Buyer gets refund AND keeps item

[forgotten*finds]

Ok, let's get this out of the way. Ebay provides certain steps a seller must follow concerning returns and refunds that are made to limit a seller's liability and/ or loss. If a seller decides not to follow these protocols they give up these protections. 

Example: Wait until you receive your item back BEFORE you refund the buyer, because there are more bad people out there than there are good. 

What I did was unilaterally decide that I would trust a buyer and refund them without ebay getting involved and trying to avoid the mark against my account. The buyer sent me an empty package then messaged me to tell me he decided he was going to keep the item as well as the money, basically thumbing his nose at all seller's on eBay. 

I'm sure I have no recourse, except one, which I won't mention here. What I'm wondering is, has anyone had this happen and actually got their property or money back? I figured I was pretty well screwed and chalked it up as a couple hundred dollar lesson in how not to get spanked on eBay. 

I'm only looking for constructive responses, I already know where I failed,  believe me, it keeps me up at night, I really do not like to get ripped off but I like it even less when it's blatant and ebay doesn't care when,  all they have to do is read the messages I received and then reverse the refund from the buyers account, who, by the way, is also a sometimes seller on here so,  he's one of us, well,  not one of us honest sellers but still a seller,  which bugs me even more. 

[heckofagame · Accepted solution]

If the buyer admitted to his crime in a message, contact ebay. Only a total idiot would admit to fraud in writing.

[forgotten*finds]

I will do that, thank you. And I agree with you, this person is not the brightest bulb in the box , or,  he's a couple sandwiches short of a picnic...

[vintage-camerastuff]

I refunded a buyer once and told him to keep the item because it would cost me more to pay for the return shipping label.  The buyer appreciated the thought but returned it on his own dime as he didn't want to keep something he didn't pay for.  There are a few good buyers out there.  More good ones than bad ones.

[duffy4444]

   Yes, admitting to fraud in writing is a couple tacos short of a combination plate.

   When you contact eBay to turn this skank buyer in, contact eBay CS on Facebook via a message (not a post there). Don't trust regular eBay CS on the phone, as they often seem to read from a script and might tell you anything you want to hear just to get you off the phone - if you can even understand them in the first place.

Cheers, Duffy

[quicksilverq]

The same thing happened to me.  Buyer got her $700+ back and kept the ring.   I could not believe she would do that.  Just seems totally wrong.  Quite the expensive lesson.   She is also a seller on ebay.  Maybe she'll turn around and sell it!   She will not respond to my emails. 

When I wanted to return an item that was not as advertised, seller gave me a full refund and I sent the item back.  That was the honest thing to do!    Apparently there are a lot of dishonest people on ebay -- so much for ebay claiming you can trust other ebayers.  I'm disgusted and disheartened.

[isaiah53-57]

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@forgotten*finds wrote:

What I did was unilaterally decide that I would trust a buyer and refund them without ebay getting involved and trying to avoid the mark against my account. The buyer sent me an empty package then messaged me to tell me he decided he was going to keep the item as well as the money, basically thumbing his nose at all seller's on eBay. 

If its any consolation, there's a good chance the buyer was already planning on scamming you, so at least you didn't get the "mark against your account" - no point in losing sleep over something you cant control - Utterly absurd that more is not being done to control the buyer fraud contagion here by the site owners/managers.

Type "FRAUD" in the "ebay help" search bar and what do you get? - a Live Link right at the top to report SELLER Fraud, and in the list of articles below? 3 articles titled "Report Issues With a SELLER"; "Resolving Issues With SELLERS"; "Avoiding SELLER Fraud"... Seriously?

[eliza*bee]

I, too, had a buyer not return an item after being refunded after her request for a return.  Her reason for the return was "it was too big for my collection" (it was a large paperweight).   When I got the email from eBay that the buyer wanted to return the item I clicked the "refund" button which eBay carried out immediately.  I made the error of not requiring the item to be returned before the refund was given.  I contacted the buyer three times (through eBay email process) but she ignored all my messages requesting the item be returned.  I contacted a CS at eBay and was told the return was completed and refund given so there was really nothing they could do.  However, they stated that eBay would send an email to the buyer requesting that the item be returned.  It's been less than a week, so I'm still hoping the item gets returned to me.

The individual who failed to return the item (value, $100.00) is both a buyer AND A SELLER on eBay.  

An expensive lesson for me and a disheartening discovery that there are scammers even among fellow sellers!

[albertabrightalberta]

@eliza*bee 

@quicksilverq 

@forgotten*finds 

When buyers open return requests, you have 2 options: 

1. Issue a refund (buyer keeps free item)

2. Accept the return and don't issue a refund until you get it back.

When you issue a refund before the buyer sends the item back, YOU are telling the buyer that you don't want the item and you're refunding them. If you wanted the item back, you would have responded to the return request by sending them a shipping label and not issuing a refund unless and until you got the item back. 

[albertabrightalberta]

BTW, 15 month old thread! 

[kh-belma]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.