Buyer bought item using different username after I blocked him

[smw3]

I know there have been several threads discussing this issue but since none are particularly current and Ebay policies are constantly evolving I figured a new thread was in order.  I can find multiple references to a policy that addresses my concern but I can't seem to find it within the Ebay policy pages themselves.  The specific line I am looking for but can't find is:

"You can't use another account to buy or bid on an item if you're on a seller's blocked bidder or buyer list."

Last week I had a buyer contact me by message making an offer on an item I had just listed hours earlier, a vintage audio component described as FOR PARTS OR REPAIR.  After I politely declined he kept sending me messages.  Since he was a relatively new user with a low feedback score, I figured better safe than sorry so I blocked him.

But then the next morning the item sold for my asking price and it was immediately obvious from similarities in the user name and the same city that it was the same buyer.  I knew this had to be a violation of Ebay's rules but rather than risk a defect against my Top Seller status, I went ahead and shipped the item.

Well immediately upon receiving the item the buyer started sending me complaints about its condition, literally admitted that he was the same buyer I had blocked using a different user name, then proceeded to call my integrity into question and threatened me with negative feedback.  I looked a little closer and found this user ID, an older one with a longer track record, had an obvious history of doing just exactly this, namely buying vintage audio components in non-working condition and then leaving negative feedback when sellers fail to offer retroactive discounts.

I have a 24 year track record with 100% perfect feedback.  I've done back flips to keep buyers happy and have developed a keen eye for spotting potentially troublesome buyers like this guy but this is the first time one has bought something even after I blocked him.  Short of giving this scammer his money back and most likely getting my item back in much worse condition that when I shipped it, what can I do to protect my score as well as future sellers from falling victim to his chicanery?  I've already reported him but the automated "report buyer" feature only has a small number of highly specific types of complaints from which you must select and this doesn't meet any of their criteria exactly. 

Is this just another area where I have to accept that Ebay doesn't really support sellers?  The only seller support page I've found where I should be able to contact somebody with my concerns is full of dead links that don't even go anywhere.  If unscrupulous buyers like this can't be prevented from taking advantage of us all the time, then we are rapidly approaching a point of diminishing returns where I really wonder whether it's worth the risk I take every time I sell something.

[smw3]

You are absolutely correct but in my defense I simply did not know I could do that at the time.  I assumed I would suffer a seller defect if I canceled the order.  I was very busy that morning so did not take the time to research whether I had other options.  The item was already packed so I just rolled the dice and shipped it hoping he'd be happy with it.  Lesson learned.  If anything like this ever happens again I will definitely cancel the order in the manner you suggest and contact Customer Service immediately to report the problem.,

[ms.rodriguez*]

When you get it back, make sure that the item is in the same condition as when you sent it.  If everything is good, I suggest that you list it locally elsewhere for local pickup.  This way , you do not have to repack the item to ship.

[smw3]

Well I haven't heard from him for nearly 48 hour and he hasn't requested a return or refund yet; he merely insinuated he would leave negative feedback if I don't do...something.  He never said what.   At this point I'm hopeful it's blown over.  If he kicks up any more dust, I'll offer the return but I will dispute whether I should pay the return shipping and I will absolutely deduct from the refund an appropriate amount for any damage that has occurred once I receive the item back.

As far as selling locally, I'm in a rural area with no market for this type of item so that's not really an option.

[inhawaii]

Hopefully lessons learned.

A) Don't sell heavy items that are expensive to ship/return ship because you may be stuck having to pay them when a buyer does a return.

B) Don't sell "part only/not working". From what I read on the boards over the years, too problematic.

[smw3]

Unfortunately both your A) and B) are my stock in trade.  I specialize in vintage electronics, for which there is a significant if niche market.  A significant portion of what I list for sale are heavy items either in need of repairs or good only for parts.  I have a gigantic collection of such items and am always accumulating more.  I make decent money at it and the vast majority of my buyers are smart, ethical hobbyists who are literate enough to understand what they are buying from me and are generally very happy with the results.  A tiny minority of my audience plays games like this guy did, probably about the same percentage almost any high volume seller has to deal with.  The fact I've gotten away with this for over 20 years with a perfect feedback score ought to say something about whether it's worth the trouble or not.  I will continue to list large heavy items for parts or repair to my particular audience.  But going forward I will be a little more cautious when there are warning signs and I will never hesitate to cancel a sale when I am dealing with anybody who has obviously broken Ebay's rules.

