Why is eBay saying I need to purchase and send someone a return label when they already sent one?

[sapphire_studio]

I have it set up so return labels are automatically issued. I have free returns. Somebody told me a skincare device they bought from me was not working. I've sold over 20 of these without complaints and it's over $50 so I asked her if she would file a return so I could inspect what was wrong with it. She opened a return and a label was automatically issued to her. A week later she escalated the case (before shipping it) and eBay said for me not to worry about it they were going to make her ship it back before I refund.

Now I just get the following email telling me that there's a problem with the label and that I need to send another label. I don't remember ever reading anything like this on these forums and I'm pretty confused as to why this has happened. Will I be charged for the first label they issued if she attempted to use it and then also have to pay for a second label?

 

[sin-n-dex]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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Ah, the old “I wrote all these notes into this call so anyone who talks to you about this can read them” line huh. I get skeptical with that, but what can you do when eBay has all the power here?

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I work with legal matters, and at my job if that's all the note taking that was done on a call, reps would be fired. (And there is high turnover in our call center, I used to fill in there when they were short staffed). Recording stuff is very important (and they do tape all calls, and listen to them too... at my work).

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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What if they answer, “Good.”

Your move 🙂

I’d probably ask what’s the Mega Ball lottery jackpot at? And if they say they don’t know or a random number I’d call them a LIAR!! There’s no such thing as Mega Ball in the US you American poser. You’ve been bamboozled.

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I got a call at 7am on a Sunday morning from someone with an accent telling me they were calling to help me with my computer. i had been sleeping. I said "What time is it right now?" I got "uh...." I said "that's what I thought". and hung up.

In Canada getting a call from someone with an accent is pretty common, we have lots of foreign reps at my work so other languages can be spoken with people who aren't very advanced in speaking English, lots of people have accents of some kind. So we don't immediately assume it's an overseas scam call by an accent, but getting a call at 7am was a bit of a tip off (plus the fact I didn't have any problems with my computer).

My former spouse used to keep the computer tech scammers on the line as long as possible. They told him to turn on the computer and do some stuff, and asked him what he was looking at. He said "a picture of my cat".

C.

[sapphire_studio]

I definitely appreciate the reminder. The first thing I did after I saw the email an hour ago that the case was reversed was to void that shipping label. Lol

Thanks for your earlier advice about making sure to create the label dispite the advice the reps gave me. I know how smart you are with these things and that was nagging at the back of my head and I'm sure prompted me to call again and finally upload that on friday.

[iamalwaysright]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

That CS message from "Chris" is so bad @sapphire_studio .

Don't forget to void the label on pirateship.

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Yea I totally agree. As I was reading it, I was thinking "Chris is an idiot."

This is my favorite part of the message. "The matter, however, has been closed because you already provided a return shipping label last April 26, 2024." Then three sentences later, he says "Since the shipping label was not provided to the buyer, the case has closed." Chris is definitely stoned on something.

[iamalwaysright]

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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I work with legal matters, and at my job if that's all the note taking that was done on a call, reps would be fired. (And there is high turnover in our call center, I used to fill in there when they were short staffed). Recording stuff is very important (and they do tape all calls, and listen to them too... at my work).

C.

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See, by what you just said I'm positive your previous job wasn't with ebay. 😀

I swear there was a point in time that when agents told me that, I'd ask them to read back to me what they wrote in the notes just to make sure we're on the same page. And the ones who would say "We're not authorized to do that" I'm like riiiiiiiight, okay sure.

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

That CS message from "Chris" is so bad @sapphire_studio .

Don't forget to void the label on pirateship.

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Yea I totally agree. As I was reading it, I was thinking "Chris is an idiot."

This is my favorite part of the message. "The matter, however, has been closed because you already provided a return shipping label last April 26, 2024." Then three sentences later, he says "Since the shipping label was not provided to the buyer, the case has closed." Chris is definitely stoned on something.

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I think it could be a language barrier @iamalwaysright .

One thing is for sure: @sapphire_studio received very inconsistent advice from customer service and the last email was straight up incoherent. Hoping kyle@ebay can have every CS contact reviewed on this transaction to see what went wrong and provide "coaching" where needed. It's disappointing the scammer found a way to game eBay's system, got a refund, and sapphire had such a hard time on something that should have been straightforward.

[broto_64]

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@sapphire_studio wrote:

I got the email from Ebay that I need to send the buyer another return label at 5:04 pm and I got the message today (5 days later) at 5:28 pm. This morning they updated the case to include the new tracking number. I think she had to put in a phone call today and claim to someone she returned it. I don't know why a bot would automatically mark it as being delivered. 

