eBay

retro_hunters · ‎12-16-2023

Sold an expensive item. Once buyer received it claimed pieces that were pictured in my listing were missing. I offered to pay for the replacement pieces to be sent to him and he refused. He said if I refund $85 he would keep it. (Missing pieces were $10.) I told him to return it.

I got it back yesterday and as soon as I saw the return box which was 1/3rd of the size of the actual item itself and picked it up I could tell it was empty. I called for my husband to come record me bringing it inside and opening it. Sure enough, empty.

I immediately called eBay and the representative I talked to was very kind and said he was going to close the case in my favor and all I had to do was send the pictures of proof of the empty box to the buyer which I did.

Case closed, no refund to buyer.

25 minutes ago I received a message that the buyer reopened the case and was automatically refunded the full amount from my funds.

I tried filing a appeal and it says the case is final, no appeal.

So how exactly does one start a police report for mail fraud?

mam98031 · ‎12-16-2023

You are in a real pickle. I just hate to see Ebay put sellers through the ringer over things like this. I would encourage you not to give up as you should have the right to appeal their reversal.

If you used USPS to ship the item, go to USPS.com and file for Mail Fraud which is a Federal Crime. You could also see if you can file a police report for theft with the police department closest to your buyer. If you do that get the police report number.

I would do both of those things first, then I'd write a message to the buyer and let them know that you filed both reports. Then I would go and try to talk to Ebay again. Ebay seems to have some respect for Police Reports and you should have the right to appeal this case. Get your other evidence together too. Ebay won't look at a video of you getting or opening the package. But the weight and size of the package would be VERY important info.

I would suggest that you contact Ebay for Business on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the better trained CSRs.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.

If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.

If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/home

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

fashunu4eeuh · ‎12-17-2023

“I immediately called eBay and the representative I talked to was very kind and said he was going to close the case in my favor and all I had to do was send the pictures of proof of the empty box to the buyer which I did…”

Mmmm, I think it is possible the customer service rep may have fed you a line of bull corn.

Sending a photo of an empty box to the buyer proves absolutely nothing, and has not been a historical remedy for closing a Money Back Guarantee case in a seller’s favor. Never heard of this happening in such circumstances for Not As Described claims. Is that what it was, a NAD case?

Or did the buyer open a regular return case thru eBay when you told him to return it? Did you pay for return shipping/provide a label? (Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to make sense of the actions and timeline here.)

What evidence was there that a case was officially closed in your favor by eBay? What item was it so we can review the listing?

retro_hunters · ‎12-17-2023

He opened a "missing parts or pieces" return.

This was the message I received just as I got off the phone with the rep.

retro_hunters · ‎12-17-2023

Thank you. I didn't know the agent option was sometimes a choice, I was only getting the automated service earlier.

I already filed a IC3 and mail fraud claim. I'm fixing to file a police report as well.

mam98031 · ‎12-17-2023

@retro_hunters wrote:
Thank you. I didn't know the agent option was sometimes a choice, I was only getting the automated service earlier.

I already filed a IC3 and mail fraud claim. I'm fixing to file a police report as well.

EXCELLENT. Please do keep us informed.

Oh and don't forget to politely and professionally let your buyer know you have taken these steps because the package was not of the size or weight that is should have been for the proper item to be returned.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

fashunu4eeuh · ‎12-17-2023

Thank you for the reply. So sorry this is happening to you. You have a stellar record as a seller.

Am a bit perplexed at how the buyer was able to get such a quick reversal.

There are several steps you can take as the victim of mail fraud/theft. First, make an online report to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The form is available at ic3.gov and make note of the case # for your records.

Next, contact the USPS Postal Inspectors to make a fraud report. This can also be done online. Using the mail system as an instrument of fraud is a serious matter— a federal crime. Again, make note of the case #. They can be contacted at 877-876-2455 or postalinspectors.uspis.gov

You can contact the police in both yours and the buyer’s jurisdictions and tell them you have been the victim of online fraud and need a police report to give to eBay. I have little experience with this step. Hoping another poster will pop up to shed more light on this step.

Good luck @retro_hunters and hope this gets resolved to your benefit.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎12-17-2023

Oh dear, i see i am repeating info that came in while i was typing. Going to the slow typing corner now. @mam98031‘s advice is always spot on.

marnotom! · ‎12-17-2023

The message from eBay says that they “received tracking information from you that shows the successful delivery of a replacement or exchanged item.”

But they didn’t, correct? You just offered to ship out replacement parts and the buyer declined the offer, correct?

I wonder if the phone rep misunderstood what had happened here and this misunderstanding lead to the buyer successfully appealing the outcome of the case.

gurlcat · ‎12-17-2023

@fashunu4eeuh wrote:
Thank you for the reply. So sorry this is happening to you. You have a stellar record as a seller.

Am a bit perplexed at how the buyer was able to get such a quick reversal.

There are several steps you can take as the victim of mail fraud/theft. First, make an online report to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The form is available at ic3.gov and make note of the case # for your records.

Next, contact the USPS Postal Inspectors to make a fraud report. This can also be done online. Using the mail system as an instrument of fraud is a serious matter— a federal crime. Again, make note of the case #. They can be contacted at 877-876-2455 or postalinspectors.uspis.gov

You can contact the police in both yours and the buyer’s jurisdictions and tell them you have been the victim of online fraud and need a police report to give to eBay. I have little experience with this step. Hoping another poster will pop up to shed more light on this step.

Good luck @retro_hunters and hope this gets resolved to your benefit.

It looks like the agent misunderstood or mis-applied eBay policy to the case, because the OP's screenshot says the tracking showed that she sent the missing pieces to the buyer, not that the buyer returned the item. So your question of what kind of return it was remains unanswered.

@retro_hunters could you click that See case details, and grab a screenshot of what that says? It's hard to figure out how a case got reversed when it's not even clear what kind of case it was.

dnasilver · ‎12-17-2023

Twitter is no longer. X had the majority of its security dept let go.

dhbookds · ‎12-17-2023

did you "report the buyer"? and explain that an empty box was returned? There should be a place in the drop down menu on the left next to the transaction on your manage/and shipped order page.......

mam98031 · ‎12-17-2023

@dnasilver wrote:
Twitter is no longer. X had the majority of its security dept let go.

OK, I never said anything about it but thank you for the info.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

hiiragi_tsukasa · ‎12-17-2023

I'm in the progress of a similar situation with a rare brand new sealed game and I added a bonus Like New opened game, and the buyer is contesting NAD because the bonus game wasn't "sealed" and is in progress of returning the package, now here is the thing - I've been an ebay member for a long time and this type of fraud is common, like with your issue.

After checking feedback of the buyer, he's pulled this before but here is the thing and returned a product with obviously not the same item as the seller shipped, Ebays seller protection is near worthless and most of the time will not protect you so going to the police and proper mail fraud procedures is really the only thing you can do - I've also personally noticed that the majority of people who commit this type of fraud do it infrequently enough to stay below ebays radar.

Hate to say it, but your options are somewhat limited - ebay has never really sided with sellers that often even when a clear sign of fraud is involved, hope you can get it sorted out and Christmas time has a higher fraud risk so you have to make sure when you list anything valuable, that you accurate describe your item even if you have to write out an essay and take many photos accurately showing the condition, in other words to protect yourself from any scammer who would take advantage of your listing, because when it comes to NAD, ebay fails often with this to protect sellers, because the fraudulent buyers know this.