Buyer returned wrong item. What can I do?

[sai83her]

I sold a item to a buyer recently. As soon as the package was delivered to the buyer, they open a SNAD return case saying it was defective/damaged. I offer a 30 day return so therefor the SNAD return was automatically approved by ebay.

Today, the package came back and the item that the buyer sent back is not the same one I sent to them. They have bought my item which is an identical models to theirs. They swapped/switch out their defective one and sent their broken unit back to me. I checked the Serial numbers and the Unique ID numbers on my item from the pictures in my listing and they are totally different from the one they had sent back to me. I am a Top rated seller. What can I do?

In the return, I am given an option to "report the buyer", and from there a list of option to choose from. There is one where you can click "Buyer return wrong item". When I choose that option, it tells me to escalate the situation to customer service. Should I do it? What are my chances that I will win since I have read through numerous threads here and from most of them, ebay sides with the buyer and the sellers gets a strike.

I provided some pictures for insight.

[lagarto_electronico]

You have documentation that you were willing to stake your reputation on. 

If I were you:

(1) I would call the police where the buyer lives and ask to speak to a detective. Fill out a police report for a stolen item.
(2) I would contact the USPS and open an investigation with the postal inspector.
(3) I would report the buyer to the IC3.
(4) I would scan all of these documents (especially the police report) and provide them to eBay by adding them as image attachments.

This will create a clear picture to eBay of what is going on and which party is being forthright and will also begin to indicate to them that the thief is not only stealing from you, but costing them precious time and money by forcing Trust and Safety to look into the documentation.

They will normally side with the buyer, but if the buyer is obviously a criminal and starts wasting their time, they will throw that buyer under the bus just as quickly as they threw you under it.

[vintagecraze50]

I do not think they are going to allow for the 50 percent off return money now that the OP has hit the escalation button. They should have done the partial refund through the system and not got the escalation started. I still wonder if these scammers can still go to the payment source and do chargebacks as well if sellers use this 50 percent off refund strategy.  Bad , Bad transaction.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

Yes, it's misleading... we all agree. It's like painting yourself into a corner.

Just to clarify in case you don't already know, the steps to refund 50% is done by clicking the "refund buyer" link instead. Afterwards it asks you to choose how much to refund with the full refund as the default choice. You are then free to comment on why you are not giving the full refund.

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But the seller saw this bolded and underlined: I think I messed up. :" I clicked the report " buyer return wrong item " and explain my reasons and uploaded pictures. I clicked the escalate to ebay customer service. So I can not offer the buyer 50% deduction. I am still waiting to hear back from them. Most likely a bot huh?

Now, I don't understand why ebay would want to put that option of "buyer return wrong item " to allow us to escalate to customer service if the seller is going to lose 100% of the case anyways? Isn't that just a trick for us to get a defect on our seller performance since it will end up with a unresolved strike?"

So, the seller was led astray by ebay's directions on how to proceed having received a switched out item upon return. Nice! Instead of ebay instructing the seller the correct path, or offering up refunding without a seller strike without resolution, or any directions such as "WATCH OUT IF YOU CLICK HERE, YOU'RE GOING TO GET A HUGE DEMERIT ON YOUR ACCOUNT, CLICK HERE INSTEAD!"

Essentially, ebay has set up the seller. Super nice! HOW HELPFUL OF EBAY! 

Now why would ebay want to set up sellers for failure? 

Oh yeah...there's that extra 5% in fees....hmm? 

[vintagecraze50]

Opinion here is that that option to escalate should not be there for people who have the  50 percent refund option. Everybody else, I guess they can have that option and good luck.

[lintbrush*]

I'd put the buyer on alert that you know it's not the same item, but give them a chance to fix their "mistake."

Dear buyer,

I received the mother board back, but it's not the same one I sent to you.  The serial numbers are different.  Did you make a mistake and send me yours back instead?  If so, then please send me back the right one and then I'll send you yours back. 

I hope this was a simple oversight that we can fix easily.

Please let me know.

Thanks

24 hours to respond, and then I'd be more direct about the legal actions you have to take - Mail Fraud, Internet Fraud and Theft.  There's some good wording out there about how the US Postal Inspector takes mail fraud seriously and will investigate and it could impact their mail delivery or bring on heavier charges.  

No need to swing Thor's hammer right out of the gate.  

[inhawaii]

lintbrush* You are a genius. Can i hire you to handle my returns?  😃

[mam98031]

@vintagecraze50 wrote:

I do not think they are going to allow for the 50 percent off return money now that the OP has hit the escalation button. They should have done the partial refund through the system and not got the escalation started. I still wonder if these scammers can still go to the payment source and do chargebacks as well if sellers use this 50 percent off refund strategy.  Bad , Bad transaction.

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That is exactly what I said regarding the escalated claim.  If Ebay finds in favor of the buyer, they aren't going to allow the partial refund option for the seller.  And it truly is beyond unfortunate how often Ebay rules for buyers when they really shouldn't and leave the seller swinging in the wind so to speak.  

