Buyer didn't return my item, please help!

[mdign]

Hello, I made a thread about a week ago where I sold a VR headset and the buyer made a false return claim. So I was forced to accept the return, and as you can guess he didn't return my headset. Here's what he put in the box...

 

What do I do here? I can't afford to lose $1k right now. How do I get my item or my money back?

[katzrul15]

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@mdign wrote:

@bbravo65 I can believe that. In that case though something like that was likely planned well in advance. I'm not going to say it's impossible in my case, but the chances are under the 10% range. The buyer had red flags all over. Fresh account, 11 feedbacks, and his report/claim itself screamed scam. I don't know what I could have done to prevent this. eBay doesn't let me decide who's authorized to buy my items, even though I don't "offer" returns eBay tells me to eat rocks, even if I win this case I'm still screwed as the buyer will leave negative feedback.

My only option is simply not doing business here. Some sellers can take a $1,000+ loss, I honestly can't. I understand why eBay wants a 30day policy but I may have to bring them to court over this. 

They can't force a return policy without having a returns facility to AT LEAST inspect returns before they are sent to the seller. This has opened my eyes to the most blatant flaw I've ever seen in a platform like this. Someone can send me a bag of rocks and eBay wouldn't bat an eye. Yet if I return a bag of rocks to any store they'll open the box and give it right back before calling the cops.

We have a verification system for shoes for FREE now, why don't we have a VERIFICATION SYSTEM FOR RETURNS yet? Literally just have a department that checks the box for items. They don't even need to be experts. Just open the box, match SKUs, check serials, check if photos match the item/claim, and send it to the seller. 

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Great idea - they will never implement unfortunately.  There are ways to mitigate fraud on this site.  E-Bay chooses to not. 

Extremely unfair to a Seller.  E-Bay is not interested in fair.

[greatstuff80]

Sadly, chances are even with reporting it, you will not get your money or your item. It is the ebay of today. Small, new sellers, those with few feedback, high tickets items are scam targets and ebay does not care and sides with the buyer 99% of the time. Just look around the boards and see how many are being ripped off every day, then imagine how many do not bother to complain here. A few years ago my family sold many types of items at all types of price ranges with no issues. Now scam issues and glitches are a daily issue. Simply not worth it anymore so we do very little now. 

[katzrul15]

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@greatstuff80 wrote:

Sadly, chances are even with reporting it, you will not get your money or your item. It is the ebay of today. Small, new sellers, those with few feedback, high tickets items are scam targets and ebay does not care and sides with the buyer 99% of the time. Just look around the boards and see how many are being ripped off every day, then imagine how many do not bother to complain here. A few years ago my family sold many types of items at all types of price ranges with no issues. Now scam issues and glitches are a daily issue. Simply not worth it anymore so we do very little now. 

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You're right.  It isn't worth it. 

[a_c_green]

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@mdign wrote:

Should I be filing a complaint with the buyer's local Police Department or mine?

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You start with yours. Give them all the details so you can obtain a police report (which is probably as far as their own investigation is going to go). Once you have a police report number for others to refer to, you can go forward with a complaint to the buyer's PD.

Your local PD report number acts as an endorsement for you with the buyer's PD, to establish that you're not just J. Random Loony, filing fake reports against anyone you've ever been mad at. (If it were that easy, every telemarketer you've ever hung up on would be phoning your local PD to file claims against you.) You might even persuade them to make a phone call to the buyer's PD for you, at least to get the ball rolling at the other end.

USPS also investigates cases of mail fraud by private carriers, not just their own network, but you might want to start by contacting UPS directly since that was their shipment. Their primary contact address to start with is  fraud@ups.com; see what you get in response.

If someone ripped me off for $1K, I'd be going after them with both barrels, so get your reports going and see if you can get any traction at all. The odds are still against you, to be honest, but you might get lucky.

[donsdetour]

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@7606dennis wrote:

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@bbravo65 wrote:

@7606dennis 

...OP said they used UPS for shipping, not USPS...in that case, I don't think Postal Inspectors can't help much...

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True.

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Incorect: USPS also is a leading investigator of internet fraud...

[certifiedcitynet]

Our firm makes an HD video recording to verify contents whenever a package is opened or sealed. We also take many other security precautions. 

As for your case, you can file a police report where the alleged crime occurred (the buyer's jurisdiction) but the police can do nothing because it is your word against the buyer's. This is where the aforementioned video recording would have come in handy. 

You can still file a small claims lawsuit against the alleged perp, assuming that he/she is reasonably local. Otherwise, you are on the hook. 

[mdign]

@certifiedcitynet I do have a video recording of it being opened, but it's not HD sadly. I had a feeling he'd pull this and recorded it. 

@donsdetour That's good to know, I will file a report with them after I get my report squared away and a case number with the local Police Department. 

[mdign]

I contacted UPS, talked to 3 different people including a manager. They said they don't have the actual weights for my package. They only have the weight from the label I made....

Last time I'm ever shipping with UPS. I'll stick to the slow and reliable USPS. 

[north40sales]

ask to talk to a senior supervisor.   EVERY item that passes through UPS terminals is weighed and laser scanned for dimensions.....so they can charge the shipper if its over weight vs what was charged or if it is subject to dimensional measurement surcharges.   UPS is exceptional at squeezing every cent of possible revenue on every package.   My guess is that it was scaled and measured at least 3 times in the process. 

If the return weight differs from your shipped weight....you have a bit of tangible proof. 

If the return weight changed between UPS scans....you have a bit of proof that the swap occurred while in transit. 

If the return weight is exactly the same as the shipped weight....well then you are still kinda screwed.  

This whole thing really sucks eggs.....but it is also one of the reasons that many sellers (myself included) no longer list high value items on eBay.

[a_c_green]

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@north40sales wrote:

If the return weight differs from your shipped weight....you have a bit of tangible proof. 

If the return weight changed between UPS scans....you have a bit of proof that the swap occurred while in transit. 

If the return weight is exactly the same as the shipped weight....well then you are still kinda screwed. 

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Given that the OP's photo shows a hand weight and what looks like a cheap plaster casting, I suspect the scammer made some effort to match the original shipping weight in anticipation of that. 🙁

[north40sales]

yes...but did the scammer have a digital scale to match it exactly.....if the weight shipped and the weight returned is off by a few ounces.....you have a bit of tangible proof that something was amiss. 

[pikabo-icu]

Day after day..

Scam after scam..

I am so dang sorry @mdign this should NOT happen..

When is eBay going to offer an escrow system for sales over a certain amount? 

Mandatory for sales over $750. like sig confirmation and optional for smaller dollar amount?

I would pay for this service! Something at the PO- even an open packing service! Pack at the counter in front of postal clerk, they make a small note of what item is and then attach eBay label and ship! REQUIRE the same for any return.

PO charges $10 for the service it's self funding with that-

Easy fix.. Never gonna happen! 

Just really sorry to read this.. 

[certifiedcitynet]

But you have no video of the parcel being sealed, so you cannot prove what was sent. Even then, you would need to get the buyer to produce the empty package to verify that it is the same one. But if he refused, it would be evidence that he is lying. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@certifiedcitynet wrote:

But you have no video of the parcel being sealed, so you cannot prove what was sent. Even then, you would need to get the buyer to produce the empty package to verify that it is the same one. But if he refused, it would be evidence that he is lying. 

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Videos are not accepted as any kind of proof - they can be too easily faked.

[mdign]

So I contacted UPS again. Turns out they don't actually weigh prepaid packages unless there is an obvious difference...

Yea, definitely the last time I use UPS. They charge more for much less.