Switcheroo? How do I approach?
Summary: alwaysthelowestprice suspects a buyer conducted a "switcheroo" by returning a used, damaged Robovac instead of the new one they sent. They sought advice on handling the situation, highlighting the challenges of proving the switch. inhawaii and pickapaper advised refunding the buyer due to eBay's policies, suggesting to blacklist the buyer to avoid future issues. pickapaper also recommended reporting the buyer for returning a different item. alwaysthelowestprice appreciated the advice and decided to proceed with a refund, report, and block.
I wanna say I'm 99% sure a buyer is trying to switcheroo a Robovac on me. He purchased the item back on 6/30 and started a return a couple weeks back stating one of the small cleaning spinners on the bottom was broken. I received the item back and inspected it. All the parts including the adapter and charging unit are all untouched still new in the plastic. The Robovac on the other hand is all scratched up and dirty. The filter looks like it's 3 years old. So I thought to myself, there's no way after using the unit only once until the battery died (because it didn't turn on) could it possibly have all these scratches, scuffs, and be this dirty. Also, if the spinner was broke when he received it, there's literally 2 brand new ones in the box! All he had to do was message me for a partial refund and just change the spinner. You can buy like 10 on Amazon for $7. So I honestly think it's his old Robovac that stopped working and he kept my new one. Unfortunately there is a serial number on the unit but not the box to match it up. So right now I have the item back but haven't sent the refund. How do I approach this? Will I be wasting my time contacting eBay? Do I dispute it via the return portal? Any help is very much apricated.
If you wanna pull a switcheroo on someone, please don't do it to small businesses, do it to multi-billion dollar companies!
fern*wood
·1 month agoIf you offered free returns or a 30 day return policy as a top rated seller, you should qualify for the limited protections ebay offers for a faulty return. Read the quidelines to make sure. You would need to report the buyer and take advantage of the ability to refund a reduced percentage to this buyer.
alwaysthelowestprice
OP1 month agoThanks for the replies guys, that's why I posted here before doing anything else. I'll refund and report buyer and block, thanks
pickapaper
·1 month agoIt doesn't matter because you have to refund the buyer anyway, because of eBay's Money Back Guarantee. eBay doesn't know what you sent the buyer and they do not know what the buyer returned to you. If you don't refund within three days of receiving the item back, the buyer can ask eBay to step in and eBay will force a refund and give you a defect on your account for not taking care of your customer.
One thing you can do is go to your sales history and find the item. Then report the buyer for returning something different than you sent. Also add him to your BBL.
inhawaii
·1 month agoMy advice...
Refund the buyer, put him on your black list and be done with it.
If you try to fight this you will lose.
You have no way of proving what you are alleging.
This kind of thing will happen from time to time, hopefully not that often.
It's all part of doing business online.