As to the buyer going and doing a chargeback if they were to received a discounted refund from the seller.  If they paid with a credit card, they could try, certainly.  They do however have to explain to the CCC why they got a partial refund because the CCC would know they did because of the credit processed.  Filing a chargeback is NOT an automatic win for anyone.

And if they do a chargeback for this, the seller needs to report the buyer to Ebay as that is a breach of the rules.  I'm not sure what Ebay would do in a case by this except for possible sanctions against the buyer.  I don't know if the buyer were to win the chargeback what Ebay would actually do for the seller, if anything.  That certainly is a darn good question.

[mam98031]

There are some really good questions on this thread.  Not just the OP's story but some of the posts have great questions too.  Could we get some clarifications on them please.

tyler@ebay 

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Opinion here is that that option to escalate should not be there for people who have the  50 percent refund option. Everybody else, I guess they can have that option and good luck.

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If some sellers are not offered the partial refund option, I do not suggest they escalate. Rule around here is, if you escalate you will lose and get a "case closed without seller resolution" on your account, and to add insult to injury pay the shipping both ways as well as a 100% refund of the item's price. 

Taking away the right to escalate should never happen, I disagree. However every seller should go in fully knowing that a case closed without resolution defect on their account is more than likely in the making. 

But to have set up sellers with directions is beyond disgusting. 

[mam98031]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Opinion here is that that option to escalate should not be there for people who have the  50 percent refund option. Everybody else, I guess they can have that option and good luck.

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If some sellers are not offered the partial refund option, I do not suggest they escalate. Rule around here is, if you escalate you will lose and get a "case closed without seller resolution" on your account, and to add insult to injury pay the shipping both ways as well as a 100% refund of the item's price. 

Taking away the right to escalate should never happen, I disagree. However every seller should go in fully knowing that a case closed without resolution defect on their account is more than likely in the making. 

But to have set up sellers with directions is beyond disgusting. 

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Well said.  Knowing the current state of the return system, this is beyond problematic.  And certainly not acceptable.  Unless Ebay is going to make significant changes on how they review and decide cases.  Which it has been said changes are coming and they are aware changes are needed.  But are they here now???!!??  Or are they just allowing sellers a brief moment of hope to then be shot down because they will rule for the buyer???!!!?

[sai83her]

I did message them and let them know about the wrong item that was returned back to me. So far I have not heard back from the buyer. It is very obvious that the buyer did buy this item to swap out with the one that they had. It is the same make and same model exactly like the one that the buyer had. So this was done intentionally.

[sai83her]

I am more than upset that Ebay lets buyer get away with things like this. They allow people to steal and get away with it. If one person gets away with it, they could go out there and spread the word to other people how easy it is to steal on ebay by just filing a false return. Because 100% of the time, they will get the intended item for free and also all of their money back.

To make it worst, they are also punishing honest seller with their bogus claims of trying to help out the seller like "reporting a buyer" and etc when in fact it means nothing. But then like another fellow poster said, the 5% extra fee for bad behavior is a bonus to ebay.

Well, I will let this play out and see what the decision is and call ebay CS for an appeal if things go south. We need to fight things like this because if we allows buyer to do it once, they will strike again on another seller here.

[mam98031]

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@sai83her wrote:
I am more than upset that Ebay lets buyer get away with things like this. They allow people to steal and get away with it. If one person gets away with it, they could go out there and spread the word to other people how easy it is to steal on ebay by just filing a false return. Because 100% of the time, they will get the intended item for free and also all of their money back.

To make it worst, they are also punishing honest seller with their bogus claims of trying to help out the seller like "reporting a buyer" and etc when in fact it means nothing. But then like another fellow poster said, the 5% extra fee for bad behavior is a bonus to ebay.

Well, I will let this play out and see what the decision is and call ebay CS for an appeal if things go south. We need to fight things like this because if we allows buyer to do it once, they will strike again on another seller here.

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I agree.  And we have been fighting it since it started with Simplified Returns in September / October of 2018.  So far they have done nothing to change it.  However in recent MONTHS there has been some people that have the power to implement change within Ebay say that in 2020 there will be some positive changes in this area for sellers.  So we wait.

I could share some stories of my own experience with the return system that will just leave you shaking your head.  As other sellers can do the same thing.  It is a mess and it is beyond unfair to the sellers.  So lets hope that those Ebay managers meant the early part of 2020 and don't make us wait until year's end to see positive change.

[sai83her]

**UPDATED**

I just got a message from ebay with the message "Request # blah-blah-blah was closed by the buyer". It said I do not have to do anything in the message. Not sure what this mean. Did the case close in my favor or the buyers?

[mam98031]

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@sai83her wrote:
**UPDATED**

I just got a message from ebay with the message "Request # blah-blah-blah was closed by the buyer". It said I do not have to do anything in the message. Not sure what this mean. Did the case close in my favor or the buyers?

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Yes it closed in your favor.  It is likely that the buyer discovered they made an error and in fairness to you will not pursue the return request.  So it appears they weren't trying to scam you but very possibly made an mistake.