eBay

nowhus-96 · ‎03-29-2021

I've been dealing with the following situation for the past 3 months now and have no other options now besides requesting forum advice.

I sold an item of high value, and back in January the buyer filed for a return claiming the item was "defective". I initially tried to help the buyer with his purchase, given it was new and sealed when originally sent out, but no reply. I'm moderately aware of ebay policy, so I accepted the return. Instead of the original item, whose size and weight I have pictures/documentation of, I received a small box that weight next to nothing. Given the current COVID situation, the package was shoved in my mailbox and signed "Covid" instead of actually getting my signature.

I immediately reached out to ebay and the agent opened a claim, instructing me to obtain a police report. I planned to very soon, but the next day I was notified that a case had been escalated by the buyer, and subsequently closed in their favor (IN SECONDS!). Outraged I gave them another call, and was told my only option at this point was to appeal. Given I needed a little more time to gather all my information and obtain the police report, I opted not to create an appeal at that time. Before I could even get off the phone with this agent, I received an email saying an appeal was created for the case decision and closed in the buyer's favor. I SAID I DIDNT WANT TO APPEAL YET! They even violated their seller policy by not allowing me the full time period to respond to the case.

Since January it has been nonstop phone calls and complaints with ebay agents, some sympathetic some not. I have uploaded every document asked of me, filed and sent the police report, and signed an affidavit affirming i was not returned the item I originally sold. Twice now I've been told the case was sent to the "manual corrections department", but I haven't heard back from them in the given time frame. Every time an agent sends it up to a supervisor I get the same generic reply: "It looks like over 30 days have passed since our final decision. 30 days is the maximum amount of time allowed to resolve a case in the Resolution Center; then, after the case is closed, you have 30 more days to request an appeal. Because it's after this second 30-day time frame, we won't be able to accept your appeal. We understand that some situations can prevent a timely response, but please keep in mind that these time frames are for the benefit of both buyers and sellers. The 30-day limit on appeals allows us to be sure we're being consistent, and thus more fair, with all of our case decisions."

The buyer is of course not responding knowing what he's doing. The negligence of ebay is unbelievable and I could really use some help here.

ittybitnot · ‎03-29-2021

but i’m not familiar with the proper avenues for this type of case.

@nowhus-96

The questions I was asking, and the link I gave you to read up thread outline a situation that sounds like what you are going through. Your "buyer" has been refunded. If you get any monetary redress through eBay it will come from eBay's money, and they have basically set up the system to deny, deny, deny, deny, until you are so fed up you will hopefully go away.

This is NOT a new scam, and ebay is quite aware of the circumstances. I would suggest you give them one more shot at this to make it right. Gather your documents, gather your information, and use the MESSAGE feature on the eBay for Business Facebook page. Include your full name, address, eBay ID, item number, case numbers, address where the item was sent (check to see if it is a commercial address/freight forwarder), origin country of your buyer, whether a suspected hijacked account was used copies of reports made to the Postal Inspectors reporting the fraud, etc. etc.

The people that monitor that page are "higher lever" ebay CS/employees and they DO have the knowledge and tools to help you. They have been very helpful to others in this situation, and basically given the current state of affairs here with regular customer service it is likely your only hope before you pursue legal means.

You can make a Facebook account to use for this purpose even if you don't have one. You should hear back from them in just a few days.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

I

shag182 · ‎03-29-2021

@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:
@nowhus-96. Just tagging on to @fashunu4eeuh. as there is some good advice here.
This is precisely the reason posters here discourage new sellers from listing high priced electronics. Your bidding history on this Red Devil thing shows shark infested waters all the way to the top. The top scammer won the game. Ok it's over, ebay didn't help you and your out over $1600.00.
File a police report in your city and in the Bronx. File a report with the internet crime complaint center like fashun stated, then file a mail fraud with the USPS.
You can get free legal counsel somewhere and ask for advice, it might even behoove you to obtain a lawyer over this mess.
Man, I wished that this didn't happen to you and best of luck out there in Jersey.

redmodelt · ‎03-29-2021

General reply. This telling people not to sell if they can't afford to loose it is hog wash. NO ONE can afford to just loose something they sell. WE ARE NOT multi-million $ corporations that can just write it off. We are small sellers that can't take those kind of hits. The advice maybe not to sell high priced item, I will not disagree with. We don't know it that money is keeping a roof over someones head or food on the table.

bargainnation · ‎03-29-2021

Perhaps you can do a Google search on the name/address that was provided to ship the item to see if the name/address correspond to where the item was sent. Also, file a police report in Bronx, NY as well as with the IC3 as another poster suggested. Did someone have to sign for the item? I know eBay was going to make signature confirmation mandatory where the item cost plus shipping cost is $700+.

I don't know how far you are from Bronx, NY but if you are really determined NYC has small claims courts in where you can represent yourself so at least you're saving on legal fees although you usually have to pay court costs such as filing fees, etc. Also, the Civil Court Help Center provides free walk-in service to people who are representing themselves (just go to their web site for more information if you are interested). However, I think the better course of action is perhaps to go online and put your story out there and try to get eBay to help you with this nightmare.

