Sold two items, buyer a scammer! eBay not helping!
Hello everyone, I am in need of help and guidance, I sold two high end stereo equipment to the same buyer. He never once complained about the items, never said anything was wrong with them, he purposely waited to file with his credit card to get his money back. After 90 days eBay washes their hands with anything having to do with someone wanting their money back, so I was no longer under the buyer protection. So not only did the a hole thief get his money back, but he also kept the items and to make it worse eBay then charges me $20 for being involved! I called customer service and it was a complete waste of time! I have been selling on and off for 10 years, never had an issue! The guy was a complete scammer, I filed a complaint with eBay which nothing will happen, and the rep from eBay even told me that it wasn't the guys first time doing such a thing but yet they allow him to do it! I'm out of $1500. I'm not sure if my bank will help me with this, because if I fight it, and my credit card company gives me my money back, I will still have to pay it because eBay will put it to my eBay balance and eventually sell it to a credit agency and ruin my credit. What can I do?
deltilogical
·2 years agoSeems to me the problem is with the credit cards' 180 days vs Ebay's 90 and any rational customer servicing COMBINED with the way ebay is the processor but we are on the hook when they accept fraudulent payment.
It is probably worth writing to your senator - there is something wrong here. "and the rep from eBay even told me that it wasn't the guys first time doing such a thing but yet they allow him to do it! " Isn't this collaboration? How are sellers being protected?
eavargas3376
OP2 years agoI agree with this, I filed not only a police report, I filed a report with the feds, I contacted a lawyer, and they all said to contact eBay, even with me telling them that I already did, still no help.
It's definitely with the credit cards, because these scammers know how to do it and use the CC company to their advantage!
If eBay would have at least stepped in just to let the CC company know that it was an as is sale, they would have never received their money back!
eavargas3376
OP2 years agoThe eBay representative also told me as well that it wasn't the guys first time.... This is disgusting
uniwarehousewares
·2 years agoebay return policy and feedback policy is fully bogus, here is why
1 : for domestic sellers, ebay money back guarantee is for 30 days , means ebay is not responsible for money to buyer or seller after 30 days of delivery that indicate that after 30 days , transaction is not covered by ebay in any case but scammer is allowed to leave bad feedback to domestic seller after 30 days and black mail seller.
seller can cancel requrest of return request if open by buyer after 30 days of delivery which is legal but as result scammer leave bad feeback and blackmail seller and ebay does nothing but allow seller to leave bad feedback and blackmail seller why? that is open hand for scammers to commit crime and blackmail sellers and ebay is doing nothing that is reason sellers are leaving this platform.
eavargas3376
OP2 years agoWell all I can say is do not sell to buyer.
I sent an email to senior VP Cornelius Boone as well as the chief business officer Stefanie Jay and to president and CEO Jamie Iannone
Will that help in any way, I'm sure it won't....
But I won't give up, I filed a report with the FBI, I have a police report which is worthless, and I have proof that this guy is a thief. And eBay still will not investigate him or place a warning or suspend his account....
uniwarehousewares
·2 years agodue to demand in online selling, there are more scam then the buyers, i split my business from ebay to different platforms after i saw ebay is not doing enough to protect its sellers. if sellers have to do extra work to catch scammers then how sellers will focus on business this is what ebay has to understand.
its all about money ebay cares about. here is one of bogus policy of ebay.
1 : after ebay 30 days money back guarantee expire , ebay still allow scammers to open return request for domestically and allow them to leave bad feedback to seller and blackmail sellers.
if you want sell online, in my opinion sell low cost items because there is no protection for sellers in real means.
eavargas3376
OP2 years agoI completely agree, and to make things worse, banks only protect you if you were the buyer and not the seller. This was a complete smack in the face and I will never sell on eBay ever again! I spoke with someone who was selling her expensive bags to help with her husband's cancer treatment and a buyer bought three of the bags and after 90 days was able to get their money back.
The worst part for me was the eBay representative who assured me that eBay would help and let the CC company know that it was an as is sale due to the add no longer being available in my sellers history.
And of course that didn't happen!
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoSorry this happened to you but it seems to be an increasing trend these days. I can't see the items you sold but for $1,500 I would certainly just not let it drop. First file a police report with the buyer local police department. It may not get much action unless they have a record of repeated complaints/reports. If they are not far away you could possibly contact their local police department about the situation and ask if they would be willing to assist you in obtaining your items back. You can also report the issue to the FBI cyber crimes division but again they will be looking for some type of repeat pattern.
You could take the buyer to small claims court again depending on how far away they are. This is really neither eBay's fault nor the CC companies. The CC companies hate chargebacks as much as the merchants it requires resources to handle the chargebacks and that cuts into the bottom line. There are things that eBay could do such as working with the CC companies to try and stem the number of chargebacks by forcing the buyer to first go through eBay's process, which they are supposed to do anyway, but again that takes resources that cut into eBay's bottom line. As a side note the $20 fee is not an eBay charge it is what the CC companies charge if the merchant looses the chargeback. If you complain enough eBay wil sometimes refund this amount but that is about all they will do.
With the rapidly rising increase in friendly fraud I always remember the #1 rule as a seller on eBay and that is to never list anything you are not prepared to take the financial loss on. There are a lot of better options for selling high end items that involve less risk and in most cases less fees but some of that depends on the area you live in and what is available to you and potential buyers.
eavargas3376
OP2 years agoThank you for your reply, eBay refuses to help because the seller protection expires, my bank is not helping because I was the seller and not the buyer, I filed a police report and they were honest and said if it isn't above $5000 they really won't use their resources to investigate unless I have proof that he has done this before. I called eBay back and asked them to please check to see if he has done this before and they refused! I have friends who are experts in finding people and their background, and I found that the buyer has been sued many times for this. I go back to the police and they told me that it would have to be proof that he does this through eBay. I call eBay and tell them that I have proof that this guy is a scam artist with the amount of times he's been sued and they still won't help. So I'm out of $1500, I'm out of my products, and this guy continues to buy things on eBay as if nothing is wrong! How can eBay allow this to happen? Well, I'm sure they don't care....
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoThank you for your reply, eBay refuses to help because the seller protection expires, my bank is not helping because I was the seller and not the buyer, I filed a police report and they were honest and said if it isn't above $5000 they really won't use their resources to investigate unless I have proof that he has done this before. I called eBay back and asked them to please check to see if he has done this before and they refused! I have friends who are experts in finding people and their background, and I found that the buyer has been sued many times for this. I go back to the police and they told me that it would have to be proof that he does this through eBay. I call eBay and tell them that I have proof that this guy is a scam artist with the amount of times he's been sued and they still won't help. So I'm out of $1500, I'm out of my products, and this guy continues to buy things on eBay as if nothing is wrong! How can eBay allow this to happen? Well, I'm sure they don't care....
You can always file a report with the FBI cyber crimes division if they have received other complaints and notice a pattern they may investigate. Not sure how far the buyer is from you but for $1,500 I would pull together all the evidence you have and take them to small claims court.
https://www.ic3.gov/
There are also other methods of dealing with this but it is best if I do not post those on this forum as they venture into the darker side of business.
eavargas3376
OP2 years agoI'm in Connecticut and he is in California, thanks for the link, I will file it now