Cheated by the seller, item tracked as delivered but never received
Hello, I am an experienced Ebay.com buyer since 2017.
I bought a professional 360 camera for a (too much) good price on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225793261138
The seller provided a shipping code with USPS (9405508205498196415407); the tracking reported the item as regularly delivered, but in truth the item was never received by the Shiptobox professional service staff who receive my shipments, and with whom I have worked for many years without any problem.
I opened a dispute on Ebay, but obviously I lost (for now, at least) as the tracking marks the package as delivered. I contacted USPS but they still haven't provided me with all the requested details (verify shipping address, weight and dimensions, signature); I hope they do it as soon as possible.
After further research I discovered that the seller copied the photos and ad text from an online classifieds platform.
This is the advert: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pho/d/san-jose-insta360-pro/7681629871.html
I also contacted this seller: he confirmed that he had published the ad on this platform for the first time on August 24th, and that the item is still available.
Looking at the USPS tracking, something rather strange appears: the shipping label was created in Colorado, but the package first appears in the possession of USPS only 3 days later in New Jersey, and it would have been delivered to me on the next day at my address in Delaware.
Tracking: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?strOrigTrackNum=9405508205498196415407
The seller never responded to my requests; he provided the tracking to Ebay who closed the dispute immediately. I wrote to Ebay, specifying everything written above, but they did not change their decision.
USPS responded to me incompletely; I had to write to them again to try to get more information.
At the moment, I can say that:
1. the advert was cloned from one on an advert site (the price at which I purchased the item is exactly half that of the advert, and this too is no coincidence)
2. the tracking shows delivered but I don't have all the information from USPS yet. I'm still trying to figure out how they could screw me. Maybe they sent someone to pick up the package outside the office, and maybe they changed the address slightly. I haven't seen a copy of the USPS label yet.
3. everyone seems against me: the seller, Ebay and USPS!
I do not give up! I absolutely want to find a solution because I can't accept having lost $900 in such an absurd way! Among other things, it seems that I am the dishonest one: this is unbearable!
While waiting for the USPS to provide me with what I requested, I ask you if you can give me some advice on how to resolve this case.
Has any of you had something similar happen to me?
Thank you
Giorgio Marchetto
Cloned classified ad
email reply
suspected tracking (Colorado to New Jersey)
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoFinally Ebay customer Service decided to refund me! Justice is done!!!
Thank you very much to @eburtonlab and all the other Ebay community members who helped me to solve this very difficult case! Without you I certainly would not have been able to achieve this result!
Thank you very much to Ebay Customer Service for understanding what actually happened. I had a lot of understanding from them and they worked good to get me the right refund.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoExcellent news! Very glad to hear that you were able to get your refund!
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoI contacted the X (Twitter) Ebay Customer support.
They told me:
"Thank you very much for verifying and providing those details. While we're not able to submit a second appeal, I have forwarded this information to see if a manual refund can be issued on the order. As these cases are reviewed by a back-office team, we can't guarantee an outcome, but based on this information, I can't see why it would be denied. If it does come to that, we'll be reaching out to you to go over other options"
At this point I can only hope for a favorable decision from the back-office team, hoping to finally obtain justice. For my part, I have provided evidence of the fraud, I cannot do more.
Thank you very much for your support, without your help I wouldn't have even gotten to this point.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoYou are very welcome.
It sounds like you have been in touch with the right folks at this point. Good luck with your case!
anjie234
·2 years agoYes, eBay social media (eBay for Business): It seems ridiculous, but they really are the
only eBay customer service. I think they will help you.
https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/
So sorry you are dealing with this. Best wishes to you!
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoI finally had a written document by USPS which confirms that the shipping address of this shipment is different from my address. Furthermore, the parcel weight was very light.
I contacted Ebay again, sent them the USPS written proof, but, after a pair of emails, Ebay Customer Service stopped to raply to me! It's about a week I am waiting for their reply.
I'm very angry with Ebay, I fear that, despite the overwhelming evidence, they don't want to compensate me (probably the dishonest seller has already collected the money and Ebay doesn't want to lose out).
I attach the USPS letter (with some data hidden, for privacy reasons).
Now I am forced to contact the credit card companies with which I paid, to force a refund of what was defrauded from me.
Incredible, however, that Ebay doesn't want to agree with me and refund me, truly a shameful thing!
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI contacted Ebay again, sent them the USPS written proof, but, after a pair of emails, Ebay Customer Service stopped to raply to me! It's about a week I am waiting for their reply.
Did you contact eBay via social media? I understand that the eBay social media folks are the ones that deal most effectively with false tracking issues. Others users that have provided documentation via social media have been able to get refunds.
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoWhich social media do you suggest to contact Ebay Customer Support?
deserdog
·2 years agoOP, if yo are i the US, you can get the UPS coordinated that the package was delivered to. You can also go the the post office because I believe that they have a photo of the package when it went through the APV system. I had them pull up a phot once for me to verify the address.
muttlymob
·2 years agoor the photo might show an envelope with signature confirmation that was addressed to a random business in the same zip code. The actual item never existed therefore was not ever sent. But the seller now has a signed, delivered tracking number to win the eBay case.
Hopefully OP can get this info from USPS to know for sure.
sdneped
·2 years agoActually @camerabiker_usa the actual item is here.
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoThere are many Insta360 Pro2 cameras for sale on Ebay. The one you linked is just one of them.
Mine was inexistent... the seller just cloned photo and description from a clessified ad.
janet9988
·2 years agoThe OP gave correct item number........The item shipped from Colorado which matches with the tracking information.
The item YOU posted ships from Texas.
rseuqinh
·2 years agoIt did not ship from Colorado where an address was provided to make it look like the label was created in Colorado; as OP noted, the fake item actually shipped from New Jersey.
The fake delivery listing has an additional photo
which the classified ad also cropped into 2 separate photos, and the latter has a "stereo camera" photo which the former does not. It's likely San Jose and Colorado are the same person.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoGood advice for dealing with fake tracking:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/What-do-you-do-when-ebay-support-will-not-help-you/m-p/340803...
You can avoid many fake tracking issues by choosing to only do business with experienced sellers that have a proven track record of delivering similar items as seen by examining the seller's feedback page, and by avoiding inexperienced sellers, sellers with patterns of negative feedback indicating serious problems, or sellers with large gaps in the selling history or recent drastic changes of seller behavior.
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoThank you very much for sharing this eburtonlab!
This is the way I will follow to try to recover my frauded money.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoYou are very welcome -- good luck! Let us know how it goes.
warningfates
·2 years agoJust happened to me and eBay refused to refund. So it’s like a playground for scammers and criminals.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoThe tracking number shows that your item was delivered to a Freight Forwarder. What is your 'Ship to' address?
camerabiker_usa
OP2 years agoIt's a shiptobox.com mail forwarding address (4060 N. Dupont Hwy. , New Castle, Delaware)
I use regularly this service since 2017 without problems.
I have no doubts about their honesty and professionalism, but I cannot be 100% certain.
I still don't have confirmation that this UPSP shipping label match my recipient address exactly.