BEYOND DONE WITH EBAY!!!
Summary: amiche79 expressed frustration over receiving a counterfeit tool from a seller on eBay, stating difficulties in obtaining a refund. Responses from other participants suggested that amiche79 should have followed eBay's Money Back Guarantee procedures, which involve filing a formal return request. Some participants emphasized the importance of checking seller feedback and understanding return policies beforehand. Others advised amiche79 to pursue a chargeback with their payment source and noted that it's challenging for eBay to verify every seller. Overall, there was a mix of sympathy and advice, with suggestions to use official channels for resolution and cautionary reminders about online purchasing.
I am not usually an eBay customer. However it was my husbands birthday so I decided to order a tool from eBay. Let me just say this entire experience has been a nightmare and I am beyond pissed. First the tool I received claimed to be a dewalt tool. It 100% was a counterfeit copy cat crap tool. I then reached out to the seller not happy of course and instead of issuing my refund immediately like it should have been. I then had to take the counterfeit tool to send back to the criminal seller. I then attempted to reach out to eBay to report the counterfeit prodct being sold on eBay and to request my full refund. (I did in fact ship back the tool) it is nearly impossible to speak to someone with eBay. I mean I searched and attempted and followed the auto mated prompts to report the seller and to try and get someone to help me as now it has been weeks and I still have not received my refund! eBay also then instead of contacting me denyed my report for the counterfeit tool saying that the seller is legit....... Im sorry but I am not an idiot we have many dewalt tools and I have numerous pictures that were provided to eBay. So as of now I am still without the $125 I spend on this counterfeit tool have recieved no help from, eBay and they apparently have no problem with their sellers selling counterfeit products.
Unfortunately at this point I will now have to file a police report on the seller for fraud and I also will be pursuing eBay for allowing counterfeit products to be sold!
Conclusion - buyer beware!!! I will never purchase from eBay again
shire123
·4 hours agoOther than following ebay's MBG procedures there isn't anything that ebay can do. Buying and selling on ebay is not without risk. Looks like you ran into a bad seller.
pickapaper
·5 hours ago@amiche79 Somehow you managed to find your way here to this forum and post about your unhappiness. But it appears you didn't take the time to find out about eBay's Money Back Guarantee.
This forum is made up of buyers and sellers who volunteer their time and knowledge to help people with problems or questions. We are all very sorry that this happened to you but you are blaming eBay (the company) for something they did not do (the seller did). When you come on here and say "buyer beware!", you aren't notifying any the 134 Million buyers who buy on eBay and chances are very miniscule that many will be involved in a transaction with that seller.
4663samaritean
·4 hours agoWhen I complained to eBay about a dishonest buyer, specifying what his dishonesty consisted of, I thought I was addressing eBay management, and after finding that eBay had no answer for me, I addressed the community in desperation. If you know a better way to resolve a series of shortcomings in the relationship with buyers, please tell me.
pickapaper
·3 hours ago · Edited@4663samaritean
Okay. On any given day there are about 18 Million sellers selling about 2.5 Billion listings. eBay has no way to know if a buyer or a seller or an item is legitimate. They have no way to physically check an item and have no way to know if the item is what the seller actually shipped or the buyer actually received and they would not have the knowledge of everything to know if something is real or not. So, they have their Money Back Guarantee so that if a buyer receives something that isn't right, they can get their money back.
When you want to buy something on eBay, look at the seller's feedback. Do they have any neutrals or negatives and if so, for what reason? Did they respond to those neutrals or negatives and how did they respond, i.e calm and factual or ranting and calling names? Where is the seller located? This can be difficult sometimes because they will state they are in the U.S. but they are not. (Another thing to look for in feedback is hints regarding shipping from somewhere else.) In the case of your seller, was there any feedback that mentioned he was selling counterfeits? If he is not an authorized dealer, the tool may have been something he bought at a garage sale or estate sale and he, himself, didn't know it was not real.
Even if a seller says "no returns", if you receive an item that is not as described, you can file a "return this item" claim and the seller has two options, to send you a label for you to return the item and when they get it back, issue you a refund, or if they wish, they can just refund without the return of the item. If they do not take care of this in three days, on the 4th day you can ask eBay to step in and they will force a refund. All of this is automated; you do not even have to communicate with the seller.
As others have said, there are lots of great people and items on eBay. You just have to know your rights and know what to do if something happens.
kibble-net
·9 hours agoSo long, hope you're able to find a better place to shop. Wishing all the best to you.
msha3839
·20 hours agoUnfortunately you have no one to blame but yourself…the same tool, that most likely not cheap, anyone with common sense and intellect above baseboard, would buy from authorized dealer , something that guarantees product and factory warranty…
magicjohnsonsvariety
·19 hours agoThat is not at all helpful advice...lots of people sell tools and are not "authoried dealers"...ebay was built on the idea of normal regular people selling off their new and used tools at discounted prices.
