Thanks to Ebays "Delivered" policy Seller just got $36 for nothing.

Hello!

I recently made a purchase on Ebay that turned into a cluster.

I ordered the product May 27th. The arrival date was somewhere around June 16th. Around June 3rd I had not received any tracking info so I contacted the seller.

"Hi, quick heads-up! Our carrier's having trouble reaching your address. Could you please confirm your full address or provide an alternative ASAP? If we don't hear back in 24-48 hours, our automated order processing system will ship to the current address, which might cause delivery issues. Thanks for your help! Best Regards"

I replied with my confirmed address.

They enabled USPS tracking on June 3rd. It showed it shipped May 27th and was delivered May 29th.

June 4th reply from seller..

"Dear Customer, A delivery attempt for your order was unsuccessful due to an insufficient address, and the carrier will try again soon. The tracking may show it as "delivered" due to the attempt. Please disregard that status." And shortly after..

"Thank you for your patience and for providing clarification.Thank you for your patience and for providing clarification.We understand your concern, and weâ€™d like to emphasize that there are no issues with your address itself. However, this particular item is encountering processing issues when attempting shipment to your location. While we do not have visibility into the exact cause, it may be due to system-level or carrier restrictions that apply specifically to this item. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. At this time, we are unable to fulfill the order to the provided address. Please let us know how youâ€™d like to proceed. We appreciate your understanding.We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. At this time, we are unable to fulfill the order to the provided address. Please let us know how youâ€™d like to proceed. We appreciate your understanding.Best regards,"

June 6th I told them to re ship or refund.

June 7th

Reply from shipper

"Dear Valued Customer, Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for reaching out to us. Upon review, we can confirm that your order has been shipped from our facility. However, since you have indicated that you have not received the item, and as a gesture of goodwill, we are treating this as a lost or stolen package. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Would you like to take a replacement or a Refund? " And shortly after i requested refund through Ebay.

"Kindly be informed that a case has already been opened regarding your issue. Please note that until the case is officially closed, we are unable to take any action on your issue. Once the case is closed, we will be happy to review and work towards resolving your concern promptly. We appreciate your patience and understanding."

I replied just refund. If I recieve the item I will ship it back.

At this time I ordered the same product from a different shipper.

June 8th from seller

"Dear Valued Customer, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Since we already have an open case regarding this matter, I kindly request that we continue our conversation within the existing case open. Rest assured, I am committed to resolving this unfortunate situation as quickly as possible. Your patience is greatly appreciated. Thank you once again for your understanding. Warm regards," And shortly after..

"Please note that until the case is officially closed, we are unable to take any action on your issue. Once the case is closed, we will be happy to review and work towards resolving your concern promptly. We appreciate your patience and understanding."

June 11th from Ebay

"This case is now closedâ€Š

Hi M,

We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase. However, the seller provided tracking information that shows the item was delivered to your address.

After reviewing all the details of this case, we determined that you won't receive a refund"

Ive appealed asking them if they had read the correspondence or can I send it to them, giving them a brief, within 1000 limit characters, description of what was said. Outcome pending...

Now here is the kicker...

I got the same request from the second seller to verify address or provide another for shipping. Not wanting to go through this again, I just asked for a cancellation of the order and a refund. This shipper automatically refunded. But then I asked about the problem with the address. The new shipper replied that it wasnt a problem with the address, but the item I ordered was banned to either US shipping, or State to which its shipping to.

Being said, this item is not allowed to be bought or shipped in my State. The first seller some how triggered a false delivery in USPS, and probably never shipped it in the first place. Tracking of the package shows it originated and delivered in the same State I live in 2 days while the correspondence SAYS they didnt deliver 5 days later. Unfortunately, I have no way to add this to my appeal once submitted. If they didnt read the correspondence, didnt know this was outside US shipping, and didnt know it was banned, I wont get a refund. Being said, the shipper knows, and they just got free money.

Ill have to see what the appeal says, but if it just based on the carrier says its delivered is CRAP. Ive had multiple false deliveries due to various different reasons over the years. Some have been delivered later, some not and have been refunded or replaced. Ebay having a stupid policy like going with what the carrier reports is stupid. It undermines the whole trust system of shippers and buyers. My buying trust is excellent with my relatively few purchases. Some shippers have thousands of reported shipment with not one single problem. Unbelievable.

Anyway, I dont really care about the money. Its about truth in commerce. Ebays policy of "if it shows delivered you have no case" is destructive to itself. Its an insult to my reputation. Its 1000 character limit on "Tell us the problem" is also stupid. How much information have I given here? You think that will fit in 1000 letters, spaces and paragraphs?

Anyway, this is my experience. If you are going to file a "Carrier shows delivered" type of claim make sure you have all your information and are able to explain it in 1000 characters because you may only get one chance.

dxlthegame

200 View listings

Posted 1 year ago · Edited 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

16 comments

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

@dxlthegame

Sounds like a version of the per usual "fake tracking scam". eBay will deny any claim for item not received if there is a "delivered" notice associated with your order. eBay will deny the claim even if the delivery information is "FAKE". eBay is aware of the scam, but chooses not to have a public policy or procedure for their victims and after over a decade still relies on their DENIAL bot in hopes you go away.

