I have seen this as a known issue but it bears repeating. I have been scammed by a buyer and eBay is of no help.
1. Buyer purchases New Sealed iPhone 13 with a shipping address in Delaware. I notice that eBay charges me $14.41 for international fee on the sale so I reach out to the help desk. Turns out the buyers registered address is in Kazakhstan but eBay assures me everything is fine, "buyer is probably just on vacation" I ask about the international fee and they say it has something to do with the league department. I ship out the item.
2. Buyer receives the new sealed item and opens a return request. I contact ebay again and say "its a brand new phone!! No way it can have a problem and if it does take it to apple, they have a 1 year warranty on new items" This gets me know where and I am told to accept the return.
3. Buyers ships the phone back, Priority mail, with signature verification, with shipping provided by ebay. I am watching tracking because I will need to sign for the item and I see my mailman come to the mailbox and then drive away. I chase him down the street and ask about the package, he says "it was a non-deliverable address and he left it at the post office" I go to the post office and the package is an empty bubble envelope about the same size as the label. The address was altered by one digit and the name was changed to current resident. The return address was California not Delaware and the tracking number was altered by 2 digits. The barcode was left alone so when it was scanned it was the correct address and tracking but everything else was changed.
4. I contact eBay, I provide tracking info showing it was never delivered, Photos showing the label had been altered, and a photo of my post office worker holding the flat, sealed, envelope. After an hour i get someone in leadership and they close the case, guarantee the buyer will not receive a refund, Apologies for my waisted 2-3 hours on the phone. I receive an email stating all of this and feel good.
5. Two days later I get an email saying they reversed the decision and found in favor of the buyer. I contact eBay again.... Nothing they can do, I need to open an appeal but they assure me they have taken very good notes and this is a known issue. "Sorry but no you can't talk to a supervisor".
6. 3 hours later I get another email "we have looked at the case and we are keeping our decision in favor of the buyer" They never even contacted me with questions.
7. I contact eBay because its $900.00 what else can I do. After talking to another person in leadership and providing solid proof that I never got the item back and that the label was altered and that we are all being scammed I am told "this will need to be looked at by the manual review board" does this mean that the first 2 reviews are AI automatic in favor of the buyer? I was told to wait 3-7 days to hear Back.
I am terribly disappointed in how this was handled. I have spoken to no less than seven people at eBay all of which told me they are taking complete notes yet every time I call (which is incredibly difficult) I need to start from the beginning. The conversation always starts "Hello, I see you have been with eBay for 20 years" apparently 20 years means nothing.
