iPhone return, never actually returned
Hello,
I recently sold an iPhone 13 Pro to a low feedback buyer and shipped it out to an address in Delaware. Couple days later I get a return request because the buyer claims it’s defective. I had no choice but to send a return label thanks to eBay’s policies that don’t allow for any other action. The buyer sends the item back and I was expecting to get an empty box. Instead the item gets marked as delivered but never actually shows up. I realize there was a high chance I was being scammed as soon as they initiated the return request, but at this point I’m not sure how they carried it out. I have informed delivery so I know this package was marked for my address and not another address in the same zip code. The only explanation I can think of is that the buyer did some mail fraud and manually changed the address on the label so I would never receive it and think it was lost or misdelivered. Anyone else experience something like this, or know what could’ve happened?
krazzykats
·3 years agoMaybe eBay needs a high-end electronics authentication center.
Or a high-end phone authentication program.
byrd69er
·3 years agoMaybe ebay should not allow the sale of phones.
m60driver
·3 years agoYou should have realized that there was a very, very high chance of being scammed the moment you, a new/infrequent seller, listed an iPhone. Ebay should have warned you of this fact, but they are perpetually criminally negligent on such matters.
duffy4444
·3 years agoOMG, here we go again... How many of these preventable complaints are we going to hear on this forum before sellers start using common sense and STOP selling heavily-scammed, high-value items online? Are sellers, especially those with a decent amount of history and feedback, that uninformed about online scams? I don't think so. I believe that too many of us are willing to take the badly thought-out risks.
For the umpteenth time plus a thousand, NEVER, EVER send, and especially ship, any high-value or highly-scammed item anywhere online, that you and your business model are not prepared to lose... along with your payment for it on an insulting forced eBay-generated buyer refund that is way out of line with common sense.
There are many other less-risky, local alternatives, using CASH, to selling these high-value and otherwise heavily-scammed items. Use them.
Sellers here did not join eBay to have to end up filing multiple police reports, contacting the FBI or Federal consumer fraud division, filing USPS Postal Inspector reports, or jumping thru any number of other hoops just to end up witnessing eBay avoid realistically tackling these scams or putting teeth back into seller protections that have now become a joke.
So now we have to protect ourselves by removing the cause instead of having to deal with the effect. The bottom line is that it is now up to sellers to get a grip and start using our heads to PREVENT falling victim to scams that could just have easily been avoided by the use of common sense.
Experience may be the best teacher, but also the costliest. Sorry - again - to hear about your loss.
Cheers, Duffy
rugerskick
·3 years agoWell Ebay wants these items to be sold here, they need to back the sellers who need them to have their backs on buyer fraud. Apart from raising and creating new seller fees, this was the only strategy ebay has announced for saving the site. So they better start protecting the sellers selling high value items, otherwise their only non-fee revenue strategy will fail.
ittybitnot
·3 years agoAnyone else experience something like this, or know what could’ve happened?
@qikseller
Similar situations have been posted here quite often. If I were you, I would take copies of your transaction, and return tracking info (copy of actual label) and have a nice visit in person with your Post Master. The first thing that needs to be determined is if the package was indeed misdelivered. The USPS knows where it was delivered, and may even have a photo of the label used and can determine if it was altered. Whether they will share that information with you is a different matter entirely.
If it is indeed part of the usual "cheap trinket return scam" everyone involved is counting on you NOT getting the information required (written statement from the Post Office that the parcel was not addressed to you). eBay will be off the hook with their usual mantra of the return being marked as "delivered" (even though Signature confirmation should have been used), the criminal will get the goods and a refund.
In what country was your buyer registered?
qikseller
OP3 years agoThey were registered in Georgia, I’ll be calling usps as a first step to see if I can get any info about the label being tinkered with as well as the gps coordinates and go from there.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoIf you mean Georgia the country (not the US state) and the Delaware address was a freight forwarder, you should appeal as using a FF 'supposedly' negates the buyer's MBG rights.
qikseller
OP3 years agoYes it was the country, and it was sent to a freight forwarder. I will try to appeal it with proof that it was a FF and see what happens.
sextons-sweet-deals
·3 years agoI was hit by this scam in 2021.
quick question: You state you sent a return label. Were you given the tracking number since you paid for it?
My case was a little different. The buyer claimed the item was delivered damaged (15 oz. or less item packed in a zip lock bag and then into a poly bag). Buyer stated it looks like the USPS poked a hole through the package maybe to inspect. Really? I asked for photos and the buyer refused to send. Then they claim the package was tossed on their doorstep and was soaked from a recent rain. I Googled the address. Buyer has a huge mailbox out front. I called them out again and they still refused to send photos.
I finally asked eBay to step in and explained why. This is another example of eBay not protecting sellers. eBay decided to instruct the buyer to return item on their own. Since they were returning it, I was not given the tracking number to follow. About 7 to 9 days later I receive a message from eBay that item has been returned and the buyer has been refunded. I'm still waiting for that item to arrive!!!
None of it makes since. eBay failed because they only went by the tracking number and once shown delivered to whoever & wherever, the case was considered closed. I should have had the opportunity to receive, inspect, and then issue refund.
I'm sure the buyer committed mail fraud. Changed the address on the label. Probably sent to a friend, back to themselves, or they looked up an address near me and sent an empty package.
qikseller
OP3 years agoI just selected the return label that ebay provides for returns and then sent it automatically. I’m not sure how I could get the tracking number for that, but the date the label was created matches when I sent it to the buyer. Also like I said I can see through informed delivery that it was actually shipped to the right address.
xadexane
·3 years agoUSPS Informed Delivery shows you the tracking numbers headed to you, @qikseller.
So what do you mean "I’m not sure how I could get the tracking number for that" or what are you saying?
qikseller
OP3 years agoI'm saying I don't have the tracking number from when I authorized the return, but can now see it through informed delivery.
qeqo_0
·3 years agoThe reason the tracking number is not shared when you authorize the return
-- is because the buyer still has the option to use their own return label
-- so your return label and its tracking number may never go live.
But Informed Delivery will catch, matching your address instantly when the tracking number is assigned.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoWas the Delaware address by chance that of a freight forwarder? It may not have been if the defective (assuming NAD) case was filed only a couple of days later. If the package was marked as delivered talk to the post office and have them check the tracking to make sure it was actually dropped off at the correct address. My neighbors have accidently received a couple of my packages over the years but they were nice enough to let me know and I picked them up.
Cell phones are probably one of the most frequently scammed items out there. Not sure why people continue to sell these on eBay when they can be easily sold on multiple venues with a lot less risk. I always advise that if you are going to sell cell phones copy down and retain the IMEI number. If you are scammed you can report the number to the IMEI blacklist and the phone pretty much becomes useless to the buyer.
qikseller
OP3 years agoYes it was a freight forwarder, I do have the imei address. Might end up doing that
gemarakop_trading
·3 years agoHappened to me usps informed me the address was changed on the label. This is the latest scam . You can actual see the coordinates on the tracking page input it to google maps and you got the delivery address. You can submit it to ebay also you can report it the the usps inspector general. I hope these dregs of humanity end up in a jail sell.
good luck
qikseller
OP3 years agoDang they don’t know when to stop. Were you able to get anywhere with eBay after telling them the label was changed? Do I have a chance if I contact usps and get all the proper info?