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Stolen in Transit
Summary: eaglemountainrarebooks shared their experience of purchasing a rare book for over $3,000 from a seller on eBay, which arrived as an empty package. Despite having video evidence of mishandling by FedEx and filing necessary disputes, they faced challenges with eBay's policies and received minimal compensation from FedEx, only $100, due to the seller not declaring the item's value. Their credit card company ultimately recharged the purchase, leaving eaglemountainrarebooks with no recourse for recovering their loss. eaglemountainrarebooks remains hopeful for a resolution and continues monitoring online platforms for the book.
I posted about this previously (although I have updates now) but can't find the thread now. I have been on eBay for 16 years. I collect rare books mainly. In May of this year (May 20), I purchased a first edition of a rare book from an established seller in the UK for just over $3,000 with taxes and shipping costs. It was over a month before I began to see updates to the FedEx tracking (June 25). On June 29, a day I was home, the box was delivered by FedEx. I have two cameras on my porch (one being my doorbell). The FedEx delivery person threw the box onto my porch from several steps below. The footage clearly shows the box caught air as he threw it (physics-defying if a book was actually in the box). Less than 30 minutes after delivery, I collected the box from the porch with the box in the exact same position as it was when delivered. The second I picked up the box, I knew something was wrong as it weighed basically nothing. I opened the box inside my home and sure enough, it was empty save for some hastily stuffed bubble-wrap inside the box. I panicked. I inspected the box (which was taped up by the seller with brown tape) and noticed a cut in one end of the box through the brown tape with clear tape wrapped over it.
I filed a case with eBay that same day, unfortunately, as "Item Not Delivered" since in my mind, only an empty box was delivered. On 7/14, I filed a police report and the deputy that took the report viewed and was given the footage from one of my cameras. The deputy agreed with me that if a book had been in the box at time of delivery, the box would not have behaved the way it did as it was thrown onto the porch. On 7/16, I had not heard anything from eBay and began to worry even more as to how I would ever prove that the book was not delivered. Unaware that filing a dispute with my credit card would violate my buyer's rights (that is on me), I filed a dispute with my credit card company. eBay closed my case that same day (7/16). On 8/20, my credit card company closed my dispute and re-charged me saying that eBay had reported to them that the book had been delivered. I called the credit card company and explained the situation, and they re-opened the dispute the same day saying that they would contact eBay and report the goods as stolen in transit. At various points throughout this time, I had been trying to get a live person at eBay (which due to AI is now extremely difficult to almost impossible). On 8/24, I finally reached someone and ended up talking to two different people. I was told emphatically that due to my having filed a dispute with my credit card company, that under no circumstances could they entertain an investigation or reopen the case...I was out of luck. That same day (8/24), I was able to file a claim with FedEx for stolen goods in transit (I had tried previously but was denied the ability to do so because I was not the seller). I received notification on 8/28 from FedEx that they would pay out on the claim but only to the tune of $100 saying that the seller did not declare a value (seller denies this), and that their policy states that the limit of their liability in the case of someone at their facility stealing goods in transit is $100. I received the check from FedEx but have not cashed it. I called my credit card company on 8/29 to state that FedEx had admitted guilt by sending me the max allowed under their policies and forwarded the documentation to the credit card company proving this. Today (9/25), I received notification from my credit card company has been unable to get eBay to take responsibility for this and that they are forced to close the dispute and re-charge me for the $3,000 again.
I know that this is basically a novel, but I have spent four months of my life on this and have exhausted all avenues to recover my losses. I still monitor eBay to see if the book pops up in hopes I can catch a FedEx thief trying to capitalize on their crime, but maybe they are smart enough to wait out the dust settling before doing anything. I will probably keep an eye out for it for the rest of my life.
