Beware of Seller
Full disclosure of interaction with this seller: I have not received a package from this seller (I had been pursuing a claim with eBay, but they are a joke). I ordered on December 16. The listing page said same day shipping. I went to contact the seller on the 18th and found something different in the seller info that said 3 days, so I questioned the seller about this. Seller made excuses about being out Christmas shopping and claimed they would ship by Friday, the 20th. The 20th came and still no tracking number, which did not surprise me. Since they did not ship within the time frame they had listed, I wrote requesting that they refund me if they were not able to ship the item. I received no response back, again no surprises.
I filed a claim with eBay on December 28, as that was the earliest I could do so. The seller suddenly provides a tracking number on the 30th, but when I more closely inspected the shipment details, I was concerned due to the weight of the package and the origination location. The package was delivered somewhere in Hartly, DE on Jan 2, but it certainly wasn't our house as the picture of the house did not match ours in the least. If I try to file a claim, it will not allow me because FedEx doesn't recognize my address in relation to the package. The recipient of the package did not file a claim to return it because it was their package, not mine.
The FedEx tracking info says the package is over 50lbs, which is too heavy for a coat (that would be like wearing a 50lb sack of potatoes). The picture of the house on the FedEx tracking page is not ours (I have provided pictures of our house to eBay). I never provided a different address or name. All my correspondence was through eBay and was very limited. I did not change my address at any time during this transaction or in the past year. Other sellers had no problem shipping items to my address. The seller did not send via UPS as stated in the listing and provided a FedEx number instead that originated from Ohio, not Illinois where the seller claims to be. I received an email from FedEx stating the package was not addressed to me. The seller did not generate a shipping label through eBay, as FedEx also told me that there is nothing referencing eBay on the label. Obviously, you do not have to generate a label through eBay, but why would you pay postage on a package that weighs 50lbs when the item likely weighs 1/5 that weight, including the box.
The money that needs to be refunded technically belongs to my older children who pooled their money together to get their dad a nice winter coat for Christmas to replace the one he has that is getting very worn. So, the seller is cheating children out of their money they wanted to use to get a nice present for their dad.
For other buyers: eBay will not call FedEx and verify this themselves and will allow this seller to stay on eBay doing the same thing over and over. I provided the evidence that they asked me to and they won't do anything with it. The logic of my argument is beyond them and customer service will pretend to send it to a higher level, but they don't. They will also insist repeatedly that no one in eBay can make any outbound calls (I find that a little hard to believe that someone in a managerial position can't call out). Their buyer protection program is a joke. I've honestly only ever had to deal with at most 1 or 2 returns in 21 years because a product didn't meet my expectations based on the seller's description and in those cases I had no problem with eBay or how they handled it. This time, though, they are blatantly ignoring all the red flags and refusing to do anything about this seller. I have both sold and bought on eBay and the fact that I have a 21 year history with them didn't matter either. I am pursuing other options, but, if nothing else, at least the info about one more scammer will be out there.
stephenmorgan
·1 year agoYou made a claim that you did not receive your item and presented evidence of a well known scam (FAKE TRACKING SCAM) to eBay to substantiate the claim. This alone should have gave eBay reason to thoroughly evaluate the seller and ask them to explain the deficiencies you identified.
It seems you have already demonstrated to eBay that you did not receive the item. I don't know why it is that eBay would not accept your eMail response from FED X as evidence to show you did not receive the item? Did the eMail provide a Point of Contact with a phone number? How does the eMail explain the Tracking Number?
A Court of Law will absolutely accept the eMail as evidence. To arbitrarily view that the eMail could be fake and not accept it, is nonsense. A written Letter can be faked easier than an eMail. eBay would need to verify the eMail is Fake and not just dismiss it without verifying its authenticity with FED X.
If you can not get this resolved with your appeal there are other options.
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@arcticwolfdog,
When you file an Item Not Received (INR) dispute it will initially get turned down because it is looked at by a computer that can only check for a delivered scan there is tracking that has a delivered scan. If you an appeal adding the email from FedEx, ebay will not accept that because emails can be faked. However, if you posted the full tracking page that should have been enough proof of non delivery, but the appeal may not have been dealt with by an actual ebay employee. There is still one way left to deal with this issue and that is to contact ebay through their social media outlets. The reps there are ebay employees and do check attached information.
As long as you have not opened a claim with your credit card or payment service you can contact ebay using one of the social media links below.
You will need the seller's username, and the ebay item number. First explain that the item was delivered to a different address than yours. Do mention that the delivery service was not the one given by the seller and that the item was not sent from the seller's location, nor was tracking uploaded until you filed a dispute, if the tracking number was sent in an ebay message not posted to the Order details mention that as well.
Then you want to post the tracking number you were given and a saved screen shot or print out of the full FedEx tracking page. If you can do it try getting a larger image of the delivery photo and post that as well. Since you have the FedEx email send it along as further proof. Then add a Google Map link of your address. If you want to try contacting FedEx and see if they will /send you the GPS coordinates of the delivery and add that info as well. You can ask the rep to go to www.gps-coordinates.net to check that location against your addresses GPS coordinates.
You want to sign the message with your real and ebay username.
