eBay wants you to give up.
Summary: quadcitypickers shared a frustrating experience with a buyer who damaged and returned an item against policy, and highlighted the difficulties faced when dealing with eBay’s customer service. Despite various hurdles, they eventually reached a supervisor who resolved the issue in their favor. mam98031 and others engaged in a discussion about the location and effectiveness of eBay's customer support, noting that assumptions about accents can be misleading. bonanza125 suggested that such risks are inherent in online selling, while kensgiftshop and stainlessenginecovers advised caution and patience. There was also mention of eBay’s changing customer service options over time.
Had a return where a buyer admitted to trying to modify and then repair an item I sold.
I get it back, shipped with little packing material, smells like an animal peed on it.
They broke MBG policy by altering the item.
It should not take 2+ hours on the phone, reps that give you bad/incorrect advice, being lied to about "no supervisor" or "supervisor say same thing I do".
I FINALLY got a hold of a supervisor who agreed they damaged the item, admitted through messages, and closed out the return to me.
If you pay $10k a year in fees, you should get North American reps.
They purposely make it a circus so you give up. Even the social media reps cannot help with returns.
I know it was only $120...but I will be darned if I am going to refund someone when they took it apart and fouled it up. This is why I avoid selling expensive items on here.
christworks
·1 month agoI'm not sure why you got on the phone with eBay. This is the very rare case where having eBay step in is appropiate and would not have harmed your account.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 month agoYou've been here long enough to know to NOT wait on hold to talk to a brick wall with an accent that has NO power to do anything, sometimes not even the power to tell the truth.
What are you thinking when you post these??
kensgiftshop
·1 month agoDon't be surprised if they come back in a day or two and changed the outcome.
bonanza125
·1 month agoWhen you sell something online you will have a risk of something like this happening. Majority of transactions go smoothly. This one didn't. Give them the refund and move on. The more you sell the higher chance you will eventually come across a dishonest buyer who damages or alters the item then returns. Ebay reps will not do anything. Yes you wasted 2+ hours for nothing. As far as Ebay reps by outside the US it's been like that for years and many other companies operate the same way. Yes limit yourself selling expensive items on Ebay.
mam98031
·1 month agoAssuming that someone is not in the USA just because they have an accent is a big leap. Clearly they were able to help you and you got what you were seeking, so what difference does it make in the end? They helped you, wasn't that what you were after?!?
tools*
·1 month agoIt's no secret that the standard eBay-contracted "customer service" phone answerers are not in the US, and that what they do is worthless by design.
mam98031
·1 month ago@tools*
Ebay has not had a general phone number for Customer Service AKA Call Center since 2020 because of the Pandemic. So be very careful if you find a number and call it. It is likely it is not Ebay. There are these fake numbers out there on the internet. I previous posted the options for CS currently.
christworks
·1 month ago@mam98031 You are correct, but last week when I had to reach out to eBay, the chat option gave me the option to call eBay. It seems they've added that as an option now. I didn't select it. I had eBay call me.
mam98031
·1 month agoThat is good to hear. I will check that out sometime in the near future. Thank you for sharing.
mam98031
·1 month agoThat has been passed around a lot over the years. However Ebay does NOT have a "Call Center" and hasn't had one for several years now. Even back when there was one, there have been alternative ways to get Customer Service.
But I say again, just because someone has an accent does NOT mean they are in a different country. That hasn't been true for over 250 years.