Buyer claiming item received is completely different than what I sent

[daniee707]

Started selling a few clothing items to clear out some space in my closet. One of the buyers has submitted a claim for “Item not as Described” and she sent pictures with my packaging with a comic book that she claims was in the package. I sent a her a dress and I’m sure what was listed in the auction was what I sent in the package, there is no way this comic book was in the package I sent, I’ve never even seen the book she has in the photos. It was strange, the package took a week longer than it should have to get to her (sent priority mail but took 10 days). 

I was going back and forth with the buyer and accidentally hit “Continue” when “accept return” was selected instead of ”send message to buyer” Now eBay says they will send a shipping label at the cost of an additional $9 to the buyer to send the item back if I don’t provide a label. I don’t want to accept the return but my understanding is I can’t undo that at this point. The item cost +shipping was only $12, I already spent $9 to ship it to the buyer and I don’t want to pay another $9 for the buyer to return a comic book that I don’t want and then have to refund them on top of this. What do I do? Is my best/only option to just refund them to avoid paying additional fees for shipping, or can I have eBay resolution step in to help? Is there any way this can go in my favor? 

[mc4379]

So the seller would be liable for the buyer committing fraud? I filed a fraud report on eBay but this just doesn’t seem fair..

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@mc4379 wrote:

So the seller would be liable for the buyer committing fraud? I filed a fraud report on eBay but this just doesn’t seem fair..

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In my experience, a buyer who makes an outrageous or impossible claim (stating I shipped something I've never sold) is looking for a quick refund. There is no problem - it's all made up.

When you tell them to return, it throws a monkey wrench into their plans. They don't want to return anything. They don't want a return on their record. They're looking for sellers who will cave in and give a quick refund to "make things right". When the seller stands their ground and demands a return, they go away, moving on to a softer target.

There is also the possibility that the buyer has their sellers confused, which is a question that the seller needs to ask their buyer first before anything else.  This happens more than you think, especially with powerbuyers.

[ittybitnot]

So the seller would be liable for the buyer committing fraud?

Yes. 

[misaonline]

I had the exact problem this morning! Ebay automatically processed the refund. Buyer sent back AN EMPTY package! And now I have 2 days to refund the money to the buyer or Ebay will do it automatically *inserts mad face*.  I contacted Ebay and talked to someone, she said she'll have someone else call me back in 24 hours so I'm going to see what they're going to do to this problem.

Make sure you report the buyer and put them on your block list so they don't purchase from you again. There are good buyers and there are scammed buyers. It's unfortunate for sellers like us but karma will get them someday.

[misaonline]

It seems like it but Ebay does keep track of everything so if someone keeps manipulate the system, Ebay will ban them for life. It is unfortunate but it's the risk of the business that sellers have to deal

[mc4379]

does anyone have ideas on how to prevent this in the future? If I video myself physically packaging these orders will eBay even accept it as proof next time?

this buyer doesn’t do this very often I think based on the lack of negative reviews...but when she filed a fraud claim on me, I wasn’t able to leave a negative feedback so maybe that’s the case and others couldn’t leave a negative review either.

im just so **bleep** there are people like this and it’s making me hesitant to sell anything else on eBay given how they take the buyers side as long as they claim they didn’t receive an item and can just take a picture of a random item in their house saying that’s what they received?!?

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@mc4379 wrote:

does anyone have ideas on how to prevent this in the future? If I video myself physically packaging these orders will eBay even accept it as proof next time?

this buyer doesn’t do this very often I think based on the lack of negative reviews...but when she filed a fraud claim on me, I wasn’t able to leave a negative feedback so maybe that’s the case and others couldn’t leave a negative review either.

im just so **bleep** there are people like this and it’s making me hesitant to sell anything else on eBay given how they take the buyers side as long as they claim they didn’t receive an item and can just take a picture of a random item in their house saying that’s what they received?!?

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If you sell ANYWHERE online and accept a reversible form of payment such as  Paypal or credit/debit cards, you cannot prevent it. It's not just an Ebay thing.

Any buyer anywhere can get their money back at any time by going to their payment source. It matters not what "protection" the venue offers.