Those reps cannot get info direct from FedEx but there should be enough proof in the info above for them to find in your favor and issue a refund.
https://www.facebook.com/eBay/
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
https://x.com/askebay
Filing a not as described dispute could backfire on you, because the return address on ebay may not be the seller's real location, so delivery may not be able to be made.
ittybitnot
·1 year agoso delivery may not be able to be made
@mudshark61369
That does not mean a "refund" to the victim will not be made. That is why the new trend to provide a "fake" return label that can't be used since it will not get a "scan" to show the return is on the way. The crooks are fighting back I would assume, making it even more difficult for the victim of their crime.
In the case of the OP who left a red donut review for the product, a simple GLens search shows where the product is for sale someplace else (and still is), so there are often "tells" a buyer can use. One would think that a "dormant" account with no selling activity for 6 months or more might have a 'selling' limit. This is also not their first rodeo, as both negs look awfully familiar.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoSo it's a good idea to open an item not as described case, even if the OP received nothing?
ittybitnot
·1 year agoSo it's a good idea to open an item not as described case, even if the OP received nothing?
@soh.maryl
It is not necessarily a GOOD idea, but it is an idea that works. They provide a picture of some "air" and send back the same "air" should they get a return label (they usually will get a refund from the "seller" instead, but the latest trend is to provide a phony return label the victim can't use). The "fake tracking scam" has been active on eBay for over a decade. There are still no policies or procedures published here to help victims of this scam. Buyers file INR because they didn't get anything. If there is a "delivered" scan associated with the order the Money Back Guarantee is a FAIL.
eBay's 'go to' response is DENIAL. I am sure that "denial" is monetarily advantageous to eBay, or they would have come up with something else by now. Should a buyer end up here, it is the posters who provide the latest info for the victim, and the 'not as described' case is one of them. Should the victim go to PayPal or their Credit card company and keep insisting the issue is "item not received" they will lose again. The claim is presented to eBay who simply responds with the phony tracking and the victim is left with nothing once more.
There were 183 posts about this same issue on this board alone last year. It does not count the numerous "me too", posters that added on to these discussions or ones I missed. Since it has been said that less than 1% of eBay users ever visit these forums, it is not hard to imagine the actual number of victims of this crime on eBay.
Here is this month's collection. Hopefully, our OP @arcticwolfdog will read them for other alternatives, and especially on what NOT to do.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Laser-TV-Item-Not-Received/m-p/34862223#M509687
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-got-scammed-out-of-999-for-an-RTX-4090/m-p/34865219#M509806
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-support-and-money-back-guaranty/m-p/34870558#M510126
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Package-delivered-to-wrong-address-by-usps-no-refund/m-p/34871240#M510140
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Tracking-number-fraud-within-EBay/m-p/34872627#M510235
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/EBAY-is-ALLOWING-a-delivery-address-switch-scam-to-continue/m-p/34873630#M510315
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Mail-fraud-switching-tracking-numbers-with-addresses-in-the-same/m-p/34873069#M510341
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Refund-due-to-seller-sending-to-wrong-address/m-p/34880629#M510871
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-just-got-scammed-out-of-a-baking-dish/m-p/34881587#M510926
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Another-quot-eBay-Refuses-to-Honor-Money-Back-Guarantee-quot/m-p/34887210#M511279
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Tracking-Scam-by-seller/m-p/34889174#M511418
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-False-DELIVERED-quot-Waybill/m-p/34892946#M511649
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-says-item-was-delivered-but-it-was-not/m-p/34897201#M511855
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-think-this-listing-is-a-scam-and-I-bought-two-of-these/m-p/34897101#M511849
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Delivery/m-p/34903692#M512289
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-wasn-t-delivered-to-my-correct-address/m-p/34904083#M512306
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Problem-with-Purchase-and-Seller/m-p/34901935#M512174
soh.maryl
·1 year agoInteresting. But what if I, the buyer, open an NAD case (even though I've not received it) and the seller sends me a prepaid return label? What would I actually return, since I don't have the item?
ittybitnot
·1 year agoWhat would I actually return, since I don't have the item?
@soh.maryl
Perhaps some "air"? a picture of what you were supposed to get? eBay has not cared what a seller gets back since 2008 or so. Faulty returns are considered "part of doing business" and all that.
Victims of this scam are not purchasing cheap or inexpensive items. How much money would you be willing to lose, and simply give up an go away due to eBay throwing you under the bus? I can look at a listing and often predict it is likely to be a "fake tracking issue". That is because I have been here since 1998, and have studied this problem for a very long time. A buyer, who mistakenly thinks eBay wouldn't allow something to be sold on this site that is merely "vapor" (or air) is lulled by the proclamation of Money Back Guarantee. What could go wrong, eBay has my back??? Surprise, when you are a victim of this NOBODY has your back if you keep insisting it is an "item not received" issue.
campanaelia
·1 year agoIf the delivery scan is on 1/2, today is the final day of your ebay MBG protection to open a case. The problem is you can't file an item not received case if tracking shows delivery, that's all ebay goes by. I think at this point I would file an item not as described case. Many buyers have had great success
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Tracking-Scam-by-seller/td-p/34889174