I am just after my first return in my several years of selling on eBay and the situation that happened is absurd. What happened: -We sell the buyer a 100% brand new and working product. We happen to be its manufacturer, so we have standard photo documentation showing the product's condition and operation at the time of shipment. The condition of the item at the time of shipment, showing at the same time that it works (i.e. lights up, this is the marker to display the green line): -The buyer receives the product and believes it does not work. I provide the buyer with photos to confirm that the product was working when it was shipped. I am also trying to establish with the buyer how he connected the product, but the buyer does not answer my questions at all. All I receive from him are requests for a “return label†and a “refund.†-The buyer reports the return to eBay with the reason “Not working or defective.†We provide the buyer with a return label, at our expense. -We receive the return shipment. We inspect the item, registering everything. It turns out that the item just works normally and is not defective . At the same time, the returned item bears clear signs of use beyond the standard inspection of the item - the label from the item torn off, damaged and then glued in another place, burn marks (!) on the metal case. Condition of the item upon return: -I reported the problem to eBay, attached photos and video showing the condition of the item at the time of shipment and after return, and photos and video showing that the item works after return despite the buyer's claims that it does not work at all. -eBay decision made in about 5 minutes (?) - buyer gets 100% refund (???). -I filed an appeal, decision further upheld. I received information that the buyer reported a problem that the item does not work, so according to eBay's rules, we were the ones who had to embrace the shipment to him. The shipment in tracking has a status of delivered, so the buyer is to receive a refund. -We continue to send emails to technical support, no change. -I still get information that I can report the problem with the buyer if I think he abused the right of return and the matter will be investigated. I did so, without hearing back from eBay for a few days. Some quotes from eBay support: "eBay’s return process is designed in a way that when a buyer returns an item, they are entitled to get a refund." "eBay doesn't have any physical contact with the item, we are not in the position to determine who caused the problem." "Please understand that we have kept our original decision since the return tracking shows successful delivery." "It is good to hear that the item has been successfully returned, and it was in the same condition in which you sent it." - lol of course it isn't, did anyone even look at the pictures we sent? At the end of the day: -We are left with a product whose condition can safely be described as “Item is damaged, scratched, defective, or requires service or repair.†-We paid for (international) shipping both ways. -I see “Order earnings -EU €97.26†on the order page, because since we asked eBay to step in, we won't get a commission refund (???) -The only thing I still lack to be 100% happy here is negative feedback from a buyer. Is this how returns from the seller are standard? Is there anything else we can do about it? Do we simply have to factor such a risk into the cost of business? The buyer can simply destroy the product, and in the end we will still have to reimburse him 100% of the cost and still cover the shipping costs both ways? Sellers, a question for you - how do you deal with such cases? What else can we do to avoid such unpleasantness in the future? For now, we are doing enough to send new and working goods and ship on time, but I can see that this is not enough. Thank you for your help, Tomasz
