4+ Hours of CS Lies, A Stolen £120 Item, Police Report Filed & Frontline CS Issued an £8.11 "Joke" Credit. Need Advice!
Hi Community,
I am writing this to get advice, warn other small sellers, and expose a complete breakdown of eBay’s Seller Protection system.
Over the past 48 hours, I have endured over 4 hours of phone calls with eBay customer support across multiple international call centers (Ireland, Caribbean, Romania, Albania), receiving conflicting advice, blatant misdirection, and zero protection against a seasoned, high-volume buyer (~27,000 feedback).
Here is the entire breakdown of the scam, the evidence, and the complete failure of customer service.
### 1. The Scam: Substituted Return Fraud
* Item Sold: Rare Spode Limited Edition Dog Bowl (#111 of 750) valued at £120.00, plus a set of Spode Porcelain Plates valued at £25.00. Total order value: £145.00.
* The Buyer: A veteran account with ~27,000 positive feedback.
* What She Did: Initiated a return. I paid for a Royal Mail Tracked 24 return shipping label on my account. She kept the £120 Spode Dog Bowl, threw three smashed porcelain plates into the box to fake the package weight for Royal Mail, and sent it back.
### 2. The Smoking Gun Proof eBay Support Ignored
1. The Buyer’s Own Self-Incriminating Photo:
The buyer uploaded a picture to the return case showing the return box fully taped up with red "SECURITY SEAL" tape. In her own photograph, the £120 Spode Dog Bowl is sitting ON HER TABLE OUTSIDE the sealed box! She literally photographed the stolen item sitting in her home after sealing the box empty.
2. Continuous Unboxing Video Evidence:
I recorded a continuous, unbroken video receiving and opening the parcel. The red security tape from her photo was 100% intact. I cut the seals live on camera: zero dog bowl inside, only three smashed plates.
3. Police Crime Report:
Because this is mail fraud and theft, I formally reported this to Action Fraud and the UK Police (**Crime Reference: RF26070350891C / Enquiry Ref: CAS-160236-T9F8S5**).
### 3. The 4-Hour Customer Service Nightmare & The "Elias" Blunder
I have logged over 4 hours of phone calls over two days trying to resolve this. Every single agent told me a completely different story:
* "Sign an affidavit and we will resolve it."
* "It's a system error, wait 24 hours."
* "You failed the case, you get nothing, go to a tribunal."
The absolute worst part? I spent over 1 hour on the phone with an agent named Elias, who even called me back. He sounded extremely friendly and reassuring, convincing me the issue was being sorted under Seller Protection. Because he was so polite, I gave him a glowing 5-star feedback rating on the post-call survey.
What did he actually do behind the scenes? He clicked the wrong button and issued a partial £8.11 postage credit to my account, effectively closing the case and leaving me out of pocket by £136.89! Absolute incompetence.
### 4. Defamation & Exploitation of Power
Because this buyer has 27,000 feedback, she clearly feels untouchable. She called me a liar in eBay messages, abused the return system, and left a malicious negative feedback review on my store to destroy my reputation. eBay's automated frontline system automatically sided with her high-volume account, completely ignoring physical photographic proof.
### My Questions for the Community:
1. Has anyone successfully forced eBay's Executive Office (ukexecutive@ebay.com) to manually payout a claim after frontline CS botched it with a partial postage credit?
2. What is the fastest way to get a negative feedback strike removed when Action Fraud / Police Crime references are attached?
3. If eBay refuses to honour Seller Protection despite an open police report, has anyone taken a buyer to HMCTS Money Claim Online (Small Claims Court) via a Letter Before Action?
I refuse to let a high-volume account steal £145 worth of inventory and hide behind eBay's broken CS system. Any advice or guidance on pushing this through to executive resolution would be greatly appreciated.
