Need some help or advice navigating a return from a buyer on an expensive item
I had a buyer make a reasonable offer on a item I had for sale. It is a one of a kind large remote control truck. He offered $1500 plus $200 freight shipping. I had it listed at $1800 at the time I believe. I knew that the freight was going to cost more than the flat rate I charged and had factored that into accepting the offer. The item number was 177620634226 if you want to see the detailed description and pictures that I had on the listing. Also clear on there, NO Returns. Freight ended up being $350 plus the cost to build the crate.
He bought it on December 31st. I had 3 business day handling on the listing. on the morning of the 2nd business day, he opened a item not received claim with Ebay. I communicate with him and he seems to understand that it is not overdue yet. I ship it and provide tracking and he ignores my request to close the dispute. I get Ebay involved, They say, we see you shipped it in a timely manner, it is almost to his location. If he doesn't release the dispute after it arrives, contact us again. To my relief, he closes the dispute the day after he picks it up at the shipping terminal. Then Today, he opens a item return request for not as described. claims i stalled him on shipping, it was built by me and he had to go to the shipping dock to get it. I didn't build, it but state in my description it was built by a retired guy local to me. Not many 5 feet long RC trucks being mass produced. I also clearly state that it will need to be picked up at a freight terminal up to 40 miles from your location. Also in the return requests were pictures of a regular size rc truck that is a mass produced plastic item. I see that Ebay only gives me 3 options. accept the return and send him a call tag on my dime, offer a discount or send him a message. I choose to send him a message, stating the item in the pics is not what he bought from me and the description covered in detail what he received and almost begs to ask any questions before purchasing. At this point I cant' tell if this is buyer's remorse or if I am about to get scammed somehow. has anybody had a situation like this that ended positively for them? I don't want to buy another $350 in shipping to get back the little plastic truck he sent in the pics. (i don't think I should have to pay return shipping at all but...) I have pictures of the truck in the crate and a receipt with the weight from the shipping company. (it weighed a little over 430 pounds with the crate). Am I screwed here? how do I get Ebay involved and get them on my side?
omh_enterprises
OP7 months agoAnother Update.
Buyer shipped back a 10lb plastic toy. I opened a dispute for him returning the wrong item. I received an email from a customer service rep stating that the specialist team was looking into it and they were placing the case on a 5 day hold.
On the 6th day, I replied to the email I received from the customer service rep requesting an update and provide another narration because the original was limited to 500 characters.
Today I woke up to an email that they have ruled in the buyer's favor. Saying I claimed to never have received the item back and the buyer provided valid tracking that was delivered to me.
I reached out to Ebay through Facebook messaging and received a fast response from their team. I was advised to reach out to an agent because the value exceeded anything they could help me on. ($1700)
The agent I contacted gave the same speech that every customer service rep does. Sorry but this is the resolution that we have come to based on the information in front of us. "I can see now that you did claim they sent back the wrong item. So you will need to open an appeal to get this corrected" I tell her that I will open one but have little faith in them getting it right the 2nd time with the same info they have had all along. She assures me that if she gets assigned the appeal she will rule in my favor. I ask how to we make that happen and get told it is just luck of the draw.
I asked to speak to a supervisor and she stalled me on the phone for 8 to 10 minutes. coming back on the line every 2 or 3 minute to tell me the supervisor was getting up to speed on my case and then hung up on me after that
So, getting the crappy result that I expected all along but still can't help but get mad about it.
I appreciate all the response I have received to this thread and sincerely hope none of you end up in this position. It Sucks!
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoA update on this transaction.
It took a few messages to the buyer to get a day that worked for him to drop off at the shipper. So i bought the $378 return shipping. That day came and went without drop off.
Contacted him again, said he decided to send it back threw (sp) Ebay. I responded that Ebay doesnt handle packages this big or the return shipping for that matter. His response was "I will upload tracking soon"
Next notification I received was from Ebay that return tracking had been uploaded. A package is on it's way to me that weighs just under 10 lbs. A far cry from the 440lbs originally shipped.
I contacted an Ebay agent and ran through my story. I feel positive after that conversation, but no resolution until the package arrives on the 3rd. So now we wait.
mamacassidy
·8 months agoIt may have already been said, but if this return turns out to be not legit, you should contact ebay via one of their social media links. You can message with a real US customer service person, and based on many people's experiences, this is the best way to get a resolution.
The overseas telephone agents are notorious for saying stuff that they can't back up just to get you off the phone.
dolcetreasures
·8 months agoThis is becoming less and less a place to sell anything other than cheap junk. Meanwhile Amazon is becoming less and less customer friendly and more adversarial towards buyers.
babyers88
·8 months ago@omh_enterprises
at the bottom of this page on the right under help & contact is a link to "contact us"
or at the top of any regular ebay page is "help & contact".
once you click on that, the level of customer service you get will depend or vary.
but once you navigate thru that and get to a real human, have them notate the return case that the return is suspect, i.e. pictures of something else provided. (they can write internal notes that any rep can see)
then once the item has been returned inspect it right away and proceed accordingly if it is fraud then you report the buyer (separate, not thru the return case) then after that immediately reach out again to customer service about the return case and have them take a look at it, they will see the information provided in the buyer report. what happens after that can really "depend", be as accurate and concise as you can in your report. If they decide in your favor due to the amount you will have to sign a legal form and return it, basically it is affidavit to protect ebay in case of fraud.
