BAIT AND SWITCH SCAM!....FURIOUS

[chicboutique31]

I Just recently sold a new with tags Ralph Lauren red velvet vest with paisly print on the back for 40$ at a 95$ retail value. She left positive and happy feedback. 2 days later, buyer filed a return claiming it was not authentic .Her husband bought one similar at macys and the texture felt diffferent.  i accepted the return and paid for the shipping. 2 days after that, she messaged me and said i also sent her the wrong item. This item was a red velvet vest with solid tan on the back, not paisly. i said impossible! mind you, i have never had this in my inventory . i asked her to please send me photos of the item she recieved and a picture of the tags .come to find out, the photos are not what i sent her but when i looked real closely, i realized all of the UPC codes and numbers were different to the one i sold her as i have a very close up photo of the tag in my listing. i immediately contacted customer service so they can keep record of our correspondenses. The only thing i can do is file an appeal when she returns the item and becuse i have the photos, it will most  likely turn out in my favor, so the representative said, but it is a lengthy process. Seems to me she purchased a Vest a Macys and wanted to switch the one out with mine to save herself 55$. Just when i thought ive heard every scam in the book, this one is new to me. Sellers, make sure you take photos of your tags because im sure this happends alot to other sellers and dont know how to handle it. WISH ME LUCK!!...SHES GOING DOWN!

[chicboutique31]

I accepted the return as I do on all of my listings but she isn't going to ship back to me what I initially sent her. this is a bait and switch situation and it is not right and should not be accepted. I work hard to accurate my listings and provide good service. she could return me a box of rocks for all I know!

[chicboutique31]

she has no items for sale and total of 23 transactions on this site.

[chrysylys]

I was talking about the store you mentioned that she bought the other vest from.

[chicboutique31]

I a doing this so every seller who has a similar situation, knows what to look for and what to do. I would be up against the wall hadn't I looked at the numbers on the tags they sent me. that is very important and proof it is the wrong item.
I don't understand why everyone is so negative?!?! this is to aware other sellers of scams that are out there that not everyone knows about.

[deja--voodoo]

I sold a woman an antique genuine pearl necklace and she sent me back a junk fake pearl necklace from the 1940's, saying it was what I sent her.  What a nut case. I put a curse on the necklace she kept and wonder how she is faring sometimes. 

[sam9876]

You don't seem to understand what "bait and switch" means.

[buyselljack2016]

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@chicboutique31 wrote:
I a doing this so every seller who has a similar situation, knows what to look for and what to do. I would be up against the wall hadn't I looked at the numbers on the tags they sent me. that is very important and proof it is the wrong item.
I don't understand why everyone is so negative?!?! this is to aware other sellers of scams that are out there that not everyone knows about.

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Very commendable, but you are not really warning anyone of the scam. All posting here are already well aware of these scams.  Your average everyday seller is not even on these boards until it is too late.

[fern*wood]

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@chicboutique31 wrote:
I a doing this so every seller who has a similar situation, knows what to look for and what to do. I would be up against the wall hadn't I looked at the numbers on the tags they sent me. that is very important and proof it is the wrong item.
I don't understand why everyone is so negative?!?! this is to aware other sellers of scams that are out there that not everyone knows about.

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What you are calling being negative is merely others speaking from experience or from reading past posts of sellers that were in the same situation.  

If you are able to prove your side and win using your photos, please come back and share this information so others might know what to do.   That would be quite helpful.  Other than obtaining a courtesy refund, I haven't heard of how this can be done successfully.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@chicboutique31 wrote:

I Just recently sold a new with tags Ralph Lauren red velvet vest with paisly print on the back for 40$ at a 95$ retail value. She left positive and happy feedback. 2 days later, buyer filed a return claiming it was not authentic .Her husband bought one similar at macys and the texture felt diffferent.  i accepted the return and paid for the shipping. 2 days after that, she messaged me and said i also sent her the wrong item. This item was a red velvet vest with solid tan on the back, not paisly. i said impossible! mind you, i have never had this in my inventory . i asked her to please send me photos of the item she recieved and a picture of the tags .come to find out, the photos are not what i sent her but when i looked real closely, i realized all of the UPC codes and numbers were different to the one i sold her as i have a very close up photo of the tag in my listing. i immediately contacted customer service so they can keep record of our correspondenses. The only thing i can do is file an appeal when she returns the item and becuse i have the photos, it will most  likely turn out in my favor, so the representative said, but it is a lengthy process. Seems to me she purchased a Vest a Macys and wanted to switch the one out with mine to save herself 55$. Just when i thought ive heard every scam in the book, this one is new to me. Sellers, make sure you take photos of your tags because im sure this happends alot to other sellers and dont know how to handle it. WISH ME LUCK!!...SHES GOING DOWN!