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Hmmm...

I have had a situation once in the past (literally, once in well over a decade of selling) where a buyer supposedly did not get a label issued by ebay and I had to provide "another" one... I was really puzzled because it wasn't the buyer but ebay telling me that, and I called and got in touch with a rep and I finally did just like yourself, long story short however the rest of my transaction went without a hitch (the item was returned, I issued the refund), the reason I say this is supposedly (and according to the ebay rep I spoke to) it is possible for the ebay system to malfunction and fail to issue the buyer a label (despite that it tells us it did)... To this day I am not entirely certain of what exactly did transpire but since it was a one in thousands of transactions event I just let it go.

Your case however seems to be different than mine in one way:

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@sapphire_studio wrote:

I got the email from Ebay that I need to send the buyer another return label at 5:04 pm and I got the message today (5 days later) at 5:28 pm. This morning they updated the case to include the new tracking number. I think she had to put in a phone call today and claim to someone she returned it. I don't know why a bot would automatically mark it as being delivered. 

It's been 2 hours since I got off the phone with eBay and they reversed the decision. But I still don't see any evidence of that. I'm wondering when I'm supposed to get a message that says the case has been reversed.

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What I believe happened here...

Is the second label may have been a ruse of some sort, the buyer was stalling so that the case would time out and they could "ask ebay to step in" which is how ebay found in the buyer's favor: You may wish to check and see if this case was closed "without seller resolution" as that would answer the question why the buyer was refunded without having to return the item.

Still odd thou, in terms of tracking...

I mean if the buyer doesn't return an item the case should always close in the seller's favor.

Perhaps that second label, when the ebay rep supposedly updated the tracking caused the software to malfunction (allowing the buyer to escalate and get a refund)... Hard to say but I am glad to see you got it resolved.

[broto_64]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

"She was an American"...who lives where....

I usually ask on the phone how's the weather there?

Good luck and let us know what happens.

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What if they answer, “Good.”

Your move 🙂

I’d probably ask what’s the Mega Ball lottery jackpot at? And if they say they don’t know or a random number I’d call them a LIAR!! There’s no such thing as Mega Ball in the US you American poser. You’ve been bamboozled.

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I am sorry but I live in the US and I would have no idea that there's no Mega Ball in the US because I don't do lottery (I don't buy lottery tickets, I don't look at them, I don't get involved, gambling isn't for me and the further I am from it the better) so if you asked me that question in an attempt to trap me you would end up wrongly judging me.

[sapphire_studio]

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders about the second callback I got from the American rep. So I had requested a call back and already spoken to one rep who told me I didn't need to create another label. Then an hour label an American woman called me (the caller ID did say "eBay")  and she seemed to already know all about the case without me explaining anything. She just instructed me yes don't do anything and seemed almost pushy about it. So a little part of me wonders if this is some sort of inside job. It's just weird so many glitches happened: eBay didn't issue the first label like they always do, eBay issued another label that supposedly didn't work, I got two calls back for that first call back request, and somehow the case closed due to her returning it when she had just got in the label that morning. 

Anyway who knows. 

[sapphire_studio]

kyle@ebay 

If you do have the time to look into this case that would be amazing because there were some crazy things that happened and many reps made mistakes.

 

[ittybitnot]

I think it could be a language barrier

@wastingtime101 

While that could be true, I  often imagine a CS rep with only three keys on their keyboard that actually function:  Ctrl, C, and V  thus all the mention of 'scripted' responses.  LOL.  

Historically speaking, there seems to have been a trend in what CS is allowed to do.  There was a time when they could dispense with a SNAD claim for things that were described in a listing.  i.e. my wagon with only three wheels scenario.   Title says Wagon is missing a wheel. It is repeated in the condition and mentioned again three times in the description that there are only three wheels and one is missing.  The place where the wheel is missing is substantiated by multiple photos of the hole that no longer has a wheel.  

Old days:  case dismissed, found in favor of the seller, return denied

Now:  the seller's description is meaningless, and they have the choice of fronting the cost for a return to MAYBE get the item back, or letting the buyer keep the product for free.  NO INTERVENTION IS ALLOWED by humans, only the eBay bot that is invited to "step in". 

I truly remember the day when this started for me, and when I called CS,  I was told 'not to worry' the case would be closed in my favor...LOL.... Five minutes later, got the email found in favor of the buyer.  Called back, CS (same person by chance) said to just ignore that message, they send the same thing to everyone, and didn't have to do anything.    That was simply a LIE, but it was at the beginning of the 'change' and nobody actually knew that lying had commenced.  "Sorry the rep MIS-SPOKE, (but you are still hosed for doing/believing what they said).

