eBay

jarrettosborn829i · ‎10-16-2021

I bought an item and the seller attached a tracking number showing it was already delivered. I contacted UPS, who confirmed via online chat that the tracking number wasn’t sent to me or my address. I sent that over to eBay asking for a refund. They said I had to wait 3 business days to give the seller the benefit of the doubt. Yet the next day they sent me an email saying the item was delivered and my case was closed. I again appealed with proof and they denied because the seller had a tracking number (again, not for my address, so I’m confused). I appealed 3 times and got another letter from UPS confirming the shipment wasn’t to me, but eBay continues to deny my appeals.

How is this possible? I got scammed and eBay is protecting the scammer and not honoring their buyer guarantee despite absolute proof I was scammed. The emails and phone conversations from eBay are so condescending. They keep telling me there’s a tracking number and signature — even after they acknowledge that the tracking and signature are not for me. I can’t believe the way I’ve been treated and they still won’t refund my money. They even had the audacity to say I should just tell my credit card this is fraudulent because eBay won’t do the right thing.

alcoforever · ‎10-16-2021

The advice about going to your credit card company was good. You will most likely succeed there and as a bonus, that seller will get a bill for $20 from ebay for the CC chargeback.

abacab19 · ‎10-16-2021

People get these cases reversed all the time, so history would say you should be able to get yours reversed if you connect to the right person and provide proof. Chargebacks should be a last resort because you can only open up so many of those before your account could be closed.

jarrettosborn829i · ‎10-16-2021

I thought this was going to an easy refund, but couldn’t have been more wrong. I have received 9 rejected appeals from eBay despite direct proof from UPS. I literally don’t understand how they can look at the UPS letter confirming the tracking number wasn’t for me and reply that my appeal is denied because the seller provided a tracking number — the same one that UPS proved wasn’t for me.

morri_kano · ‎10-16-2021

I am finding out the hard way that many of eBay’s employees are simply glancing at the details and making a rush decision, usually taking the previous employees position.

I’m in a similar situation, except eBay actually found in my favor, yet will not issue the refund, and now they’re saying they can’t.

jarrettosborn829i · ‎10-16-2021

Wow. awful. Why are they saying they won’t issue you a refund?

jarrettosborn829i · ‎10-16-2021

Just adding one of eBay’s 9 appeal denials after I sent them a letter from UPS confirming the tracking number wasn’t for me or my address:

“I have reviewed all the details and I can see that the tracking information provided by the seller shows that the item was successfully delivered. You can check the tracking information by clicking on the link below: [link to tracking number I’ve already provided proof it wasn’t sent to me]

With the information gathered, we decided to retain the original case decision as this is considered as successful delivery. Please do not feel that we have not considered your side on the matter. As part of eBay, we want to make sure that we exercise fair treatment to all our members.

Please take care and be safe with warmest regards,

eBay Customer Support”

I have no words…

fa_8305 · ‎10-16-2021

@jarrettosborn829i wrote:
I contacted UPS, who confirmed via online chat that the tracking number wasn’t sent to me or my address.

Don't harp on the address @jarrettosborn829i. It might not be your item at all.

Instead of chatting with UPS, what's the WEIGHT shown at the UPS website? And what's the published weight for your item?

Also, what DATE does the UPS website, which you, eBay, and everyone in the world can see, unlike the private address details, say it was shipped, compare to the date of your purchase?

Lastly, is the "Return this item" button still available, despite you've burned through the appeal?

jarrettosborn829i · ‎10-17-2021

Thanks for the info. I’ll look into the details. As for the “Return This Item” how does that work when I have nothing to return?

soh.maryl · ‎10-17-2021

How could the "Return this item" button work, assuming you mean the buyer should open an item not as described case? The OP, as far as I can tell, has NOTHING to return.

ittybitnot · ‎10-17-2021

@jarrettosborn829i

I have been gone for a week, but here is some information about the 'fake tracking scam' that you may find useful:

It appears you are a victim of the "fake tracking scam". When you file for item not received, and there is a record of "delivery", the automated system and the regular customer service will not validate the tracking and you lose. If you appeal with the same information, you will lose. If you file anywhere else for "item not received" you are likely to get the same result. Nobody is going to check to see that the tracking is for a parcel that was actually shipped before you even paid, or was for a 50 lb. box when your item was only 4 ounces. But all hope is NOT lost.

There is usually really good eBay money back guarantee protections in place

UNLESS you are a victim of the "fake tracking scam".

There is something you can do, but it is NOT going to involve calling or chatting with the lower tier eBay customer service anymore.

Just for starters, since you have the tracking number go here, and select the carrier and input the number>

This site just might show you exactly where the parcel was delivered, where it originated, when the parcel was entered into the system. its size and weight.

https://www.ship24.com/

Go check on it, and make a screen shot. The details should show the street address (not yours).

You can get help for your issue. Typically it requires that you have some documentation from the carrier that the tracking number is NOT related to a parcel shipped to your address. That is sometimes difficult to obtain. If your seller is already Naru'd (no longer a registered user) that is a good thing, too. It means eBay already knows about the scamming adventures, and does not want to lose anymore of eBay's money as a result.

Basically, you are going to have to contact eBay via the big blue SEND MESSAGE button on this page:

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness

The eBay staff that monitors the messages here are well aware of the fake tracking scam. Better yet, they actually have the authority to do something about it. You will need to message with your name, contact information, user ID, item/transaction number, any documentation you may have about the parcel/tracking. You need to mention that your 'seller' is no longer a registered user as well if that is the case.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out for you.

'

fa_8305 · ‎10-17-2021

@jarrettosborn829i wrote:
Thanks for the info. I’ll look into the details.

As for the “Return This Item” how does that work when I have nothing to return?

eBay provides guidance here that that is appropriate in some situations even when there is nothing to return.

brittanie@ebay wrote:
This falls under our return reasons.

There's a couple use cases
where a return is the appropriate case type
even if the person technically has nothing to return,

such as when they receive an empty package, because there was 'delivery'.

When tracking shows delivered, but

- nothing is inside the box, or

- no package has arrived,

what do you return?

With that guidance, posts like this explain how they got a refund when tracking shows a fake delivery.

@raylovescats wrote:
I had this happen to me and the way I was refunded was - I did a NOT AS DESCRIBED - and then sent back an empty box. Once the box was delivered to the scammer, I was refunded in full.