Getting screwed over for months as a seller on on an blatant purchasing scam transaction. Need help.
Getting royally screwed over by eBay and need suggestions.
I’m an experienced seller and member since 2002 and I’m flabbergasted how eBay CS has treated me and botched an obvious scam by a buyer.
On October 15th 2023 I sold a brand new and sealed Google Pixel phone to a buyer in FL with low feedback. A day after it was delivered he told me he wanted to return it since it was “broken.†I told him it was under warranty through Google or he could even exchange it at Best Buy if he wanted to, but I’d also accept a return (I knew his “broken excuse was **bleep** but eBay ALWAYS sides with buyers)
So, he ships it back to me and once it’s delivered eBay closes the return and issues him a refund. One HUGE problem. He didn’t use eBay’s label, he (or whomever running the scam) shipped “something†with USPS tracking from NYC (not Florida where I originally shipped to) to a suburb outside of Chicago (my return address is in Chicago)
I spoke to 10 CS agents and escalated the issue showing proof I never received my item back, and they all agreed with me and flagged they buyer’s account and told me to also report and block them, but the “manual appeal team†keeps turning down the manual aka human review appeal for unknown reasons, but what I keep getting told is it’s because the case had already been closed because a refund had been issued and the seller sent tracking which showed the item had been delivered to a town about 20 miles from me I have NO affiliation with. This makes zero sense to me as that’s what a HUMAN reviewer is supposed to take into account. The item should have been delivered to my return address. I can't even get ahold of tracking as eBay says they don't keep records?! It's all automated...
3 Months now and I keep getting the runaround. I am at my wits end. Can anyone offer advice? I am told there is no one else to escalate to. I am out $630. Thanks!
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoSo a buyer can return without the eBay shipping label and still get a refund?...just because it has tracking?
I will address this at the next open forum next month where eBay employees can answer this on posting here.
Usually its around the first week of the month.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoSo a buyer can return without the eBay shipping label and still get a refund?
@12345jamesstamps
Yes. Buyers have never been required to use them either. Sellers don't have to use them either.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoWhich means a return tracking number has the wrong return address and seller never gets item returned.
So it sounds like no protection for the seller.
a_c_green
·2 years agoNormally it's the second Wednesday of each month, although the January chat was postponed one week.
I don't think I'm as concerned about whether the buyer uses the seller's return label or his own, but one critical detail, IMHO, is that the package must go to the seller's Return Address. Nowhere else, and especially not to some other City and ZIP that's 20 miles away, such as what happened in this case.
Regardless of the contents (probably some worthless trinket), the fact that the package went someplace else should instantly disqualify it from a refund for return.
tikiauctions
OP2 years agoExactly! Tracking the buyer provided clearly showed the town and zip code the return item was “delivered†to and it was no where near me. They probably just googled a random address. The best part is eBay couldn’t provide me with the ACTUAL delivery address, just the tracking number. I would have driven to an address if I had been able to obtain one and at least tried to recover the “packageâ€
What is most troubling to me is that eBay is allowing buyers to return items via their own independent labels, and just requires them to submit the tracking number as proof of shipment. Maybe I dropped the ball somehow by delaying reaching out to eBay (I think I thought the seller had decided to keep the phone and not ship it back, but a week or 2 later got a notice from PayPal saying my account balance was negative) but I had not received anything so I had no reason to check.
come to think of it I had no notification from eBay saying the item had been delivered! I had to go onto the site and manually look at the tracking the buyer provided. This is all so messed up.
teth_1615
·2 years agoIndeed, or is your on-file payment method not a credit card, but PayPal instead when your Available or Processing funds are insufficient to cover the refund owed to the buyer, so it was charged to your PayPal account?
It's likely @tikiauctions that eBay on social media won't be able to help. Instead, file a complaint about the incorrect decision on the return tracking number with the BBB in San Jose CA for them to forward to the eBay executive office a mile away for a response, and likely your courtesy refund. But you'll need to skedaddle, as the tracking may expire at 120 days.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoHave you filed a complaint with local law enforcement in the destination jurisdiction and with the postal inspection service?
You should, You should copy Ebay on those complaints and the response you received.
IMO you have an Ebay sales strategy which is high risk and should rethink whether you can afford to be a scam victim. You cannot expect Ebay to accept any evidence which is not supported by specific documentation by your carrier and law enforcement, they are not a court or a law enforcement organization, and do not wish to be a party to any lawsuits which arise from your sales. This limits your ability to obtain actions which you seek.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoI spoke to 10 CS agents
The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that means giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
the first CS agent I spoke to suggested I drive 20 miles to the town's post office
Twenty miles? That's like a 15 minute drive?
Wow. Totally unacceptable .
You'd even have to talk to a Real Person. Face to face,even.
The horror. The horror.
tikiauctions
OP2 years agoThank You!!
tikiauctions
OP2 years agoMy friend, 20 miles in Chicagoland is an hour drive. No idea where you live. And why should I have to go to a random post office to ask them where a scam package was delivered? If it isn't MY RETURN ADDRESS or at least the return zip code, there's an issue. I have no idea how the buyer was able to generate and use his own label and that was accepted by eBay.
a_c_green
·2 years agoActually that is the issue, for which eBay should have found in your favor: the package (regardless of its contents) was not returned to the City and ZIP of your Return Address. Thus the refund should never have occurred.
kitschy*loot
·2 years agoI was born and raised in Chicago and 20 miles is most certainly not a 15 minute drive...
tikiauctions
OP2 years agoOh, and the first CS agent I spoke to suggested I drive 20 miles to the town's post office and see if they could help me LMAO. **bleep**.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoI know it's a long shot, but ebay are WELL aware of this fake tracking scam, on both a seller AND buyer's end.
Have you tied contacting the reps on the ebay for Business Facebook page by sending them a message there?
tikiauctions
OP2 years agoI have not... I will look into it. Thanks for the tip!