Sure you can always get ripped off and pay full retail price but most smart people look to save money when they can......
msha3839
·19 hours agoSure, smart people TRY to save money, but there is a place and time to do so..in this case nothing but a problem and even after smooth transaction, no warranty…p.s. and if someone can afford to pay retail prices, they definitely did something right in their lives to be able to do so…🥃
magicjohnsonsvariety
·18 hours agoMy point is the majority of new and used tool sellers are honest...even tho they aren't "authorized dealers"...
Stereotyping everyone who is not authorized by the manufacturer as being high risk is wrong...perhaps the OP simply neglected to check their Feedback...
A seller saying they're authorized is code for...I can now charge my customers way more because I'm authorized...
This may be okay for rich people...but normal average people tend to seek out the best price available...
msha3839
·17 hours agoYou miss my point, again…there is an old saying..” I’m too poor to buy junk and ending up to pay second time short time after”…or stepping twice on the same shovel….
tobaccocardyahoo
·17 hours agoMany manufacturers will not honor their warranty when a NEW tool is purchased from other than an authorized dealer. Many manufacturers will not allow their authorized dealers to sell on Ebay.
Unless you can acquire a copy of the warranty and read it, and it does not restrict its coverage, buying on Ebay is an invitation to being cheated.
Sounds like you did not read the procedures for the Ebay Money Back Warranty either. You would have had your refund within three days of the return arriving at the seller.
Sounds like you relied on communications direct with a seller who you knew sold you a counterfeit. Why would you think you could trust him.
Click and Clack on NPR's Car Talk radio program would frequently opine "The Frugal Man pays the most". They were often correct.
Many normal average people are good shoppers and they do not buy on price alone. They do their homework.
house*of*paws
·yesterday at 9:14 PMHi @amiche79
eBay doesn't sell anything itself. It is merely an online venue that rents space to 17.6 million, world-wide sellers to list stuff for sale. Although eBay does attempt to check out sellers before allowing them to sell ... some counterfeit items get sold. [This also is true of other venues (like Amazon) that have 3rd-party sellers. I've received counterfeit items from them as well.]
I'm really sorry this happened. eBay does have an easy way to get refunded if one knows the correct procedures, which you apparently weren't aware of as an infrequent user.
We buyers have 30 days from date of delivery to file a formal 'return request' with eBay for a refund. [The seller would be required to provide you with a prepaid shipping label for the return ... and to refund you after receiving the item back.] It sounds like you may have passed the deadline to file the return request.
Hopefully you funded your payment with a credit card ... either directly or through a venue like PayPal. I recommend you phone your credit card company ASAP and request a chargeback. They usually allow several months to do that.
Should you ever decide to purchase again on eBay, I recommend you ask here (the 'Community') how to file a claim with eBay if you run into another problem. Every company has its own rules.
Again, I'm really sorry you've had such a frustrating experience.
soh.maryl
·yesterday at 8:30 PMSorry, but have to ask: Did you open an item not as described case with eBay? That's the easiest way to handle a situation like this and have a successful conclusion. You had 30 days to do so with eBay. The MBG, if used correctly, offers good protection.
stainlessenginecovers
·yesterday at 6:28 PMRather short sided to think this entity, ebay, could POSSIBLY know that the seller was going to misrepresent their item being sold.
and...even MORE of a HUGE waste of time to 'call the police' as they could care less and might even kick you in the shin for wasting their time. Don't you think they have better things to do??
stephenmorgan
·yesterday at 6:27 PMYou could also file a report with the FBI. Explain exactly what has happened and what you have done to get a refund. Contact FBI here.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
Did your counterfeit item arrive thru USPS? If it did, file a report with them also. Go here for USPS.
United States Postal Inspection Service
How did you do the return? Did you return the item on your own without making a eBay claim or did you start an official eBay case and use the shipping label that was provided? You can use you own shipping but you have to provide the Tracking Number into the case details so that eBay can see its been returned. If you did not open a case then you need to open one.
msha3839
·20 hours ago · EditedAre you serious about FBI or this is an attempt to be sarcastic? Do you really believe that FBI have nothing better to do with their time??
stephenmorgan
·17 hours agoOf course I am serious, otherwise I would not have posted the link to the FBI Web-Site that encourages people to report internet crimes.
Why would you think the FBI has nothing better to do with their time? They literally set up a Web-Site and encourages complaints. Did you not even look at their Web-Site?