I'm so sorry

silverstatetreasureboxes · ‎03-29-2021

@bargainnation

Great advice as usual!

ediri_86 · ‎03-29-2021

👍

mtgraves7984 · ‎03-29-2021

If you get any monetary redress through eBay it will come from eBay's money, and they have basically set up the system to deny, deny, deny, deny, until you are so fed up you will hopefully go away.

@nowhus-96

^^^ This is true. When a seller is granted a 'courtesy' refund, it's drawn from a pool that all sellers pay in to. Quite frankly, in your situation, I don't mind kicking in.

I received a courtesy refund once. I had to earn it, though... they don't hand them out 'willy-nilly'. It sounds to me as if you can provide enough evidence... and I think you can be level-headed enough to prove that your case should be appealed. More recently, regarding another matter, I had good luck messaging through fb... if I were you, I'd give it another shot. Godspeed.

jonathankirkland · ‎03-29-2021

I hate so much every time I read one of these cases.

I seriously am waiting for a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit one day to be filed against ebay for their role in these crimes. They are an accessory by refunding the money to the scammers.

Any lawyers or paralegals at least reading this thread?? Am I wrong about that, that ebay is facilitating a crime and is an accessory to said crime every time they refund a fraudulent buyer??

veronicabooksandart · ‎03-30-2021

Sellers keep coming back for more. They can't seem to get enough!
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Perhaps extending Attractive Nuisance Doctrine to adults is the answer.

circus_camel · ‎03-30-2021

I had a similar experience where a buyer returned some cheap markers shipped directly from Amazon, and used the tracking number to file appeals with Amazon. Working with ebay appeals was like banging my head on a wall. They won't even look at my proof documents and send standard replies. I tried everything I could, and finally the only method that worked was to post on Ebay's for Business's Facebook page. As some others have suggested, I recommend posting your experience on that forum. The moderators of that forum are more helpful than Ebay's own community page.

sbelyaev · ‎04-10-2021

On several occasions I shipped new or like new high value items to buyers , who requested returns from a few days to a few weeks after receiving the items. Each time they claimed that the items were "not as described". The items that were returned to me were either damaged or appear to be not the items that I had shipped to the buyers.

Each time I was forced by eBay to accept returns. As the result I've lost money and time.

It is clear that there is a pattern in this type of internet crime. For unclear reasons eBay choses to support unscrupulous buyers, perpetuating criminal activity. I feel it would be reasonable to inform FBI about this fraudulent activity and the effect of eBay's policies on indirectly supporting internet criminal activity.

anixi · ‎04-10-2021

This problem is getting progressively worse on ebay. Scammers are the least of the problems. The average person ripping me off are typical buyers. Why are typical buyers now taking advantage of the liberal return policy to commit internet crimes like abusing the return policy?

Reasons, IMO:

1. The old ebay direct customer service line is no longer in service.

2. Returns are now knee-jerk, moronically and automatically approved.

3. Narcissistic buyers are then encouraged to feel entitled to something for nothing.

This cannot be sustained. The sellers revolt and ebay has nothing to sell. No income. Game over.

What's the logical progression? Ebay goes bankrupt.

Will ebay listen? You do the math. Not bloody likely.

postingid7659 · ‎04-10-2021

Imagine having the audacity to tell someone who got ripped off for $1600 to "move on and use it as a learning experience" dang.

Sue the buyer in small claims court. You'll have to file in their state most likely, but you will win the case, it's a slam dunk.

sbelyaev · ‎04-11-2021

Small court won't do it. It has to be reported to FBI, as the policies encourage criminal behavior. Frustrated sellers may want to file class action law suit.

sbelyaev · ‎04-29-2021

This is a copy to my complaint to FBI.

I sold an essentially new camera lens to a buyer through eBay on 3/20/21. That was my personal item. I thoroughly inspected it before shipping it to the buyer. There were absolutely no problems with the item. It was delivered to the buyer on 03/25. Two weeks later the buyer reported the item was not as described and requested full refund. The buyer stated that he had discovered the "problem" with the focusing ring upon receiving the item, but continued using it for another 2 weeks.
eBay informed me that I had no choice other than to make a refund. According to eBay I would be forced to refund the money and the buyer would keep the item if I disagree with eBay's decision.
I had no choice other that to approve the refund.
When I received the item back it had signs of heavy use and abuse. At the same time the "problem" that the buyer had reported was not present. Essentially the buyer used the lens for several weeks, mishandled it, and requested a refund. He was fully supported by eBay's policies. He falsely clamed that the item was damaged.

Going over the messages form very frustrated sellers on the eBay community forum I realized that the cases like mine are not uncommon. Unfortunately eBay's policies supporting unscrupulous buyers make this kind of internet crime prevalent.