I was scammed and eBay will not refund help!
I bought a $180 wood chipper. The seller gave me a fake fedex number which shows delivered to the city I live.
I called fedex and they said that tracking number is not on my name nor my address. In fact fedex said it was from wayfair (which is not where I bought my item from).
eBay said that since there is a tracking number showing delivery . Even though it was NOT my address or name. They will not refund.
I googled and it seems to be a common scam.
what can I do?!
16 comments
gaiabell
·3 years agoHere's a screenshot of the feedbacks other buyers left btw. The seller even said "Bad luck" to another buyer that had the same experience as mine. I reported this to ebay's customer service and apparently, they weren't going to take this seriously. The agent even gaslighted me by saying there was just a misunderstanding between the seller and me and the seller provided genuine help through our conversation. Another agent lied to me that he is only in charge of cases in UK (though I tried to contact them on the US ebay website every time) and he would report this to the US team, which would get back to me in 72 hours (nothing happened after an entire week).
Sorry for the rant. Just wanna share that ebay's customer service is astoundingly bad. It's obvious that they make no effort to protect the buyers even in cases of outright scams.
gaiabell
·3 years agoI had almost the same experience a few weeks ago. The seller gave two tracking numbers for a twin-pack order. Only one item arrived and later when I checked, the other tracking number was from a different shipping address (from the one that arrived), and not linked to my address either. I opened a return case at first but made a mistake by trusting the seller and closed it before I found out. My negative review was removed by ebay staff as well. Fortunately I found other buyers complaining about the same thing in the *neutral feedback* so I knew I wasn't alone.
I contacted ebay's customer service three times, each time from a different agent and each time I got a reply that they would solve the issue or get back to me within 24 or 72 hours, or a promise that the seller would be punished properly. They never got back to me, and nothing happened to the seller so far. Not even an apology for removing my negative feedback that contained only the truth and no speculation - I did not even call the seller a scammer in my comments, even though he apparently is.
This was a small order ($16) so I didn't wanna bother further. I guess if you really care you could probably contact your credit card issuer and provide all the necessary evidence. See if they would cancel the transaction and remove the charges for you.
signsup
·3 years agoGetting assistance from eBay is useless. You need to look elsewhere like disputing the credit card charge, if used, filing a dispute with Paypal, if used, etc. Doubt it, but see if you can file a claim with Fed/Ex for the value, etc.
eburtonlab
·3 years agoYou need to look elsewhere like disputing the credit card charge, if used, filing a dispute with Paypal, if used, etc.
Once you dispute a credit card charge, eBay can no longer help. If you are unable to convince the credit card issuer that the item was not delivered to you, you will have no other recourse at that point.
Doubt it, but see if you can file a claim with Fed/Ex for the value, etc.
The OP is neither the shipper nor the receiver, so there is no basis a FedEx claim.
valhys_46
OP3 years agoAny other suggestions for me ?
eburtonlab
·3 years agoYou need some sort of documentation.
What is the actual tracking number? Perhaps there is an online tracking service that can dig up some additional details that might be useful in pursuing your case.
mudshark61369
·3 years ago@valhys_46,
Yes the fake tracking number scam is common and happens on all of the 3rd party online shopping sites, not just ebay. The scammers know that none of the sites are allowed access to specific shipping label information ie; addresses or package type/size/weight.
The info I posted in the link provided by @eburtonlab about how to get ebay to issue a refund when the fake tracking scam is tried will work. However, do not use the link for ship24.com provided in it. Shortly after I posted that in Sept. 2022, the link was blocked by Malwarebytes as a bad url. The rest of the info about going to a P.O., UPS or FedEx store is how you need to proceed. If you have not appealed the initial dispute that was declined, you will need to get the info to win an appeal. If you did appeal and lost that as well, you will have to go the social media route, to get a refund.
valhys_46
OP3 years agoThe closest fedex store is 6 hours away. They only have an authorized 3rd party local pickup/drop off in my town. I talked to them and they don’t have any customer info nor can tell the name and address of the person on that fake tracking number.
my only recourse is to call FedEx . they cannot give me any proof that it was not sent to my address because the tracking number is not for my name or address. They said they have to keep confidentially of their customers tracking number.
I truly don’t know what to do. The seller continues to scam people.
the other day I saw two other reviews of 2 people reporting similar issues . However, those posts/reviews were removed like mine because eBay is siding with the seller. How they cannot figure this out?!
I’m beyond frustrated. They have the perfect scam.
eburtonlab
·3 years agothey don’t have any customer info nor can tell the name and address of the person on that fake tracking number.
You don't need the actual name or the address. You just need documentation from the shipper that it is not your name or address. Or some proof that the tracking can not correspond to your item, such as a weight that is much too heavy or too light, or a shipping date that precedes your actual order.
valhys_46
OP3 years agoI asked them exactly that. I asked for a letter or something saying that it was not sent to my address. Actually I begged them and they said no.
qeqo_0
·3 years agoWayfair the actual sender ---> FedEx ---> The actual buyer in your city
FedEx was paid by the actual sender to deliver to the actual buyer. You and your scammer seller didn't pay FedEx anything for that tracking number, so FedEx is not about to pay an employee to write a letter for you.
Talking to you by phone or at a shipping store is fine, almost free. But writing a letter when you're not a customer? Plus if they give you a letter, it's tainted because they gave it to you, then you sent it to eBay.
Look up the weight as suggested @valhys_46 or check the shipping date.
valhys_46
OP3 years agoYou are right about Fedex. I get it that they don’t owe me anything.
I bought the item on 6/22, the fake tracking number says it shipped on 6/26 and arrived on 6/29. It weighs 21lbs which is pretty close of what it should be.
the scammer /seller is a professional criminal.
I truly don’t know what the next step is . Maybe the police department?
thanks a lot for trying to help me out
eburtonlab
·3 years agoGood instructions for dealing with false tracking can be found here:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Tracking-number-provided-shows-delivered-but-to-another-address...
valhys_46
OP3 years agoI called FedEx and they cannot give me any proof that it was not sent to my address because the tracking number is not for my name or address. They said they have to keep confidentially of their customers tracking number.
I truly don’t have any other recourse . The seller continues to scam people.
the other day I saw two other reviews of 2 people reporting similar issues . However, those posts were removed like mine because eBay is siding with the seller. How they cannot figure this out?!
I’m beyond frustrated. They have the perfect scam.
fab_finds4u
·3 years agoIf they can tell you to your face the tracking number xxxxx is not to the name xxxxxxx (your name and xxxxxx (your address), then they can put that in writing. You're not asking them to tell your where it was delivered, just to confirm it was not delivered to your address.
valhys_46
OP3 years agoI begged and nope they are not doing it