Buyer open a case as "defective" 1 day later ebay closes in buyer's favor

[mymidwestattic]

I sold an item. The buyer received it and left me positive feedback.

2 weeks and some days later the buyer opens a return case and stating a false reason "defective" in reason she says "wallet doesn't fit"

Since by some weird mistake I had the item labeled as "free return" on pre-owned item, ebay automatically approved her return and I paid for returned postage.

An item arrived at my mail box at 11 p.m.... at 3 a.m. ebay sends me an email "refund the buyer"

I am like "I am not going outside at -15 in pitch dark to get my package it can wait till morning....

At 10:00 a.m. I sent a buyer a question "why did you select "defective as a reason"?? When it was NOT defective?

She told me "it was the only option to choose"... I asked because I don't want dings on my account and I know for a fact the item was NOT defective. So she responded at 11:00 a.m. by 1 p.m. I come home and see that she opened a case on me, the case was closed in "buyer's favor" ebay did not even give me 48 hours to inspect the item back! Seriously??? The sad thing that the buyer is a liar and even my phone 10xs fits into the purse. She just used the purse for 10+ days, abused it and shipped it back. The sad part that she outbid 4 other bidders (indicating how bad she wanted it). The measurements were provided but she saw "free return" so used the item to borrow for an event and returned it for full refund including shipping! But the "OMG" part was how quickly ebay refunded her without even waiting for me to check the item. The item looks much older than before I sold it! Now what can I do?

[mam98031]

I can see how this situation could be upsetting for you.  

There isn't a lot I can say to make you feel better about this as it is just what Ebay has decided to do on some returns.

But I can tell you that you do NOT have to be worried about getting a "ding" on your account for merely getting a SNAD, no matter what reason the buyer selects.  

On your dashboard numbers, the only time a return request gets you a ding is if you don't take care of the customer while it is in the request stage and they have to escalate the claim to Ebay.  Your buyer did not have to escalate the claim to Ebay to get it resolved, therefore you did NOT get a ding on your Dashboard numbers which controls your selling status.

Now any SNAD opened no matter the reason or outcome does count against sellers in the Service Metrics which is another way Ebay evals sellers.  But before this Metrics even kicks in you would have to have 10 SNADs in the past year in one single category.  

I hope this information helps.

[moo*cow*corner]

You offered 30 day free returns on the purse. She could have waited until day 29 and still returned the item at your expense. If you had refunded immediately, you could have deducted a percentage for damage or wear (not in same condition as sent). Now that ebay has decided a case in the buyer's favor, you possibly may have lost that option.

Sending the buyer a confrontational message was worse than useless, as free returns means that you take returns for any reason, and pay return shipping to boot. All the message accomplished was to upset the buyer enough that she didn't give you a chance to handle it before opening a case.

I understand that the free returns option may have been a mistake when listing. You would still be expected to honor it properly. The damage deduction would be your only recourse. 

[ja-2149]

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@mymidwestattic wrote:

I come home and see that she opened a case on me, the case was closed in "buyer's favor" ebay did not even give me 48 hours to inspect the item back!

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I agree @mymidwestattic you didn't get a defect even though I didn't read either that the buyer escalated to eBay and opened a case to get a forced refund. Don't worry, be saddy.

[stuff_from_dylan]

@mymidwestattic 

If your "Free Returns" and didn't offer free returning shipping, then I'd call up eBay and tell them to look at your message exchange to prove that they filed under the wrong return request. Otherwise, you're completely responsible as you made a mistake.

Hope it's the former, but sorry if otherwise!

[castlemagicmemories]

Wallet doesn't fit.

Hope she wasn't trying to squeeze into it!

[mymidwestattic]

Yes, buyer escalated the case to get forced refund and ebay refunded without my consent. How does this work???

[mymidwestattic]

Yes, I understand that if I offered FREE returns 30 days it meant that I'd take it back for whatever reason!

What I do NOT understand is that, after I sent the buyer a message, she went ahead and opened a case on me it was all done within an hour. My phone didn't show it nor notify me and I was away from my computer. Within that hour ebay decided in her favor! Ebay did not allow me any time to inspect the item to make sure it arrived not damaged! They just refunded her the entire amount $80.

The message I sent her was : "Just wondering why did you open a case as item defective"? Because in her message she told me "her phone didn't fit in purse" which is a lie (I have iphone XS and it fits fine). Whatever.... but the buyer told me via messages "it was the only option to open a case" so she lied to ebay by saying "item is deffective" and ebay was like "OMG let us refund all the money right now". In reality she borrowed my purse for an event, used it, abused it and returned it for full refund. /Thanks ebay for allowing dishonest buyers abuse your sellers!

[helloandgoodmorning]

Did the item come back damaged or in the same condition it was sent?

Defects on the dashboard update once a week so if this just happened you will have to check your dashboard at the end of this week to see if there was one recorded.

[fern*wood]

I have a bad feeling about ebay and returns.  I know they hate being involved in them and keep moving toward forcing more and more onto sellers.   All the changes so far have not succeeded in ending the conflict.   They want this to be easy for buyers and do not want issues, they do not want to litigate them, they do not want involved in them.

I'm afraid reasons will be removed altogether and who pays the shipping will no longer be an option.   They may remove the penalties for sellers, though, since the financial loss will be penalty enough. 

[gracieallen01]

"I'm afraid reasons will be removed altogether and who pays the shipping will no longer be an option. They may remove the penalties for sellers, though, since the financial loss will MAY be penalty enough. "

They have to do what they can to keep the sellers in line, you know - and get that added 4%.

[castlemagicmemories]

Sorry this happened to you.  

The buyer may have felt that her best course of action was to open a case.

[mam98031]

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@mymidwestattic wrote:
Yes, buyer escalated the case to get forced refund and ebay refunded without my consent. How does this work???

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Ebay doesn't need or even seek a seller's permission / consent to refund a buyer if a case gets escalated.  They don't do that.

But what concerns me here is that you have said it was escalated one day after the case was opened. 

Did you try to deny the claim?  If you told the buyer in the claim that you would not accept the return, then that may have caused this as you can't decline a SNAD.

[castlemagicmemories]

If tracking shows delivery, and no refund occurred, Ebay will refund the buyer when the case is escalated.

[mam98031]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

If tracking shows delivery, and no refund occurred, Ebay will refund the buyer when the case is escalated.

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This is not always true.  Sometimes on low $$ value items Ebay may do this.  But it is not a guarantee.  It is more likely that if a buyer escalates an INR to Ebay and tracking shows delivered, the case will be closed in the seller's favor with no refund given.  But with that said, it is silly for any seller to allow an INR that has tracking showing delivered to let enough time pass so that the case can be escalated.

The problem with what the OP is describing is the 1 day after the claim was opened it was escalated to Ebay.  That shouldn't happen.  That is not how the system is suppose to work, so there is an issue here.