I don't think eBay can give authority to any of these people to actually help anymore.  It might cost eBay money. 

I truly remember the day when even the board blues were no longer allowed to help posters here, too.  It was a situation, that just the week before, was handled appropriately by an eBay staff member's assistance. 

Same problem, same scenario, same eBay staff member told the seller to call customer service, since there was no way that they (staff member) could look into their account and help.....

Of course, I spoke up and said  asked 'why? When you helped just last week with the exact same issue, with a link to the discussion provided.  

I didn't get any vacation time, but I was ignored.  

It is a trend that has seemingly escalated with expanded use of AI, (and CS call center reps with no keyboards).  Actual assistance costs time and money.  Bots in denial mode  not so much. 

Need feedback assistance when you have been left a red donut for car part, when you sold a book? 
Need assistance with a fake tracking scam, where the computer you ordered morphed into a 2 ounce envelope sent with the eBay label tracking/barcode was delivered to your local tavern? 
Need assistance like our OP @sapphire_studio  with a convoluted mess? 

Need assistance for.......

[sin-n-dex]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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See, by what you just said I'm positive your previous job wasn't with ebay. 😀

I swear there was a point in time that when agents told me that, I'd ask them to read back to me what they wrote in the notes just to make sure we're on the same page. And the ones who would say "We're not authorized to do that" I'm like riiiiiiiight, okay sure.

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I got a call once from a crazy who told me to look up his file and "read the notes" to him. I said we're not doing that. (Actually what I say is "It doesn't work that way"). I found out quickly who the caller was, and the caller has his own lawyer, which means we don't have to talk to him. So I'm free to tell him to call his lawyer and hang up on him. (BTW, the reason I called him crazy is because on the previous call he had with us, he was threatening self harm and we had to do a report on him, he was calling back to see if we recorded all that stuff from the previous call). It's one of the few times we passed a call off to a manager since they're trained to handle these situations.

C.

[kyle@ebay]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

That CS message from "Chris" is so bad @sapphire_studio .

Don't forget to void the label on pirateship.

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Yea I totally agree. As I was reading it, I was thinking "Chris is an idiot."

This is my favorite part of the message. "The matter, however, has been closed because you already provided a return shipping label last April 26, 2024." Then three sentences later, he says "Since the shipping label was not provided to the buyer, the case has closed." Chris is definitely stoned on something.

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I think it could be a language barrier @iamalwaysright .

One thing is for sure: @sapphire_studio received very inconsistent advice from customer service and the last email was straight up incoherent. Hoping kyle@ebay can have every CS contact reviewed on this transaction to see what went wrong and provide "coaching" where needed. It's disappointing the scammer found a way to game eBay's system, got a refund, and sapphire had such a hard time on something that should have been straightforward.

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Hey @wastingtime101 it definitely sounds like a ball was dropped somewhere along the process, so we'll be sure to provide coaching for the agent (or agents) where the error occurred.  

@sapphire_studio I'm glad to hear you already got your appeal granted!  I was going to suggest an appeal until I read that post in here.  

[gurlcat]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

What would I do so I can continue with my every day routines?

Just do a full refund and block the buyer.

Won't get a "ding" on your account. If eBay does the refund you will.

Losing 50 bucks means I have to sell more....just my own opinion.

Why would you want something back opened? And pay for return shipping?

It's just a bad buyer perhaps...and would you actually get what you mailed?

Plus...usually doing a refund the buyer usually leaves no feedback vs. the negative.

Give a buyer the runaround and we can assume it will not be a positive feedback.

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What is the minimum $ amount you would consider worth interrupting your every day routine?  -Asking for my scammer friends.  

[broto_64]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

What would I do so I can continue with my every day routines?

Just do a full refund and block the buyer.

Won't get a "ding" on your account. If eBay does the refund you will.

Losing 50 bucks means I have to sell more....just my own opinion.

Why would you want something back opened? And pay for return shipping?

It's just a bad buyer perhaps...and would you actually get what you mailed?

Plus...usually doing a refund the buyer usually leaves no feedback vs. the negative.

Give a buyer the runaround and we can assume it will not be a positive feedback.

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What is the minimum $ amount you would consider worth interrupting your every day routine?  -Asking for my scammer friends.  

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Any amount, any sale, if there's a scam I'm going after it.

Yes sir, that's not even a question, in fact I'm surprised you'd ask.