[smw3]

Gah.  I spoke too soon.  The buyer left me the following negative feedback today:

"A very unfriendly individual in communication. I offered him my price and in return he blocked my account. The tape recorder is electronically faulty, which he claimed to be working. It does not record on the left channel and the display light is off. I asked him for a partial refund and he replied with silence. I wanted easier and cheaper without returning item. He can't create a positive relationship between buyer and seller. I absolutely do not recommend him to other buyers."

Of course he is blatantly lying here when he claims he asked for a partial refund.  Not only did he never do any such thing, he never even responded when I asked him what solution he proposes.  I have already requested a retraction and I intend to immediately contact Ebay Customer Service and demand they address it today.

[stacy_pme]

The way I handled pretty much a very similar scenario was ...first before even thinking about sending the item, I contacted eBay customer service and confirmed that indeed it was the same person on both accounts (the address was the same, etc).  Then they advised me to simply cancel the transaction and mark "problem with address" and to report the buyer and put both accounts in my report.  They said that they would take care of it, because it is against eBay policy to have more than one account.   And... I believe I blocked both accounts to protect myself.

[slippinjimmy]

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@stacy_pme wrote:

They said that they would take care of it, because it is against eBay policy to have more than one account.   And... I believe I blocked both accounts to protect myself.

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It is NOT against any eBay policy to have multiple accounts, never has been, never will be.

It is against eBay policy to use an  alternate account when you know that you have been blocked by a seller another account. Thing is, while it might be obvious unless the first account was actually shown in the Blocked Buyer Activity Log they can claim that they were not aware of being blocked when they used an alternate account.

[sin-n-dex]

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@smw3 wrote:

Thanks but I'd already visited that page several times over the last 24 hours.  There's nothing there that specifically deals with my issue.  Since my original post here I have spoken to Customer Service and explained the entire situation.  They have offered basic assurance that things can be worked out if the buyer proceeds to open a case or otherwise escalate the situation but for now it appears all I can do is wait and see.  Hopefully the worst case is he leaves negative feedback which I can then appeal to have removed but even having that up there for a day or two can negatively affect sales.  It's unfortunate but this is the world we live in, where we can fall victim to chicanery no matter how hard we may try to avoid it.

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@smw3 

I went through this two days ago. Cancel the order with "problem with buyer's address". Make sure before you do this you report the buyer. Provide all your evidence. My buyer got booted off eBay less than 24 hours after I reported them. (But I'd cancelled their order before they got booted, so they did get their refund, as they had paid).

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@smw3 wrote:

Gah.  I spoke too soon.  The buyer left me the following negative feedback today:

"A very unfriendly individual in communication. I offered him my price and in return he blocked my account. The tape recorder is electronically faulty, which he claimed to be working. It does not record on the left channel and the display light is off. I asked him for a partial refund and he replied with silence. I wanted easier and cheaper without returning item. He can't create a positive relationship between buyer and seller. I absolutely do not recommend him to other buyers."

Of course he is blatantly lying here when he claims he asked for a partial refund.  Not only did he never do any such thing, he never even responded when I asked him what solution he proposes.  I have already requested a retraction and I intend to immediately contact Ebay Customer Service and demand they address it today.

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I didn't comprehend that you had shipped the item...

OK, you need to call CS to have the feedback removed. Cite the reason that he's on the blocked bidder list (which he admits in his FB) and people on your block bidder list are not allowed to buy. He did and got away with buying, but now he's left negative feedback citing that you blocked his account, which is within your rights to do! You should be able to get that FB removed. If it doesn't work on the first call, call the next day, and the next day... until someone understands that blocked bidders are not supposed to be using other accounts to purchase (when they admit they know they are blocked).

