Buyer claims they received a different item than what I had sent

[bowdom8]

Never had an issue like this happen, so I would appreciate some help on what to do. About two weeks ago, I had sold a jersey to a brand new buyer. A day after it was delivered, they opened a case for doesn't match description or photos.  Their response along with a photo claimed that they received a pair of pants and shirt that I have never seen. I called their local post office to see if there was any tampering with the package, but they did not find any issues with it. Unsure of what to do, I sent a return label. Yesterday, the return arrived and of course is the pair of pants and shirt. My question is where do I go from here? 

[gardel24]

You have the option to further comment on your feedback, explaining the situation. Once the return has been made, eBay will not intervene.  You can also report the buyers to eBay (through the feedback page) so they cannot do it again. 

[pureinnocenthelp]

someone at ebay or post office switched the item. This has happen to lots of people. Sorry you have to deal with it. Ebay is not fair, first figure out who owns the shirt and pants I suggest take it to the police so they can hopefully find DNA  on it because that could be the person that switched your product out and stole your product. 

[bowdom8]

So just refund and report the buyer? I've heard about filing a police report and contacting eBay for an appeal, is that not possible?

[itsjustasprain]

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@pureinnocenthelp wrote:

someone at ebay or post office switched the item. This has happen to lots of people. Sorry you have to deal with it. Ebay is not fair, first figure out who owns the shirt and pants I suggest take it to the police so they can hopefully find DNA  on it because that could be the person that switched your product out and stole your product. 

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This is probably the most ridiculous post I have read in quite a while. Its not even a good troll. 

@bowdom8 - you will have to refund the buyer as they have returned the package and Ebay will be able to see the tracking on it. You have something like 2 days to issue the refund before Ebay does it for you and then bills you for it. Yes you can report the buyer as well but Ebay always take a he-said she-said approach and will try to just wind the sale back by refunding after a return. Reporting mail fraud to your postmaster would be good too and keep in mind that the post office does not sit around opening packages and switching contents.

I had something like this once in my selling account but I told the buyer at the time he first contacted me that the items he was looking at could not have come from me because I dont even sell those items. I suggested that he check with any other sellers he might have bought from recently because one of those might have mixed up a shipment and sent him someone elses sale by mistake. I agreed and I didnt hear anything further after that. I would not automatically assume that the buyer is scamming even though there is a chance of it. Unfortunately a return swap is something that a buyer can get away with at least a few times before Ebay removes the account.

[bowdom8]

Gotcha. When the buyer first opened the case, I did message them that I don't sell those items and that there could be a possible mix up. However, they never responded back to me. With the date for the response incoming, I just sent a return label. Also, is filing a police report and contacting eBay for an appeal not possible?

[mtgraves7984]

Also, is filing a police report and contacting eBay for an appeal not possible?

@bowdom8 

I think filing a police report is ridiculous and contacting eBay to appeal is also a total waste of time. Refund and move on.

[flashback_boutique]

Sorry you were scammed. I understand all too well as it happened to me too. Perhaps what I did to try to avoid any other similar experiences may offer you an idea of at least one option to help minimize fake returns. Sadly they do occur all too often and what's worse is the seller pays for it. 
Years ago a shopper direct messaged super polite sent best offer request, I accepted, customer paid, I sent the nwot VS Angels Slip carefully wrapped in tissue-paper secured inside a packaging bag and shipped inside a poly-mailer the following day. USPS delivered it a few days later, customer receives it and immediately started a return-claim siting item not as described, no pictures yet stating slip was ripped at seam and in horrible condition. Due to the 'reason for return' I had to provide a return shipping label. A small mailer bag from customer was delivered 18 days later. Inside the mailer bag was a waded-up dirty unlaundered ripped and stretched pos cami top from the bigboxstore-mart. Beyond shocked, I immediately contacted ebay and provided photos of the item returned to me. Unfortunately for me it didn't matter nor make a difference in the outcome. It boiled down to it was my word verses the customers word and... the customer is always right.  Seriously? ...the customer may get their way but that doesn't mean they are always right. I still shake my head that a newbie-to-the-bay-scene with less than 10 purchases and zero sales was awarded the intervention decision over a multi-year-store-owner-with-over-1k-100%-positive-lifetime-feedback-score. My seller review evaluation was tainted for a year. Dishonest shopper flagged as possible fraud member. Receiving fake returns is zero fun. Experiencing disappointment on many levels and being seriously frustrated having to pay a dishonest shopper to steal from me was the tipping point which inspired me to create a cma safety net. I decided I would make my own ID Label Tags. Each tag having a unique #. The ID # and a photo of the ID Tag attached to the item are included within my listings. In the event any item is sent back for a Return the item must have my store's ID tag attached. It took a good bit of time, planning, sketching ideas finding what tag-info worked best for me. I print my store's ID tags as needed. My ID Tag Project has been well worth my effort invested. I wish you successful ideas creating your own cya seller safety net. 

[katzrul15]

Sorry to hear - was this an expensive or unique jersey (i.e. you might be able to keep a look out for it listed somewhere else?)  You have one listed now for $175, so am guessing the jersey purchase was an expensive one?

We had this happen with a signed item a couple of years back - it turned up about a month later on e-Bay.  We did report it, e-Bay did nothing about it and I doubt a PD would do anything even if expensive.  Our little town has a PD that has a cyber crimes guy now.  No idea if they accomplish anything or what the threshold is, but never hurts to ask.

Btw - the weight of the item shipped and the weight of the item received back - do they match?  You might be able to point that out as you created the original label, etc.