Ebay still allows this basic scam

[puckettshops]

I truly don't understand. I bought an item from a seller with a perfect rating who had been operating for over 10 years, so I thought I was making a good choice.

He ignored every message and never sent me the tracking number.

Only after it was "delivered" did I find out he shipped it to a random address and used a different recipient's name.

I filed a claim with eBay, but it was automatically rejected because the item was signed for and delivered.

I had UPS send me an email detailing that the tracking number was neither associated with my address nor my name. I sent this to eBay while I filed an appeal, but it was rejected again.

What's stopping sellers from just listing expensive items for sale and shipping a box with a rock inside to random people in your same zip code.  The moment it's "signed and delivered," eBay seems to take their side regardless of the proof you have.

I search "ebay seller shipped to wrong address" and it looks like it's a common scam. (I know PayPal will step up but it's sad that eBay doesn't care for sellers that do this obvious scam)

[eburtonlab]

What steps could eBay take to actually prevent this scam from ever happening? As opposed to dealing with it after-the-fact, I mean.

eBay could certainly make it easier for buyers defrauded to get their money back without having to jump through quite so many hoops, but that would not actually prevent scammers from trying to use the same scam technique, it would just shift the payoff matrix a bit for the scammer.

Good advice for dealing with false tracking:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-tried-contacting-seller-i-tried-contacting-fedex-i-tried/m-p/...

What kind of feedback does your seller have for selling? A perfect rating for buying means nothing since buyers cannot receive negative feedback, and a perfect rating for selling something else many years ago does not mean much if the account has been hijacked later and used to list vaporware.

You can avoid many false 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.

[campanaelia]

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@puckettshops wrote:What's stopping sellers from just listing expensive items for sale and shipping a box with a rock inside to random people in your same zip code.  The moment it's "signed and delivered," eBay seems to take their side regardless of the proof you have.

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Nothing is stopping this scam, that's why this scam keeps gaining traction. The only way to stop it is if buyers open INAD cases instead of INR cases. Then the seller will need to provide a pre-paid return label or ebay will refund you if they don't. If you actually get a label just use it and you will be refunded when it shows delivered.

[soh.maryl]

OP states that the seller in this case has a perfect track record and has been operating here for over 10 years.

So choosing only experienced sellers with a proven track record, although a good idea, is not always foolproof.  

[puckettshops]

That’s fine but realistically people are not going to know that and the “correct” thing to do is to put “INR”. I’m so curious what he shipped because he somehow made a 4080 weigh 22 pounds. 

also what is stopping the seller from saying “I did ship him the GPU but the buyer didn’t ship nothing/wrong thing in return?”

[mudshark61369]

@puckettshops,

"What's stopping sellers from just listing expensive items for sale and shipping a box with a rock inside to random people in your same zip code. The moment it's "signed and delivered," eBay seems to take their side regardless of the proof you have".

Only in that case would you file an item not as described (INAD) dispute through ebay.

"I had UPS send me an email detailing that the tracking number was neither associated with my address nor my name. I sent this to eBay while I filed an appeal, but it was rejected again".

If you read the info in the link provided by eburtonlab, written by me, you will see why ebay does not accept emails as proof of the scam.  However, when an appeal is turned down there is still one option left to get resolution, their Facebook and Instagram social media sites. 

If you go to a UPS store, in addition to the info you need to bring with you,to get a note on company stationary,  bringing along a copy of or your device with the email from UPS may help as well.

"I search "ebay seller shipped to wrong address" and it looks like it's a common scam. (I know PayPal will step up but it's sad that eBay doesn't care for sellers that do this obvious scam)".

It is not just ebay, it is any 3rd party online retail site, that will have problems with this scam.  Their item not received programs all use the basic tracking info to decide disputes.  They are not a party to the shipping contract, either the sender or recipient, so the shipper's privacy policies stop them from getting the info.

[puckettshops]

eBay could do their job. When you call UPS they give you an option. 
Sender, receiver or 3rd party 

if you select 3rd party than you have the option to verify if the buyer shipped it to the correct address. (And this is the slow way)

im 100% sure two multi-million dollar company have a tool in their database to check this. 

nevertheless when I did the appeal I forwarded a email from UPS that the buyer shipped it to a different address and name than what’s on my eBay account and they still rejected it. It makes ZERO sense. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@puckettshops wrote:

nevertheless when I did the appeal I forwarded a email from UPS that the buyer shipped it to a different address and name than what’s on my eBay account and they still rejected it. It makes ZERO sense. 

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An email won't do, you need an actual letter from UPS, stating the information, then use it to appeal the case.

[puckettshops]

I just fine this to be so crazy. Nothing is stopping a eBay rep to call UPS and confirming it didn’t go to my address. (They won’t give you the address it did go to but they will confirm if the address you gave them is the correct one) it’s a 40 ish second process. 

this scam will definitely detour anyone from using eBay. 

[ittybitnot]

It makes ZERO sense.

@puckettshops 

It makes great sense to eBay.  You have to "give up" on the idea of an "item not received" claim and go for the "fake tracking scam" which conveniently is not one of the choices.  There is no protocol provided by eBay for victims of this scam.  What we know here, is only by sharing information, screen shots, and experiences. 

eBay won't accept "email evidence".  They won't check to see if it is accurate.  They want "written documentation" which is often impossible to obtain.  If you use the regular outsourced customer service you get on chat or call back, you may as well be talking to a tree stump. 

It makes sense to eBay to continue with their repeated denials in hopes you give up and go away.  

This is nothing new.  eBay knows about it, PayPal knows about it, credit card companies know about it, and so do the carriers.  It seems like they are all hoping YOU don't know about it, and  when you figure it out you don't know what to do.  Following the old "item not received" path is NOT how this is solved.  You are a victim of FRAUD of a different sort. 

[puckettshops]

Nothing is stopping eBay from checking UPS and confirming the address on file is not the same as the one shipped (no they can’t give you the address it actually shipped to but they can confirm the one you have is correct or not.)

Amazon does it. If it’s an expensive item they require a police report (which they come to you). Than you call Amazon and they will call your locale police department and confirm and you done.  

for eBay it’s cheaper because USPS, UPS and FedEx you can just call and they will confirm.  Done. 

they need to understand this will detour so many buyers. We can’t give the sellers bad reviews, eBay automatically goes to the buyer. It’s **bleep** 

[ittybitnot]

Nothing is stopping eBay from checking..

@puckettshops 

You are correct, but too logical.  eBay chooses not to, end of story.   They would have to pay for someone to do this, pay out for more victims of their scammer's activities, and perhaps that is a monetary commitment they prefer to avoid. 

[puckettshops]

I been emailing and had 4 phone conversations with eBay. They could have solve this in 4 minutes. Now that my appeal is closed. What can I do? I message them on instagram and they didn’t get back to me. 

[eburtonlab]

You can contact eBay via social media:

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

[powell-memorabilia]

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@campanaelia wrote:

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@puckettshops wrote:What's stopping sellers from just listing expensive items for sale and shipping a box with a rock inside to random people in your same zip code.  The moment it's "signed and delivered," eBay seems to take their side regardless of the proof you have.

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Nothing is stopping this scam, that's why this scam keeps gaining traction. The only way to stop it is if buyers open INAD cases instead of INR cases. Then the seller will need to provide a pre-paid return label or ebay will refund you if they don't. If you actually get a label just use it and you will be refunded when it shows delivered.

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100% right.  INADs will actually cost the scammer - out the item sale proceeds PLUS return shipping.  And likely gets things resolved quicker - scam seller should just refund right away rather than pay for the return label.