If all is well and no fraud, then it's a financial bite and all you can do is write it off as such on your taxes.
if you do the refund on your own at that point then you at least get the ebay fee's refunded.
Be aware if you dispute the return otherwise (and loose) or do not refund before the date they already provided you, then you loose the ebay fee's and the entire amount is refunded from your funds
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThank you for this information. I thought there would be a contact through the return process and not through the general contact. Now I know.
I appreciate the rest of your advise also.
ryry-jj
·8 months agoWhen the buyer picked up the item, what did he sign for? Was it a bill of laden, & did it say anything about received in good condition? Sometimes it will say, "note any damage or discrepancies". Usually the signature means received in expected condition.
There are a few other issues here...since picked up at a terminal, this might be considered a local pick up that needed a QR code. Since it didn't ship to the buyer's address I'm not sure how eBay views the delivery to have in seller protection.
In the end, if returned for INAD, you will be paying the freight back and hope you receive the actual item. The freight carrier should have weight records to determine if the returned item is the same weight, but I really have no idea how eBay would look at or even consider the carrier's docs.
Did you use one of eBay freight partners like Freight Center or did you contract freight on your own?
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThanks for responding,
I have not requested the documents from the carrier yet from when he picked it up. I my past dealings with freight companies tells me, he was required to acknowledge delivery in acceptable condition.
I contacted a freight company on my own. I don't remember seeing any Ebay approved options or partners. I will look into that if I have to ship freight again.
hotwheelsbum
·8 months agoYou are in Washington.
Where is your Buyer? Where was this Shipped to?
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoPennsylvania
hotwheelsbum
·8 months agoOK. I was just wondering how quick it would be to just take off and go get it. I'd do a 12 -14 hour one way drive to go recover this thing. 2-3 day trip would be worth it just to get it back no matter how much of a loss you're going to take trying to get this back to you, money refunded to Buyer.
Yes, you are going to take a loss. No way around it.
sextons-sweet-deals
·8 months agodid you add 'signature require' at delivery? That will weed out the scammers.
Did you ever check this buyer's profile, feedback history, and Google Map the address? How did things look?
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThanks for responding,
I did check the buyer's feedback. He had around 60 and nothing that raised a red flag to me.
There was a requirement for signature at delivery because the item was shipped through a freight carrier.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoHere's hoping you get some helpful replies and are able to resolve your issue.
A giant wall of text can be difficult to read. Hope you never have any issues with selling here again, but, if you do, would you mind breaking your message down into paragraphs?
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThanks for replying.
Sorry about that. I agree that looks hard to read.
rugerskick
·8 months agoMy gut says from the first haggling message and the INR before shipping, they are an impossible buyer or they intended to scam you from the start.
Can I ask, when a buyers messages you for favors/discounts out of the blue, do you normally then go and check their feedback left for others to get an insight into what kind of person is contacting you? I have found it can provide some additional info to consider whether to continue on with them or not.
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThanks for responding,
The item was listed with the best offer feature, so the offer didn't throw up any red flags for me. I wasn't sure what the item was worth because there aren't any comps for it, so I started high and had the function for Ebay to automatically lower the price every week or so.
The INR had me nervous but after messaging him, I felt ok with continuing. OOPS!
I did go and take a look at the buyer's feedback. He was in the 60 range. I didn't look at the feedback he left for others. That is a good idea and I will use that in the future.
fm2000
·8 months agoI would have tried to sell it locally, an item that big, at least if one is not experienced in freight shipping, is very risky and complicated.
When he filed in INR the day before you were supposed to ship it, you should have canceled the order and put him on your BBL. A buyer who opens an INR before the eBay estimated delivery date is possible trouble, one who does it before the shipping date is guaranteed trouble.
With the pictures of such a different item, this sounds like fraud. Contact eBay and explain the pictures he sent were not of the item you sent. There would be quite a shipping weight difference between the two, even in a crate. The freight company should have a record of the weight in their system. eBay may cover your loss if it is buyer fraud. Even then, this will be a guaranteed massive headache to deal with.
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThank you for the reply.
I agree with you and it crossed my mind to cancel it when he opened the INR, but I guess the combination of greed and the fact that the messages we exchanged during this time make me feel OK with continuing.
If a situation like this happens again with an item at any price point, I will cancel it and take the negative and move on.
I see you recommend contacting Ebay about the pictures. That is part of what I was asking in my original post. How do I contact them about this specific case when the return doesn't have that option anywhere I can see? It just states to make sure I get this taken care of by January 22nd.
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoYou engaged in a high risk transaction, the result will not be inexpensive.
Whenever shipping costs are that high you are a potential victim. Scams, blackmail, the switcheroo etc etc are all likely. And the risk increases if you start the transaction by negotiating a discount.
Such sales are less likely to go bad when the buyer is motivated and willing to pay the listed price. But it is still risky.
Many of us have paid for learning experiences like yours.
lakefor94
·8 months ago@omh_enterprises this reply above pretty much lines it out. Risky shipment on a "want" type, expensive item that would have been best sold locally for cash.
I do some freight shipments but only items that are "need" items and the buyers are always, IT, contractors, or purchasing agents etc. And I certainly vet them before proceeding.
It is risky business.
omh_enterprises
OP8 months agoThank you for taking the time to read my post and respond.
I would agree that I am involved in what I knew was a higher rick transaction from the start.
I was hoping to find a response in here from a member that had ran into a similar situation recently and had a favorable outcome. I know I am not getting out of this whole, but would like to minimize the damages.