Buyer Returned a Box of rocks. E-bay says Sorry cost of E-commerce

[djd16]

Sold Set of Eight New OEM Mopar 6.2L hemi coils. No returns Replace defective only. Round and round with the customer.  Filed a Not as described Return because they did not fit his truck. Told him No go. Not returnable. Then He says one is defective. I said fine, I will send you another. Then he says three are defective and He does not want to figure out which three and wants to return. He  Pushes it thru E-bay as a escalated return.  Week later as I am doing returns.  I open a LARGE Flat rate box with my Medium Flat rate box inside,  that I shipped the item in. I open the inner box and there is a bunch of broken bricks. A old Potato, and Parts from a electric motor.   I take pictures of everything, File a complaint thru E-bay, call E-bay.

There response is  " Sorry you have to expect this once in awhile. That is the cost of Doing Business thru E-commerce"  My response was no this is the cost of doing business thru E-bay.

So I am out $100. For the parts, Plus Flat rate USPS Shipping Both ways.

[martin2001]

If this is what happens you need to involve the police.

First I would send a message (thru ebay!...ot a regular email. and no phone calls whatsever) to the buyer that you intend to file a police report and you will also involve Postal Inspectors.  Inform him that this is (I would presume he is in another state) ) an interstate commerce issue, it is a very serious federal crime. Tell him, to consider the facts and give him a few days to consider the potential dire consequences and ask him to pay you back. If he is not cooperating, then file a police report. The best way is to find the local police dept in his county, if not with your police dept. Frame it as Internet Fraud.

Find the a federal agency site where to file internet fraud (just google internet fraud reporting or something like this) . Also visit your post master and file an Internet fraud report. Once you have done this, send a copy to the buyer and tell him he still has a chance to end this quickly. Also call ebay and ask them for the fax number /address to send the police report.

Arm yourself with the photos of the content, details of the label showing the weight etc. that you will be providing to the investigators.

Lot of work if you want to pursue the loss. You have to decide. I would presume that if you write a buyer a serious message, he would reconsider and pay.

[mobley120]

And, you probably want receive a credit for eBay's fees: it's no lost to eBay. So, they really don't  care.

Sorry such happened to you; I know what it's like.

Best of luck to you.

[martin2001]

One more thing. If you have a witness (e.g. family member)  that this is what he sent you, your case would be much stronger, if you could have a notarized statement by the witness about the content of the package.

[mobley120]

Won't receive* ugh

[nickelsanddimes2015]

Ebay tried that with me and I kept calling back until I got to the right person. Keep calling until you get to loss and safety or theft and safety I believe. They told me I needed to go down to the police station and file a report. I took the item the customer returned and my ebay listing they created a report then as soon as I uploaded it ebay refunded the money back into my account. But you have to get the right person to authorize it first at ebay. Be patient and be kind to them and you will get it handled 🙂

[mobley120]

No lost profit to eBay* double ugh... But let me repeat that, no lost profit to eBay... One more time, NO LOST PROFIT TO EBAY

[dtexley3]

Sorry you are going through this.  The following steps should be taken when this happens.

1. Open a mail fraud report on USPS.com

2. Open a fraud report on IC3.gov.

3. File a police report with your local PD and ask that it be sent to the buyers PD.  Insist if they balk, mail fraud is a federal felony and not a civil matter.  You need the report to file with eBay.

4. File an appeal with eBay and upload the documentation above.  As many times a necessary.

5. Optional: Notify the buyer that you have not received what you sent them, you received bricks.  Tell them that mail fraud is a felony and you have notified the USPS, IC3.gov (FBI) and their local Police Dept.

6. BLOCK the buyer.

7. REPORT the buyer for MBG abuse on eBay.

You may or may not get refunded out of eBay's pocket.  But this needs to be done every time a fraudulent returns occurs.  It gets the scamming buyer on the radar with the authorities (or additional attention if they are already on the radar) and forces eBay to have a financial stake in the transaction.  

eBay could do a lot to cut down on this but won't until it starts costing them real money and that why it's important to follow all the steps every time.

[orangehound]

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@nickelsanddimes2015 wrote:

Ebay tried that with me and I kept calling back until I got to the right person. Keep calling until you get to loss and safety or theft and safety I believe. They told me I needed to go down to the police station and file a report. I took the item the customer returned and my ebay listing they created a report then as soon as I uploaded it ebay refunded the money back into my account. But you have to get the right person to authorize it first at ebay. Be patient and be kind to them and you will get it handled 🙂

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@nickelsanddimes2015 

When did this happen?  I was under the impression that eBay stopped doing this about 6 months ago.

[7606dennis]

If this is done through the USPS it would potentially be a case of mail fraud and you should report it to the USPS postal inspectors for investigation.  I would also file an incident report with your local law enforcement agency.  The case number will be useful in any insurance claim or to substantiate a casualty loss on you tax return. 

[mobley120]

"You may or may not get refunded out of eBay's pocket. "

Your post is informative and spot-on.

Although, the odds of the seller recovering their losses, is very very slim, probably like 1 in several million. This is why, the cost of legal actions way supersedes the recovery of the seller's losses. And, eBay knows that. About a year or so ago, I went down the same road, in the same light as what the op is stating in their post, although my losses were much more. And, I pretty much followed your posted recommendations. To this day, I haven't recovered any of the losses through eBay and I haven't received any notifications where the matter was taken-up by our legal system. And, eBay did not reimburse me, their charged fees.       

There's very little protection against corporate injustice and or greed. Obviously eBay is infested with a large number of scammers; we read the posts confirming such just about every day. What will it take for eBay to make the appropriate changes within their polices to rectify the problem:

I don't really care for class action lawsuits, for lawyers are the true beneficiaries of such, but it allows the victims' numbers to mass. It is my belief that class action lawsuits act as a deterrent and it also offers some protection from corporate wrong-doings, as their polices will reflect the aspect of a class action lawsuit.

But, eBay is a service provider, kind of like a middle-man. They don't really offer a product, just a service. And that allows them to omit any aspect of a class action lawsuit within their TOS. Many others who merely offer a service have the same provision in their TOS's; it's very prominent in cyber space. And, I will surmise that loophole will make its way into the real world of products, in the future, leaving  the public without any deterrents against corporate greed and wrong-doings. Now, don't take what I'm saying in the wrong way. For I do believe there are particular types of service providers that should be allowed to omit the aspect of a class action lawsuit. But not corporate giant like eBay who govern their clients with tyranny through their many enforced self-profiting, faulty policies.         

I totally agree with your post.

Best regards        

[nickelsanddimes2015]

Hi around 2 1/2 month ago

[gcube_369]

good idea, i did the same for something i sold, took video of the packaging just incase some funny business were to occur, even though i don't accept returns.