Help with Escalating a Case -Buyer disputed payment with his bank and now is selling what I sold him
The buyer bought a laptop from me, and I expedited the shipping to get it to him faster as courtesy and per his request. Upon receiving it, he was satisfied and even thanked me. However, he later replaced the hard drive and began experiencing issues. He repeatedly requested a return, then withdrew the requests, and finally opened a case against me. Consequently, my account funds have been held for nearly a month, and he has now disputed the charges with his bank. Despite his initial claim that the laptop was faulty due to his modifications and completely against any Buyer eBay Guarantee, he is now selling it on eBay. I can substantiate this with the Dell Service Tag visible in his eBay photos and my purchase records from Dell. How can I escalate this matter and speak to someone at eBay who can assist me?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have already submitted a response to the latest case against me but that was prior to me seeing that he is selling the laptop he claimed and disputed the payment with and I'm assuming that violates all kinds of eBay guidelines and is theft.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoAs @fashunu4eeuh mentioned you probably should have accepted the initial eBay return request and hope you got back what you sent. Since the buyer opened a chargeback even if the buyer had not closed the eBay return request eBay would have done so. You did not mention whether you accepted or disputed the chargeback. If you accepted the buyer will be fully refunded.
If you disputed the chargeback, despite the fact that you did so before you saw the buyer was selling the item, if the buyer used NAD as the reason for the chargeback it would/will probably make little difference. Most CC companies under their policies and the current Federal laws will only look at the financial aspects of the chargeback, they favor the card holder and will not get involved in the logistics. What this boils down to is you will likely loose the chargeback, the buyer will be fully refunded, eBay will retain their FVF's, you will be charged a $20 processing fee by the CC company and the buyer will be allowed to keep the item and sell it if they wish. You are correct in your assumption that this is quasi legalized theft.
There is a creative way to get your item back and potentially part of your money but I would get chastised if I posted it on this forum.
mam98031
·2 years ago@discounttech365
I haven't seen this situation in a long time, but I strongly suggest you gather all the info you can about this buyer listing it for sale on Ebay. You need absolute proof that it is the item you sold them. Do the serial numbers match is some pretty solid evidence. But gather everything you can.
Then contact Ebay directly. Ebay has some rules that are not published. One of them, or at least there use to be, was if a buyer listed the item you sold them on Ebay for sale on Ebay, it voided the MBG for them.
You have TWO avenues here and you need to be working directly with Ebay to try and resolve this.
1. They are selling the same item on Ebay.
2. By the buyers own admission they altered the product [put in a different drive]. That's a no no.
You also have the ability to send this information in on the Chargeback so that the Credit Card company will also see the info. Time is of the essence on this, so try to make sure you gather everything and contact Ebay early tomorrow.
I have in the past helped a couple of buyers in a similar situation and Ebay protected the seller each time. I just don't know if anything has changed regarding this which is why you need to work directly with Ebay and quickly so the Credit Card Company doesn't make a decision first.
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On each Ebay page there is a link to contact Customer Service at the top of the page and again at the bottom of the page.
I would suggest that you contact Ebay for Business on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the better trained CSRs.
Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.
https://twitter.com/askebay
https://www.facebook.com/ebay
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.
If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.
If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.
https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid
https://www.ebay.com/help/home
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years agoHi @discounttech365 sorry this happened.
You may have lost an opportunity to be in better control of the situation when you did not accept the return initially. If you had, you might have mitigated some of your losses, which is about the best one can hope for under the circumstances. Sellers are at a disadvantage, as the financial institution will often decide in the card holder’s favor.
Once a buyer opens a chargeback (payment dispute) with their credit card company, eBay possesses little to no authority to act. There is no case escalation because eBay is removed now and the credit card institution makes all the decisions.
Below is a link to the eBay Help pages on how to handle a cc dispute. If you have already responded as you alluded, it may be too late to salvage anything—except for the fact the buyer has apparently listed the item. That would likely help you but i am unclear as to what the next steps would be if you have already submitted your challenge.
If the buyer listed your identical computer in working condition, after claiming in writing that it was not, the cc company might consider that as evidence of potential fraud. What condition did he list it as? New? Open Box? For Parts/Not Working?
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/handling-payment-disputes?id=4799
Navigating the minefield of an eCommerce platform requires a broad knowledge of the policies that govern the site. You could well be a target for scammers as an infrequent seller of high dollar goods in high fraud categories. But sincerely hope this gets resolved to your benefit. Best of luck.
krazzykats
·2 years agoShould always request the return of the item for a refund, you may be able to deduct any damage/changes.
turtles-trading-post
·2 years agoYa know, this is all too common.
My rusty memory seems to remember that part of the eBay buyer agreement was that eBay was the final judge in any situation, and you could not do a bank dispute.
And if my memory is wrong, that indeed should be the deal. Then NARU the idiot!
mam98031
·2 years agoNot at all true on a Chargeback. Ebay actually has so say in the outcome. However Ebay can protect the seller if it is called for and then they take over the battle with the Credit card company.
The OP has NO ability to NARU anyone, we never have.
dolcetreasures
·2 years agoeBay won’t care, I would call him out, make a police report and threaten to report him to every agency you can think of, not to mention his workplace. You can also tell him you will make a website devoted to his crime.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years ago"disputed the charges with his bank"...bank usually wins.
Bank over - rides eBay no matter what you try to do.
And funds for the purchase of the buyer has to be returned or your account might get closed.
Buyer gets PC and a refund...
It has happened to a lot of us...nothing usually that expensive.
Block the buyer of course.