Briefly you have a few options do not use them all/any at the same time:

a)File a 'not as described' claim instead. Use 'missing parts or pieces' or some such as the reason. This beats the crooked seller AND the eBay denial bots at their own game. The seller must send you a return label (return a box of air) OR front you cash (PayPal money) for recorded delivery back to the seller. If neither happens, return to the case in 4 days and escalate (Ask eBay to step in).

b) Contact eBay via one of their social media portals. This will put you in contact with US ebay employees that are well versed in this problem, and have the authority to help you. In most instances, they are no longer requiring you to procure documents from the carriers that are often impossible to obtain like they used to.

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/ (use the blue message button)

OR direct message through one of these:

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

https://x.com/askebay

c) File with PayPal if you paid that way. Only choose "shipped to wrong address" NOT item not received.

d) File a FRAUD/FAKE TRACKING scam with your credit card. Again, do NOT use item not received as the reason.

For your reading pleasure. Here you will find more details and learn especially what not to do.

Jan. 2025

Feb. 2025

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/DHL-Messing-up-shipping-or-a-scam/m-p/34918930#M513039
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-shipped-to-wrong-address/m-p/34918657#M513034
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Tracking-Scam-how-do-I-prepare/m-p/34920656#M513092
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-scamming-me/m-p/34954964#M514849
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-just-got-scammed-and-I-don-t-know-how-to-proceed/m-p/34955823#M514900

March 2025

April 2025

May 2025

June 2025

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/EBAY-WILL-NO-LONGER-INVESTIGATE-FAKE-TRACKING-WILL-SIDE-WITH/td-p/35119176
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/BUYERS-BEWARE/m-p/35121785#M523584

dxlthegame

OP1 year ago

200 View listings

Thank ittybit.

Im going a different route. Im going to report the seller to the international trade commission and USPS for fraud, smuggling, and illegal transfer of funds. I dont F around.

gone.c-33

·1 year ago

0 View listings

That is the definition of f around and will not get your money back.

File a chargeback with your credit card.

dxlthegame

OP1 year ago

200 View listings

As said, I dont care about the money. I care more about getting bad sellers of my search lists and not having others scammed. $30 is really nothing to me. But if Ebay and commerce allows, this then its $30 from thousands of people.

gone.c-33

·1 year ago

0 View listings

They wonâ€™t care about $30 either.

Filing a chargeback with your card issuer will put them on eBayâ€™s radar and may get them suspended.

soh.maryl

·1 year ago

110 View listings

Not sure about your last statement. How does eBay even know if/when a buyer files a chargeback with their card issuer? Once it gets to that point, I do believe it's out of eBay's hands.

kathiec

·1 year ago

1071 View listings

@soh.maryl wrote:
Not sure about your last statement. How does eBay even know if/when a buyer files a chargeback with their card issuer? Once it gets to that point, I do believe it's out of eBay's hands.

EBay definitely knows when a card chargeback is filed, since the original card transaction comes through Adyen and appears on the credit card statement as eBay Commerce. So the card refund is processed through Adyen. That's how they know to shut down any eBay cases. I don't believe, however, that information is considered in seller metrics.

lakefor94

·1 year ago

117 View listings

@dxlthegame wrote:
Thank ittybit.
Im going a different route. Im going to report the seller to the international trade commission and USPS for fraud, smuggling, and illegal transfer of funds. I dont F around.

The seller will not hear about or be effected by any of that.

Filing the bank chargeback for the fake tracking scam will be the only thing that will get the seller's attention.

It will also get eBay's attention.

dxlthegame

OP1 year ago

200 View listings

Thanks Bit.

Im hoping the seller will be kicked off. Long shot, but if Ebay wont do it, then the Fed will. The seller may be replaced by 100 others, but they might be honest. Honest black market is better than stealing your wallet, lol..

kathiec

·1 year ago

1071 View listings

@dxlthegame wrote:
Thanks Bit.
Im hoping the seller will be kicked off. Long shot, but if Ebay wont do it, then the Fed will. The seller may be replaced by 100 others, but they might be honest. Honest black market is better than stealing your wallet, lol..

The Feds likely don't have the authority to tell a corporation who can and can't be a member. And in this age of understaffing I would imagine they have bigger fish to fry than going after individual eBay sellers. So so don't count on getting your pound of flesh through the Fed route.

soh.maryl

·1 year ago

110 View listings

What makes you believe the "Fed" will get involved in a petty eBay dispute?

As someone else mentioned, there's a fairly good chance that they have larger fish to fry.

dogofwar777

·1 year ago

3081 View listings

USPS won't care. They'll send you an email stating they will look into it and you'll never hear back from them.

dolcetreasures

·1 year ago

4648 View listings

These sellers are getting access to a database of usps tracking numbers. They donâ€™t have to ship anything to a wrong address, they are able to find tracking numbers to your zip code. Theyâ€™ll even reuse the same tracking numbers as long as the dates fall within the transaction window.

albertabrightalberta

·1 year ago

I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.104 View listings

@dolcetreasures wrote:
These sellers are getting access to a database of usps tracking numbers. They donâ€™t have to ship anything to a wrong address, they are able to find tracking numbers to your zip code. Theyâ€™ll even reuse the same tracking numbers as long as the dates fall within the transaction window.

That's not what's happening.

I think what those sellers are doing is altering the label with the buyer's address and changing it to an address within the same zip code. Then they ship a worthless (or no) widget to that "wrong" address.

Then when buyers file for non-receipt and tracking shows delivery to the correct zip code and buyers loses their cases.

dolcetreasures

·1 year ago

4648 View listings

This was what I initially suspected, but it appears thereâ€™s more than one way to perpetuate this scam.