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Could she have you confused with another seller? That would have been the first thing I would have asked had someone wanted to return an item I don't sell.

[*eponymous*]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@*eponymous* wrote:

What an abysmal waste of time. You make money on the aggregate of your sales. With many thousands of sales under your belt and few, if any, other problems, you're making money.

Accept all returns or issue refunds outright when you get the rare return.  Going down. lol

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And if you get back something different than you sent, report the buyer for misuse of MBG, and file the mail fraid cases against the buyer. Get them on the radar.

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The op wasn't about that, but sure okay. 😃

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@*eponymous* wrote:

What an abysmal waste of time. You make money on the aggregate of your sales. With many thousands of sales under your belt and few, if any, other problems, you're making money.

Accept all returns or issue refunds outright when you get the rare return.  Going down. lol

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And if you get back something different than you sent, report the buyer for misuse of MBG, and file the mail fraid cases against the buyer. Get them on the radar.

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You're welcome to add whatever you want.  My point didn't include any of that.

[vintagecraze50]

Hope this goes in your favor but, the only thing that might help here is the different numbers on the tags.  Whatever buyer shows Ebay in the dispute they will more than likely assume that is the item you sent and they will most likely believe the buyer. The photo of the product in the listing is no help as they can assume that you did send a different item than what was pictured. Let's hope she sends you back something of the worth that you sent her, and not  a used piece of toilet tissue.  I get furious when I read these posts, but certainly not as furious as you must feel right now. GOOD LUCK, and I mean it.

[vintagecraze50]

Forgot to add that Ebay has this new policy on refunding up to 50 percent less to the buyer if the item comes back wrong. Read up on it  to know all the specifics and ask customer support about it.

[vintagecraze50]

Cost of doing business losses on Ebay are part and parcel of selling here. You have in person shoplifters  in brick and mortar stores and internet shoplifters here and all over the internet. Not all cases are found in the buyers favor here when they do stuff like this. There has to be some verbal exchange between the buyer and the seller that can prove the buyer is lying. Best tactic can be to really think through how you can get these lovely people to admit what they are really doing. We all should start a course on, "How to catch a theif, by getting them to tell you what is really going on in a transaction" . 

[missjen831]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Forgot to add that Ebay has this new policy on refunding up to 50 percent less to the buyer if the item comes back wrong. Read up on it  to know all the specifics and ask customer support about it.

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That only applies to sellers that accept returns & give free returns I believe. And its all smoke & mirrors. When the seller refunds 50% the buyer simply asks ebay to "step in" and the other 50% is refunded. Just happened to a seller here.

[chipper01work]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Cost of doing business losses on Ebay are part and parcel of selling here. You have in person shoplifters  in brick and mortar stores and internet shoplifters here and all over the internet. Not all cases are found in the buyers favor here when they do stuff like this. There has to be some verbal exchange between the buyer and the seller that can prove the buyer is lying. Best tactic can be to really think through how you can get these lovely people to admit what they are really doing. We all should start a course on, "How to catch a theif, by getting them to tell you what is really going on in a transaction" . 

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Store shoplifters and what is going on here with buyers returning rocks or other non purchased items are two different things. Store shoplifters are one of two things and they are:

1. Anonymous because they were not caught and therefore their identity is unknown or:

2. Their identity is known and they banned for life and prosecuted (not to mention likely to be prosecuted for trespassing if they return to the store).

That is FAR different than a known user returning a different item and theft being facilitated by the host site.

The only similarity is that they both involve a loss to the seller. They are not equivalent in any other way and one does not excuse the other.

eBay's stance that it is a "cost of doing business" is morally bankrupt and is only in effect because it is in eBay's best interest to NOT do anything about buyers who engage in such things.