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[reedycreekelectric]

I have been on eBay for 20 years now and have never had nor left anything other than positive feedback (until now).  I bought a Nest E (sealed), it showed up sealed and looked to be new.  I wired up the base and popped the unit in and no power.  Did some research and charged via USB (Shouldn't have to) and that got it working.  Finished up install but the unit couldn't find WiFi so I gave it a day to maybe finish charging but nothing.  I messaged seller and they replied asking me to watch a YouTube video for solutions and if that didn't work contact Google for warranty both of which yielding nothing but large amounts of my time spent (Google said it was out of warranty).  Messaged seller and they almost immediately sent me a return shipping label.  At this point I am a bit frustrated but I understand things happen and the process while using a lot of my time seems to be going well untill...  package hadn't even registered as received yet (I get USPS may have delays in reporting but point is very  fast) the seller messaged saying "This is not the item we have sent you, this is a different one used with scratches and the serial numbers do not match you can also see photos." and provided a picture of the box they sent me with a copy of shipping paper and then a picture of a Nest turned on to the Serial number screen that doesn't match.  I messaged back saying I sent the correct one back as I did verify serial numbers before packing up the return.  They replied with accusing me of fraud, said they are informing the FBI and filled a case with ebay.  Sorry for long winded explanation but I am a bit flustered.

Ebay messaged me saying "We have sent you an email requesting further information" but I never received any such email.  I have check all my spam folder and looked in all ebay message folder, nothing.  I feel like I am not getting to tell my side of this.  I have been nothing but polite to the seller, even my reply to them calling me a fraud was cordial while frustrated.  I have communicated thoroughly and only in ebay messenger and done all all can to make this work.  I have spent multiple hours on what should have been a 20 minute job to save $50 (addition cost of buy elsewhere) and now I am wrongfully being accused of fraud. 

Any advice and how I can send a message to ebay would be appreciated.  Thank you for your time.

[12345jamesstamps]

Dispute the transaction with the credit card banking institution to receive your money back faster.

Tracking shows you return the item which the bank sees.

Also it is against on Ebay to even mention FBI and actually FBI wouldn't do anything anyway.

But just the mention of "FBI' in an email on EBay means a negative feedback from them can be removed by EBay customer service. Always be polite and professional when emailing and leaving feedback.

After 4 months waiting for my EBay refund I disputed online with my credit card and got my refund in 2 weeks.

[itscalledapostingid]

Can you point to anywhere this FBI thing is mentioned in ebay's policies?

[santamonicajeweler]

a) We're living in different times, Post COVID, you are way too polite and cordial. Your points are not going through.

b) You returned a damage item and we/ no one could  verify the serial number of the product. This is between you and Seller.

c) FBI is way too busy chasing Federal Crime and selling of an item on eBay is out of their jurisdiction. 

d) You need to explain to eBay that you purchased a new item thinking it's under warranty. Seller acknowledged the fact and messaged you the warranty but upon checking, item is out of warranty. Item is not working and you need to return.   

No one will know the truth but you and Seller. eBay will take care of this. Follow up with a response to eBay's request.  They are hearing the both sides and I am sure, you'll be satisfied with the outcome. eBay is very Buyer friendly. 

[donsdetour]

follow up with what you posted here: Or just say the item returned was the item sent and did not work so it was an item not as described.

As for fraud and theft with law enforcement, if you did a switch... they can file such.

For that mater they can files such, but be guilty of false report, if it was the item you sent back....

good luck with this.

[pjcdn2005]

I think that the message saying that they asked for more information was meant for the seller not you.  I've heard of them that doing a few times when the seller has appealed the return.  For some reason they sent the message to both parties rather than just to the seller.

If for some reason the refund is denied or if you are not refunded the full amount, make sure that you appeal it. Most people have good luck when they contact ebay customer service on facebook or on twitter. I do hope though that the case will be decided in your favor though as it shouldn't be this difficult to get your money back.

Although I think that it was a good idea to check a video to see if that would help with the problem, you shouldn't have had to contact anyone about the warranty.  eBay provides a money back guarantee if the product isn't what was described. If something similar happens again, skip the part about the warranty and just file a not as described claim with the seller.

[reedycreekelectric · Accepted solution]

Thank you everyone for your replies, I just want to follow up so this is not yet another unanswered forum thread on the interwebs.  

ebay did refund my money which is the main point of importance.  

The things about this process that bother me though is firstly since the seller initiated the investigation I was never afforded the opportunity to even comment, maybe this is not important as ebay did refund and if they had sided with seller maybe then I would get a chance to comment but it's just frustrating that there is now a case history somewhere in the ebay files of a seller calling me a scammer when I absolutely am not... probably doesn't matter but just bothers me.

Second thing that bothers me is the negative feedback I referred to in my original post was feedback left by me for the this seller (sorry that wasn't originally clear) and this feedback has now been removed.  I understand that when a seller refunds (whether they wanted to or not) they are allowed to have negative feedback removed.  The problem though is now this seller again has a 100% feedback.  The fact that they tried to tell me I sent the incorrect serial numbered item back and even went as to far as to show pictures of this when I know without a doubt I sent back what was originally shipped means at the very best they are incompetent in how they handle shipping/returns and at worst are running some kind of scam themselves.  Either way this is absolutely a seller I wouldn't want to deal with ever again.  This just makes me not trust the feedback on sellers, I always thought 100% on a high-ish score seller with several years under their belt meant they were good but now I'm just not so sure.

Anyway, end rant... thank you again for the input.