I understand why eBay has the policies they have - to protect them from legitimate bad actors. But the consequence to people like me with 16 years of 100% positive feedback (mostly as a buyer but hundreds as a seller), is that I am abandoned and have to take a $3,000 hit with no recourse to recover my losses. So, there it is. I paid $3,000 for something I never got, some FedEx employee probably saw a book and just threw it away thinking it was just some dumb old book, my credit card company says there is nothing more they can do, and eBay has washed their hands of me and will pocket their fee earnings and I can't get anyone at eBay to just hear me out and at least view all of the documented evidence to prove my case. I am sure that all of you who were brave and benevolent enough to read my novel will tell me what I believe I already know, but in the off chance that maybe an eBay employee will read this and offer me a lifeline, I am holding out on my last shred of hope that I have left.
Thanks for listening.
comics-scifi-collectibles
Mentor2 weeks ago@eaglemountainrarebooks I am so sorry that you are going through this. You have used all of the options we would usually recommend. Since you have been denied by the credit card company AND eBay I recommend that you follow the steps that this fellow buyer took to get a refund... I know it's a LOT of work but I really want you to get the $3000.00 back that you are due.
LINK to the buyers post on how they got a refund, there are other details you may find helpful in the post>
https://community.ebay.com/forum/ask-a-mentor-57913/topic/victim-of-fake-tracking-scam-denied-appeal-denied-and-credit-card-company-denied-449542/
Excerpt that details they steps they took after denial by eBay and card company>
"If you are stuck in this loop, here is the exact 4-step nuclear option I used to bypass the automated bot denials:
Gather Carrier Manifest Metrics: I printed the UPS Proof of Delivery showing that the hijacked tracking number belonged to a package weighing 15.3 lbs. My invoice was for a 250-lb industrial generator. Proving a physical weight impossibility is your sharpest weapon.
Get Corporate Carrier Exclusions: I contacted the UPS Fraud Division directly. They emailed me an official disclaimer stating: "The tracking number you were provided by the seller is not related to you nor the package you were expecting."
File a Federal CFPB Complaint: After being denied 4 times by eBay bots and twice by the credit card bots, I didn't waste any more time on standard customer service chats. I went straight to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) website and opened a formal federal case against my credit card company, uploading the weight discrepancy and the UPS fraud email. This legally forced Synchrony to stop their automated denials and hand my file to a human legal analyst under a strict 60-day investigation window.
Get Local Law Enforcement Involved: I filed a report with my local sheriff's office. Because I had the exact weight metrics, the statement from UPS and an email from the seller that showed his URL, a detective was assigned to my case. He treated it as active wire fraud and immediately began preparing criminal subpoenas for both eBay and credit card company to pull the fraudster's backend IP and bank data.
As soon as the credit card companies legal compliance team saw a federal CFPB case combined with a looming law enforcement criminal subpoena, they folded.
Don't let the automated bots intimidate you. If you gather the physical package weights and escalate outside of the standard customer service loop, you CAN win against these tracking hijackers. Be patient.
Everyone:
All of the above was provided by Google AI Assistant which is my last and final piece of advice which I think of as really ironic, I used Google’s AI Assistant, every step of the way, it told me who to contact, how to contact them and even drafted my complaints to CFPB, BBB and also an IC3 report.
It started with one request I typed into Google and asked for instructions on how to file with the CFPB. It also instructed me how to bookmark the conversation so I was able to return at any time and ask more questions, get advice or continue right where I left off with none of the details being lost or in need of repetition.
Having asked for a synopsis of my battle with ebay and the credit card company that I could share with all of you it provided the above for me and when I said I was going to credit AI, it gave me this to add:
"I ended up using an AI assistant to act as my consumer advocate and legal strategist. It helped me parse the Fair Credit Billing Act, double-check the carrier manifest, and draft bulletproof briefs for both the federal regulators and the sheriff's department so I knew exactly what to say and how to say it.”
I sincerely hope this was helpful. I only had a potential loss of $380.00 while so many others out there were out so much more, hopefully this may help.