Buyer filing obvious fraudulent "received empty box" claim and asking for refund.

[chr0mew0rld]

Buyer received item nearly 3 days ago. Now today has filed a "Item not received" request and in the reasoning section wrote "received empty box.."

About an hour later, that request was cancelled and he then filed a return request instead. Again claiming 'received empty box..."

This was an expensive jacket. I absolutely shipped it in the box. I have already sent a message stating that we can file police report/contact local post office/etc as seen in other forum threads about this same type of scam. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime? Is there a way I can reach out to a human at Ebay directly and let them know whats going on?

[chr0mew0rld]

i'm not new ive been selling on ebay since 2002

[cordell1]

Do you have your receipt for the label?  It will have the weight on the receipt and label.  A empty box won't weigh much but your receipt will show actual weight of package sent.

[chr0mew0rld]

exactly! so i need to speak to a human being at ebay who can use the slightest bit of logic to detect whats really going on here lol

[chr0mew0rld]

Shipped to Carrollton, Texas

[slippinjimmy]

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@cordell1 wrote:

Do you have your receipt for the label?  It will have the weight on the receipt and label.  A empty box won't weigh much but your receipt will show actual weight of package sent.

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Pointless! The buyer isn't claiming the seller SHIPPED an empty box, they claim the box ARRIVED empty.

[chr0mew0rld]

thanks!

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is the address. I already sent a similar message about mail fraud and the inspector general etc and he just replied "you can file a report. i'll just wait until ebay steps in"

[slippinjimmy]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

@albertabrightalberta 

@chr0mew0rld 

In addition, check to see what the weather was like in the buyer's neighborhood on the day & time of delivery:  No rain means no waterlogged box.

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Better check the weather at any and all stops along the way from the actual shipping location.

[chr0mew0rld]

i already did that lol. there was rain that morning, but i dont see what the correlation is supposed to be between a wet box and the jacket inside it missing. It doesnt add up

[chr0mew0rld]

yeah but they will just say the box was emptied after that scan

[alternative_lab_source]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I actually just started a post "eBay took the side of the buyer again" today sharing my experience. I don't think eBay is going to help. I think I have a more convincing case, and the value of the item I sold was probably even higher, eBay still ruled in favor of the buyer. Check out my post and the comment section. Maybe there is some useful information to you. 

[chr0mew0rld]

yeah true. the 'wet' box thing is pretty irrelevant to me anyway considering that has literally nothing at all to do with it being empty. I receive wet/bent/dented packages all the time

[reallynicestamps]

Crooks are lazy.

Just making them go through with the return may make them think twice about going to the trouble.

Add that to the need to bring the "empty box" to the USPS counter and face the clerk.

You might add a note to your Return ShippingLabel that you have filed an insurance claim with USPS and asking that the scammer customer cooperate  with the postal inspectors.

Most shipping companies, when they deliver an obviously damaged shipment, will mark the damaged parcel in some way- bagging it, "damaged in transit " tape, an apologetic letter.

And of course start your insurance claim with the shipper, USPS or other.

[chr0mew0rld]

This is what has happened now. I sent photo proof to the buyer (USPS internal tracking info) that the package weighed 3 lbs and was never empty or damaged upon delivery. Then they ended the request and the money is no longer on hold. Is this whole thing over now?

[dbfolks166mt]

So I really have no recourse here?
Whats to stop someone from just doing this all the time and getting anything they want for free?

I might as well do the same thing if it's just allowed by Ebay no questions asked, buy something and say it never showed up even when it was clearly delivered based on tracking etc

     It is unfortunate that you have little to no recourse. About the best you can do is report the buyer, eBay does look for scammer patterns. If you have the original receipt from the PO from when they took possession of the item, i.e. you took the item to the PO and had it scanned that receipt will have the original weight of the package on the receipt. 

     You can also request delivery information from USPS as they often image items when they are delivered. If the box shows no damage or indications of being opened you may want to open a case with the USPS IG and inform the buyer that you are doing so and that USPS may be contacting them and they should retain the original box they received. 

[dbfolks166mt]

@cordell1 wrote:

Do you have your receipt for the label?  It will have the weight on the receipt and label.  A empty box won't weigh much but your receipt will show actual weight of package sent.

Pointless! The buyer isn't claiming the seller SHIPPED an empty box, they claim the box ARRIVED empty.

     Actually it's not. I have had a couple of these empty box claims over the years and once I sent the buyer a shot of the receipt from USPS and mentioned the process similar to what albertabrightalberta mentioned all of a sudden the claim was closed by the buyer.