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No eBay assistance with buyer who used 3rd party mail forwarding service
I am sorry if this turns out as more of a rant than a question. But I had a very negative experience with a buyer using a 3rd party mail forwarding service.
The buyer purchased an item in May with an address in Oregon. I shipped the item and weeks later he complained the item arrive damaged. I provided him with a return label. Upon receiving the return weeks later, I noticed a postage sticker of the Chinese mail service on the box. I went ahead and researched the address in Oregon. I found out that it belongs to a mail service called WTO Express. Not only did they forward my item, but they also repackaged it as it originally was in a USPS priority box. They repackaged it badly.
I contacted eBay customer service and explained the situation to them. They connected me to a specialist for fraud cases involving 3rd party mailing services. The agent told me they would open an investigation and for me to not issue a refund until the investigation was concluded. I provided pictures as proof of the Chinese postage sticker, the damage, the bad packaging as well as of the company listed under the Oregon address.
For whatever reason and despite all the proof I provided, the case was decided for the buyer. Unfortunately by the time the decision was made, my time window to issue a refund had passed. So eBay closed the case on the buyers behalf, issued a refund and did not reimburse my eBay fees. Because, after all, I had not issued the refund myself and they "had to step in."
So not only did I lose my money, but I also got hit with a transaction defect, a case closed without seller resolution and to round it all up the buyer left me a negative review.
I appealed eBays decision to refund the buyer several times. Providing more proof. It was always denied with not a single explanation of why it was refused even mentioning the buyer using a false address. Not a single eBay agent making the decisions even really looked into the case. It was all just buyer complained, returned the item and I received the return. Nothing else mattered.
I have meanwhile given up on my money and will look into a claim with USPS. But now even my appeal to the negative review and the transaction defect have been denied. I just don't know what to do anymore. How can a buyer use a fraudulent address, but only I get hit with repercussions? How can it be that I follow an eBay agent's advice and therefore now have a transaction defect and the buyer gave me a negative review? Which he could have not left me if I had refunded the money myself.
Does anybody have an idea as to what else I could do in this case? Is there a way to escalate it? Is there a way to actually talk to somebody at eBay who makes these decisions so I can make sure they actually look at my side as well?
Thank you!
inceptions
Mentor2 years agoHi @stesie78
Your buyer used a package forwarder which is very common way for international buyers to purchase from other countries. This is not fraud.
When a buyer uses a package forwarder, your responsibility stops once the package is delivered to the forwarder. They are responsible for any damage that occurred once they shipped the package on to the buyer. All you would have had to do (if you had know this then) would be to instruct the buyer to handle this through their package forwarder. If the buyer opened a case anyway, you would respond that this item was shipped to a package forwarder and is not covered by eBay's MBG. You would not have been responsible for providing a refund.
Read about eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210&st=3&pos=3&query=eBay%20Money%20Back%20Guarantee%20policy&intent=money%20back%20guarantee&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1238#section9
At this point, try to appeal this case and explain that the buyer used a package forwarder and there should have been no refund or defect earned for this. Explain that the reason you didn't respond to the case appropriately is because eBay support gave you different instructions.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/appeal-outcome-case-seller?id=4369&st=3&pos=1&query=Appeal%20the%20outcome%20of%20a%20case%20as%20a%20seller&intent=appeal%20a%20case&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1306