect against my account.  I should have listened.

[twiggs55]

Same thing happened to me a few years back. Guy bought a keyboard from me that was in perfect condition, took out the parts he wanted when he received it and then said it wasn't as described and returned it for a full refund, even though I had pictures to prove he had ruined it. No matter, eBay found in favor of him and this is why I won't sell electronics on here again

[wastingtime101]

Sorry man, that's the way eBay rolls. You're TRS, but your no returns policy prevents you from accessing the 50% refund option on buyer switcheroos. While it's not an ideal system, it does minimize losses in cases like this. How much money are we talking here? You should report the buyer to eBay and to USPS for mail fraud.

[katzrul15]

Have you thought about changing your return policy to 30 days/buyer pays returns to qualify for TRS protections?

Really sorry about this - it is becoming something that e-bay really does need to address.  It really bites when a Buyer steals from you as a Seller.  

(5) eBay for Business | Facebook

I would message them and try to appeal this.  Especially as you can prove the S/Ns are different.  Good luck!

[dnasilver]

If you have definitive proof that the item sent back was not what you sold, then the individual has committed interstate fraud. Contact the feds, it is a felony to commit interstate fraud and to facilitate one. 

[kkpilchers]

I have thought about it.  I'm a one-man show.  I do it all.  I buy electronics, repair them, list them, pack them ship them, do taxes quarterly.  I can't afford to add the task of handling returns on top of this.  I sell GPS' that people could buy, go on vacation, then return.  Walmart can do this.  I can't . I can't have stuff coming and going racking up shipping charges never knowing that what I sold is going to stay sold.

[duncanvr]

Did you talk to the ebay call center in Philippines? Try ebay for business on Facebook message them and see if you get a better response from US based reps. Unfortunately sellers do not have a leg to stand on when scammers pull this **bleep**. ebay needs to stand up for sellers in this case especially where seller can show proof with images the buyer is scamming for free product. Not much else you can do except block the buyer and hit the report buyer button as well. I don't know how these scammers live with themselves they make me sick.

[jonathankirkland]

Very sorry for this. Every time I read one of these no matter the dollar amount it makes me angry/sad/upset for the honest sellers here. Though if you've had over 2,000 sales and this is the first time this has happened then that is a GOOD thing honestly. Not good that you were cheated but good that you've had mostly honest buyers and successful sales.

I know that doesn't make it sting any less. Nobody deserves to be cheated by these cowards who hide behind a keyboard, most of which I am certain would pee themselves if they even attempted to steal a stick of gum in real life.

As said above you could try to contact Ebay on FB and see if you can get a courtesy refund of the monies lost from ebay, but as we all know that does nothing to solve the heart of the real issue.

[shag182]

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@kkpilchers wrote:

It finally happened.  A person ordered a palmrest/keyboard assembly from me and opened a return for it being defective. Then he returned his old assembly on which he had unsuccessfully attempted repairs.  The part he returned had totally different identification numbers on it than the one I sent and was cosmetically a mess.  The one I sent was near perfect. This buyer was scamming me.  I made ebay aware of this sending them six pictures showing the returned unit could not possibly be the unit I sent out.  And guess what ebay did?  They settled the case in my favor!!  HAHA.  Just kidding.  They found in the buyer's favor and gave him a refund just like everybody else on these forums said would happen.  I'm an idiot for even attempting this.  Of course I have a brand spanking new defect against my account.  I should have listened.

---

Didn't you get the memo about FEEbay to the buyers, especially the dishonest and scamming buyers:

It's not "if" the seller will be SCAMMED, it's when (add a time and date stamp)..... Haha!

[dentalrprtek2012]

eBay is all about the buyers and don’t care a bit about the sellers. I had a terrible situation with a dishonest buyer provided by eBay cost  me 3800.00 plus my item. I then had a buyer ask for a return on a item that was sold as parts with no return, ebays message to me was please consider giving the buyer a refund so they would have a positive experience I sent a message back to eBay that those days are over. They are crazy after what they had done.

[duffy4444]

Sadly, here we go again...  I'll say it one more time:

   Never, Ever ship a high-value item until Ebay gets off their can and institutes some Seller Protections against the rise in buyer scams such as this. It's the shipping that opens up a whole different set of buyer scam possibilities.

   Instead, use local pickup for higher-value items, where you have more common-sense control over the transaction, and totally remove the shipping scam from the equation. Or use a venue like Craigslist for those items, the loss of which, and even possibly your money as well, would really hurt.

   Sellers should not be put into the position of endless emails, loss of sleep, filing police reports, contacting the FBI, contacting the USPS Postal Inspector's office, or dealing with incompetent Ebay Customer No-Service personnel who don't speak with one voice or have the authority to properly rectify a problem or scam such as this.

   Cheers, Duffy

[postingid7659]

The choice is:

Allow returns, have some control over what happens

Do not allow returns, have no control and get returns anyways, plus always get hit for return shipping.  

Your choice.  

[kkpilchers]

UPDATE:  I appealed this ruling and eBay reversed it!!!!

I had to provide additional pictures as eBay apparently misplaced the ones I previously sent.

The city of Oak Ridge is erecting an Historical Marker in my front yard as I type this:

"In this place on June 14, 2021 an eBay Seller won an appeal against an unscrupulous buyer who returned a different/inferior item than was shipped."

Thank you all who suggested doing this!

[pikabo-icu]

   Good for you!!  I hope & pray it's permanent. 

[katzrul15]

Excellent news for you!!  Glad reaching out to them worked!!!