Your opinion and advice on a tricky return case - What Would You Do? | Selling

Your opinion and advice on a tricky return case - What Would You Do?

ðŸ“£ Seller-to-Seller Advice Needed â€” What Would You Do?

Hi everyone, I need your opinion and advice on a tricky return case Iâ€™m dealing with on eBay.

I sold and shipped a leather jacket from Pakistan to a buyer in the USA. The item was delivered on March 6 and matched the listing perfectly â€” correct size, color, and material. Almost a month later, on April 4, the buyer opened a return request saying â€œjust didnâ€™t like it.â€ Hereâ€™s the problem: instead of returning the jacket to our correct return address in Pakistan, the buyer returned it to a random address in USA (address hidden here) (which is NOT ours). eBay tracking shows it delivered there, and now eBay is asking me to issue a refund.

But how can I refund if I never received the item?

ðŸ‘‰ What would you do in this case?

ðŸ‘‰ Has this happened to anyone else before?

ðŸ‘‰ Any tips on how to protect my account and handle this the right way?

Thanks in advance for your help ðŸ™

energetic_wears

12 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

8 comments

shopposh45

·1 year ago

1334 View listings

This has happened to me before. So sorry you are experiencing this as well.

Contact ebay before the allotted return time if you can, and ask them to check the return delivery address compared to your address. They should be able to see they are different addresses and it is a scam.

Hope it all works out for you, take care!

jetnana

·1 year ago

62 View listings

I realize it is a different scenario for you,shipping overseas. But for me I don't ship international, and I have a no return policy. Clothing has its own possible issues and strict rules should be in place for such occasions that a buyer requests to return an item. I mean, a clothing return should have a strict cut off time. Like give the buyer 24hours to inform you they want to do a return,and it must be in the mail to you within 2days of notification. I worked retail years ago,people will buy something to wear having every intention of returning it. They have it to wear to that 'event' and don't want to be out the expense,so they return it.

A month passed before requesting a return?

It was return shipped by the buyer to an address that couldn't possibly be correct.

And They want a refund? It's totally their fault they sent to an incorrect address,and allowing a return after 30days is ridiculous. You as a seller,all of us who sell on eBay should be protected from this type of abuse. eBay should put a definitive rule regarding returns and protect the sellers as much as they do a buyer. They make money from sales and should look at your situation as a red flag that it's time to implement a change. Selling international sounds good,like you don't have to worry about returns. I hope eBay can see there is buyer fraud going on and it's easy and will be accepted. I would challenge and dispute having to give a refund. If ymthe buyer can't provide the merchandise,thats too bad for them. It shouldn't cost you. Again I don't sell international and your situation back-up my reasoning. Buyers must and should take responsibility for their actions,as much as sellers are expected to do.

My opinion.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

@energetic_wears

As @pickapaper suggests, it appears you are a victim of the "fake tracking return scam". I don't know if this will work due to your location but try to contact eBay through one of these social media portals. They are actual eBay employees and are very familiar with this, and apparently have the ability to override the "bot" that is going to take your money and refund the buyer anyway. That is basically all we can do here in the US, when it happens to a seller.

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/ (use the blue message button)

OR direct message through one of these:

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

https://x.com/askebay

I noted that your return policy is one that "buyer pays return shipping" . That is only for "remorse" reasons and "I just didn't like it" may indicate the buyer chose one. When this happens you can "decline" the return. Did you do that?

The notation on your listing says that "ebay will issue a return label and charge the buyer". Don't know if a return label was issued to some imaginary place, or your buyer bought one and sent some package off to some local gas station or empty lot. Check the details of your case to see what can be determined. Also check your account under "addresses" to see what is the return address associated with your listings.

eBay no longer cares what is returned in any parcel, they do however, offer some redress for this issue of a fake return and I would pursue it through one of the links provided above. Let us know if you need more help as you try to get it solved.

pickapaper

·1 year ago

4612 View listings

It sounds like you have been scammed and yes, this has happened to a multitude of sellers. It sounds like the buyer knowingly sent the package to a wrong address in the US and I'm guessing the package did not contain the jacket. He could have returned a book, a rock, or a piece of trash but he has a tracking number that shows the package was delivered so you are responsible for refunding him the full price of the jacket. If you don't, eBay will force you to refund. Unfortunately, this kind of stuff happens all too frequently on eBay.

adamcartwright

·1 year ago

46 View listings

@pickapaper

You're saying OP must refund when his Buyer returns the item to a different , random address?

If I were OP, I would get on the horn with eBay social media.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

You're saying OP must refund when his Buyer returns the item to a different , random address?

@adamcartwright

Actually, it has been going on for years. Though I think it has been complicated a bit due to the OP's location, the automated system just looks for a "delivered" status. That is the same for sellers that send bogus parcels to an address in the buyer's Zip Code to prove item was delivered to the buyer. It works in reverse as well. Buyers can do something similar and are protected by the workings of the automated system.

The problem may be a "bot" action that does not notice the OP is in Pakistan, and just considers the "delivered" scan. Or it is just a bot action that registers the delivered notice and that is it. The process will proceed as predicted. eBay has never provided any seller protection for "faulty returns" but has been a bit more attentive to this problem of late VIA THE SOCIAL MEDIA PORTALS.

Here are some examples as to how it works.

adamcartwright

·1 year ago

46 View listings

@ittybitnot

Yes, I've been reading about these scams here in the forum. That's why I said to contact eBay through social media.

If Tracking does document that the return was shipped to another address, I would hope they could help.

grand-and-glorious-purpose

·1 year ago

Cosmic Visionary1264 View listings

@ittybitnot wrote:
eBay has never provided any seller protection for "faulty returns"

They did but when they did wouldn't be considered recent.