C.

[smw3]

I did call CS right away and thankfully they retained records from my last call, and also had the entire record of correspondence readily available.  It only took a couple minutes to bring them up to speed and by the time I hung up the phone the negative feedback had already been removed with my perfect record restored. 

They did tell me I should contact the scammer and offer a refund and that I should not be liable for the return shipping cost, though I'm still not exactly clear on how that will work if it's up to me to provide the label.  I'm still assuming I'm going to take a $50 hit on that part but we'll see what happens.  I wrote back to the buyer immediately but have yet to hear from him.  Frankly I don't think he wants to return it, he just wanted a partial refund because he was unhappy when I refused his lowball offer in the first place.  From his feedback left record it seems pretty clear he's just in the habit of abusing sellers and always trying to squeeze them for concessions.  I reeeeally hope he gets banned permanently!

In any event, lesson learned.  I will never again ship to a buyer who presents as shady if I can document a legitimate reason for my concern.  I was reluctant to go down the Customer Service road because I've never gotten satisfaction there before but I have to admit that in both of the calls regarding this matter I was able to get a human with relatively little effort (but not none!) and while there were minor language barriers - I have some hearing loss and struggle with heavy foreign accents, especially over the phone -  they were both very responsive to my concerns.

[sin-n-dex]

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@smw3 wrote:

I did call CS right away and thankfully they retained records from my last call, and also had the entire record of correspondence readily available.  It only took a couple minutes to bring them up to speed and by the time I hung up the phone the negative feedback had already been removed with my perfect record restored. 

They did tell me I should contact the scammer and offer a refund and that I should not be liable for the return shipping cost, though I'm still not exactly clear on how that will work if it's up to me to provide the label.  I'm still assuming I'm going to take a $50 hit on that part but we'll see what happens.  I wrote back to the buyer immediately but have yet to hear from him.  Frankly I don't think he wants to return it, he just wanted a partial refund because he was unhappy when I refused his lowball offer in the first place.  From his feedback left record it seems pretty clear he's just in the habit of abusing sellers and always trying to squeeze them for concessions.  I reeeeally hope he gets banned permanently!

In any event, lesson learned.  I will never again ship to a buyer who presents as shady if I can document a legitimate reason for my concern.  I was reluctant to go down the Customer Service road because I've never gotten satisfaction there before but I have to admit that in both of the calls regarding this matter I was able to get a human with relatively little effort (but not none!) and while there were minor language barriers - I have some hearing loss and struggle with heavy foreign accents, especially over the phone -  they were both very responsive to my concerns.

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Since you sold and shipped, you are kind of on the hook for dealing with a SNAD if it were any other customer. They won't ban him just for circumventing your block, unless the previous account that you blocked was banned for some particular reason. My buyer was banned within a day of my complaint, but his previous two IDs that he bought from me with were kicked off eBay already, so he's not allowed to be making new accounts. When I brought it to their attention he's the same guy (different name spelling and new address), they reacted immediately. They are normally not quick to ban buyers, in fact they rarely do. But a seller who does anything they find questionable will be restricted immediately.

Unfortunately you'll have to deal with this SNAD and despite what CS says, you will have to provide a label if the return request was SNAD related, even if the buyer didn't read. The bots always favour the buyer. So consider it a lesson learnt and don't sell to anyone who circumvents your blocked list again.

When dealing with my buyer, I discussed with the shop whether I should just ship with tracking (as he generally claims item is not received, this was a Canadian sale and Canada Post doesn't offer tracking on letters without large cost). The shop's opinion was that my buyer will find fault with the item when he gets it, and trying to make him go away by complying isn't going to work. So I cancelled the sale (problem with address) and reported him. He contacted me later that night to ask why I cancelled and got turfed before I had the opportunity to reply.

Seems like your buyer did exactly what my shop said would happen if I shipped to my blocked buyer... well you won't make that mistake again.

At least you got the neg removed, I think that's pretty important.

C.