Heronim Puzzles SCAM artist Buyer BEWARE
This past week I sold a Large Lot of 16 Puzzles to a user who low balled me down to $150, with vintage puzzles.
The scam, Buyer continually told me these were for his school (teacher) and donating them to his class. Buyer went on and on about shipping cost. Normally, I would just say no, but this time I just gave in, my mistake.
I shipped out one large box, the next day. 4 days later, delivered. Guess What? I get a Return, Item not as described email. Photos, that my items were a bit crushed, there was snow in the bags, that were sealed, then photos of a Rat or animals hole on the bottom of the box, with a bad smell. This was only maybe 3 photos, of the 17 puzzles, I actually shipped in the photos. Then a few more photos in a message were sent. I knew this was lost cause. The scam covered everything.
I immediately took action, and refunded the buyer. I knew this was bad, and I instantly blocked the buyer. I showed the photos to my son, who said the hole look like a baseball bat, and knife marks, not an animal. The box itself was clean on the outside, so how did snow get in the box, then into a sealed bag. I know I am complaining, but after 25 years of selling, I think people can be dishonest. So, I contacted my friend, who only sells puzzles, he confirmed this buyer had tried the same exact scam on him, and he blocked him from his store.
I knew this would cost me, but knowing ebay, I would lose, it wasn't worth the time or hassle of the claim I would lose.
Anyone else dealing with this type of scam?
inhawaii
·8 months agoI'm curious to see the 3 photos of the bad smell.
toomuchstuffagain35
·8 months agoOh you're on fire today.
tools*
·8 months agoThey promised us smellavision, but it never came.
deltilogical
·8 months agoThis: " only encourages them to keep up the scam."
You helped them win again.
jbbowers12012
·8 months agoFrom here in New Jersey we are thinking that our OP should have had her buyer "return" before "refunding." It is a possibility that this buyer was looking for a "partial" & may have just faded away. We think that our OP may have acted too quickly on this one. IMHO Of-Course.
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoI think giving in to demands for a bargain, sob story then refunding without a return is exactly what this buyer wanted.
toomuchstuffagain35
·8 months agoBut in this case OP is probably right. They would have been out the return shipping and a buyer trying this on would just send back something disgusting and ebay would refund anyway.
mamacassidy
·8 months ago@toomuchstuffagain35 said: "But in this case OP is probably right. They would have been out the return shipping and a buyer trying this on would just send back something disgusting and ebay would refund anyway."
I'd still make them return something. I'd make them take the time to pack something up and send it back. Them make them wait for a refund. And if something disgusting came back, I'd report the buyer and contact an ebay rep on social media to see if there was anything I could do to appeal the refund (I know, long shot).
But I'd at least get it on the buyer's record that this was a bad return, and if this is something they do on a regular basis (as OP stated in their post), then ebay will see a pattern of abuse and eventually flag their account.
Edited to add: that is if the buyer even sent anything back. In this case, I think they were just fishing for a refund and didn't want to return anything...
toomuchstuffagain35
·8 months agoIn principle I feel the same way, but tbh depending on circumstances, to one seller a $40 return fee is a drop in the bucket/write it off blah blah, but another it may be the difference between putting gas in the car or not.
tobaccocardyahoo
·9 months agoI usually block buyers who message me with a **bleep** story like your buyer did before they get a chance to order.
I rarely negotiate a price with other than one of my repeat buyers.
An ounce of prevention ...
funfactorychannel
·9 months agoLooks to me someone tried to shake the tree and the tree shook
ten_o_nine
·9 months agoeBay's policies often favor buyers in these situations, so you're probably right to cut losses.
kibble-net
·9 months agoI've never heard of this one, but here's a fun story for you.
One time I had a buyer claim that a game I'd sent was missing 4 marbles. They were all complete in a sealed polybag, but somehow 4 escaped from the package and teleported out of the box in transit. The buyer demanded I mail them extras, and accused me of all sorts of trickery. I was happy to comply, but didn't understand why they had to be so rude.
The moral of the story is that sometimes your buyer doesn't have all of their marbles in the same box if you know what I mean 😉
mamacassidy
·9 months agoI do not issue refunds without the item being returned. Even if I have to pay for the return shipping.
Based on your post, it sounds like you issued a refund just to get rid of the scammer. But in my opinion, that only encourages them to keep up the scam.
gardencity_tradingpost
OP8 months agoMy first thought, if he returns, I pay another $40 in shipping, and he would **bleep** all over them. That’s why I cut my kids. He basically, added rat/odor, wet, everything that would keep me from wanting the items back.
Thank you all, I needed a good whipping today on this. Always follow your instincts.
inhawaii
·9 months agoWhat scam?
Someone wanting to do a return is not always a scam.
gardencity_tradingpost
OP8 months ago4 sellers, had this experience in a few days of each other, no way, it’s not a scam.