help! New ebay seller dealing with a nightmare buyer who left false, misleading negative feedback.

[tabitha1944]

Help! I am a part time ebay seller, it's not a full time occupation for me. Simply selling things for my parents in their 80's. 

I am committed to being a fair and reliable seller. I enjoy dealing politely and honestly with buyers. I find most buyers are pleasant in return. My feedback shows this. 

But I am dealing with a crazy nightmare buyer who reported product damage on a bird feeder. I responded within minutes and apologized. The listing photos are absent the damage he reported, I have no idea when or how it happened. I also called the manufacturer on his behalf and explained what happened. The manufacturer gladly offered to replace the broken part and told me to ask the buyer to call them. They take their life time warranty seriously- regardless of the cause of the damage.

I should note the manufacturer said the reported damages are consistent with assembling the bird feeder incorrectly- a common problem they said. While I cannot prove the buyer caused the damage he reported, it seems unlikely it happened in shipping since it was packed very securely- and I never accused him of this. 

Rather than take this simple solution, the buyer insisted it was "unethical" to make the "bird feeder company" pay for this and insisted on filing a claim with USPS- the shipper. Then he asked me for information I do not have to support his claim. I politely referred him back to the manufacturer. After which he called me "unethical" and left negative feedback misrepresenting what happened and said I was "unwilling" to help and suggested the product was sent with damage (it was not).  I responded to his feedback but still, this person is oddly irrational. 

He has now requested a return, though I do not accept returns per my policy. 

Fortunately eBay can see my timely, lengthy, and genuine efforts to help him. 

Any thoughts on this?  

[mega-ma-roo]

Buyers are covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee. This means when a buyer claims an item is damaged or defective, eBay will always allow them to return the item for a full refund. The only option a seller has when a case is opened with eBay is to either pay for return shipping or let the buyer keep the item. Either way, the buyer will get a full refund. If the seller declines the return, the buyer will appeal to eBay and eBay will refund them from the seller's account and give the seller a defect for failing to handle the return. This is just the way it is.

I hate "should of's" but in situations like this the best action would have been to tell the buyer to request a return through eBay as soon as they notified you of the problem. You could then have gotten the replacement part from the manufacturer and relisted the bird feeder. 

[tabitha1944]

Thank you- I still have time to do that. 

[tabitha1944]

So the when eBay allows me say I don't accept returns that really meaningless??

[mega-ma-roo]

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@tabitha1944 wrote:

So the when eBay allows me say I don't accept returns that really meaningless??

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Many sellers, myself included, think that saying you do not accept returns is worse than meaningless. Saying you do not accept returns means buyers cannot force you to accept a return for what is called a "remorse reason". These are things like "I changed my mind", "don't like the color", "found it cheaper", etc. Some buyers, when denied these kind of returns, resort to claims using the eBay Money Back Guarantee even when that is not truly the case.

When you accept returns, honest buyers will actually pay return shipping (if you specify that in your listing) to make the return. It is simply all around better to accept returns because you are going to get returns anyway.

[tabitha1944]

Thank you again. So far I've lost $64 in shipping to/from, am getting a damaged product back, AND received false, damaging feedback. Calling me unethical because the manufacturer offered to honor their warranty? It's not unethical when the company OFFERS it- what an idiot. 

Each time I call eBay- and I talk to supervisors- I get different, conflicting information about the potential consequences of my responses. One was downright antagonistic, unwilling to even acknowledge I made a great efforts, and said there was nothing wrong with the feedback and it would never be removed. Another looked at the exchange and said the feedback could be removed after the case is settled and even sent me an "affidavit of fraudulent return." 

There seems to be NO LANGUAGE like "as is" I can include in the listing to protect myself from future claims like this. 

Buyers can receive something, damage it, then get free return shipping, get ALL their expenses back including shipping at the sellers expense, and have THIRTY days to do, AND subject the seller to negative feedback- no matter how crazy, unhinged they appear. 

Oh- and there is no way to leave negative feedback about buyers.

What is surprising is that no matter how stellar my selling record and dealings with buyers may be, eBay is treating ME the same way they might a negligent, fraudulent seller. 

Perhaps eBay is not appropriate for small private sellers like me. I don't have the margin or sales to absorb this nonsense. 

Let me know if you have any last thoughts/suggestions. 

Thank you!

[mega-ma-roo · Accepted solution]

Everything you said is true and I can't argue with the fact that eBay strongly favors buyers. It does get a little better if you can reach Top Rated Seller status. With that and 30 day returns you can deduct up to 50% of the refund when items are returned damaged. Better than nothing.

I've been selling on eBay, and only on eBay, since 2014. I sell mostly collectibles and dinnerware, but also occasionally sell clothing and other items. Pretty much anything I know will sell and which I can buy at a price that lets me make a decent profit. My best year I had a bit over $20,000 in total sales, last year about $13,000. Not a big seller, not too small. In all that time I've only had 3 cases that I know were fraudulent and 2 more that were maybes. I've never run into anything like you did, luckily.

If you're careful about what you resell and what you pay for it, you can build up enough profit margin to cover the occasional bad experience. It also helps if you sell things that are not likely to attract scammers. You just can't count on eBay to back you up when there is a problem. In their defense, they have no way of knowing who is telling the truth. In those cases they will always back the buyer and if you cannot accept that then it's better to find another alternative that works for you.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@tabitha1944 wrote:

left negative feedback misrepresenting what happened and said I was "unwilling" to help and suggested the product was sent with damage (it was not).  I responded to his feedback but still, this person is oddly irrational. 

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Congrats on whatever you did to get that feedback removed! 

[tabitha1944]

Thank you!  

It took several calls- but I finally got a supervisor (in "escalations" I think) who actually read the buyer correspondence, agreed it was unfair, and assured me it would be removed after I refunded the buyer- which I promptly did. 

While she could not remove it herself she assured me the "request" to have it removed would be honored- and it was!

It was maddening because my first call about this was with a US based supervisor- who was borderline  antagonistic, she said the feedback would never be removed because it didn't violate any ebay policies, subtly mocked the item, and was downright rude. Though the messages clearly show he grossly misrepresented what happened. All they had to do was read them. Finally I got someone with some sense. This buyer was unhinged.