There is a lot of counterfeit and stolen property being sold online and with enough complaints it is investigated. Did you not know that there have been an occasional arrest of people who have committed internet crimes?
msha3839
·9 hours ago · EditedUnbelievable…🤧..try it with seller located in China where FBI have no authority at all…have you ever heard about FBI investigation against independent sellers on eBay? And buyer have to prove that seller knowingly sold counterfeit item that in many cases impossible..and stolen property from major retailers get different attention from law enforcement for good reasons…counterfeit lawsuits brought up against manufacturers by corporations based on international laws where FBI list relevant …and occasionally arresting someone internet crimes that can be of different nature, doesn’t apply to this particular issue..good luck..🤧
stephenmorgan
·5 hours agoIn your case if similar happened, I would let it go and not cause myself any stress by worrying about being ripped off.
After all you did state
msha3839
·4 hours agoI try not to put myself in similar situations.
I have more than enough brain to analyze situation.
Some fights, especially caused by someone’s personal choices, not worth to fight due to predictable loss.
If someone not familiar how law enforcement and law in general works, shouldn’t give advice due to luck of understanding…🤧
stephenmorgan
·4 hours ago · EditedIf someone not familiar how law enforcement and law in general works, shouldn’t give advice due to luck of understanding…🤧
Oh, I agree. If I were you I would not advise people not to use the tools provided to report crimes.
Enough complaints and crimes do get investigated. Sometimes enough reports and Congress will
create new laws to combat the crimes.
grann-4629
·yesterday at 6:01 PMSorry to hear you got burned. Does the tool you received actually have the deWalt name on it or is it just their colour scheme? There's a guy on You Tube who reviews these look-alike deWalt tools and they are all crap, even the batteries.
Hope you get this resolved ... I love deWalt stuff.
christworks
·yesterday at 7:55 AM · Edited@amiche79 I'm sorry you got messed over. For the life of me though, I cannot figure out why you did not simply look over eBay's 30-Day Money Back Guarantee policy so you knew what you needed to do and how to handle this. Links to the policy are on the order page and on every eBay listing.
Unless I'm missing something - and please correct me if I am wrong - you did not open an offical return case on eBay. You simply shipped the tool back to the seller with no record of having done that. If that is what happened, then you are not going to get your money from the seller nor will eBay be able to help you. Your only option now is to go to your payment source and file a chargeback. You are going to need evidence, which means gathering screen shots of the order, your messages with the seller, and a copy of the receipt the carrier gave you. If you file a police report, you can include that with your chargeback case. That's about the only thing the police report will be good for.
I do not know what you mean by you will be "pursuing eBay for allowing counterfeit products to be sold." No attorney is going to take such a case and state AGs aren't going to do come against eBay either. eBay has no way to verify every single item being sold on the platform. You can say a tool is fake. I can say it is real. How does anybody at eBay know which one of us is telling the truth? They can't and it's a completely unrealistic expectation that they should.
But eBay does not want you to be messed over either and leave the platform. Neither do us good and honest sellers. eBay has the most buyer-friendly policies of most any reselling platform on the Internet. You get a whole 30 days from the date of delivery to open up a return on the platform if the item you got does not match the description. The seller has to refund you or take it back, and if they don't do one or the other within 3 days, you can go back to the return and ask eBay to step in. No need to speak with anybody at eBay.
eBay's policy only has one flaw: It requires buyers to read it. They place it all over the website, yet for some reason buyers don't read it. For the life of me I don't understand why
I wish you luck. I hope you'll reconsider staying. More than that I hope your payment source comes through for you. If you do stay, before you buy again, make sure to read over the policy so you know your rights and be sure you are buying from sellers who have a good reputation on the platform. That's not a 100% guarantee you won't ever deal with a bad seller, but it will reduce the chances. When in doubt, come here and ask before making a decision. Someone here will set you on the right path.
mspirit57
·yesterday at 6:38 AMDid you follow the money back guarantee?
christworks
·yesterday at 7:43 AMDefinitely not. 🤔
lady_madonna
·yesterday at 6:07 AM · EditedYou needed to file a Return Request when you received the counterfeit item, for the reason "does not match description".
The seller would have had to respond to you within 3 business days and either provide a return shipping label so they could refund you when they received the returned item OR they could have issued a refund without requiring that you ship it back.
Furthermore, had you filed the Return Request and the seller never responded, you could have had Ebay step in and they would have issued you the refund.
Since you did not file the Return Request for a refund through Ebay, you can contact the funding source you used to purchase the item to dispute the charge.
This was not Ebay's fault.
magicjohnsonsvariety
·19 hours agoExactly what I would have wrote!...everything is automated online now...there is absolutely no reason to "speak" with someone at ebay...