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.

[dtexley3]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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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.

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Or a first-time scammer that got cold feet when the seller escalated the return claim... could go either way.

[mtgraves7984]

Yippee to the update! Congratulations!

Now, if you only had YOUR shizz back...

[mam98031]

@dtexley3 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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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.

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Or a first-time scammer that got cold feet when the seller escalated the return claim... could go either way.

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Could be, but IMHO doubtful, because they likely could have won the case and gotten the refund if they had continued with the claim.

Humans make honest mistakes from time to time.  Both buyers and sellers.  Most people are good honest people.  They most likely did not realize what they did until it was brought to their attention.

[mam98031]

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

Yippee to the update! Congratulations!

Now, if you only had YOUR shizz back...

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Why?  They have the money, why should they have the product back too?  How is that fair?

[mtgraves7984]

@mam98031 

Parts.

[mam98031]

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

@mam98031 

Parts.

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The seller has been paid for the item, why do you feel they have the right to have the money and the product?  I don't understand.

[mtgraves7984]

Chill out... 

It's nice that they returned some hardware. My point was, it'd be perfect if they'd returned the seller's hardware. 

[mam98031]

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

Chill out... 

It's nice that they returned some hardware. My point was, it'd be perfect if they'd returned the seller's hardware. 

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I am unsure as to why you are telling me to "chill out" as your previous post was directed to me and you tagged me.  so I responded.

The seller still has their money.  They did not have to refund the buyer.  So I don't know why you are of the opinion the seller should still get their product back too.  That isn't how it typically works.  

Parts or no parts.  The seller has been paid.

[sai83her]

I doubt that the buyer made an error. The item they bought from me was the same exact make and model. So their intention was to buy mines, have it replaced, and then open a return and claim it was damage. Then later to have them send the one that they had that was defective for a full refund.

Seems like the buyer had done this a few time and got away with it with unsuspecting sellers. I did a little history check and the buyer is also a seller that had made a few purchases and then resells them back on ebay for more.

I did message the buyer a few time to inform them incase it was a mix up and to correct it. I did not get any replies. Not Until I told them I will be calling customer service with proof for wrong item returned, filing mail fraud with the Postal inspector and would be contacting their local department to file a police report, that they decided to close out the return. I hope this deter the buyer from doing this to other unsuspecting sellers. Let just say, I got very lucky.

[mam98031]

Hard to say.  Maybe yes and maybe no.  But at least you are not out your money.  That is a very good thing.  And with the way Ebay has been handling returns, it is highly likely you would have ended up refunding them in full if they had left the claim open.  

So whatever reason they decided to close the claim is great for you.

[sai83her]

Let us not escalate this. I have to agree with Mam98031 on this one.

I escalate the return. The buyer had guilt of what they did and went cold feet. They did the right thing to close out the return case. They still have the item that they bought, and I get to keep the money. The only thing now is that I got their junk part that they returned. In this case I could try to sell for parts or just trash it.

Either way, I hope this is a lesson for the buyer not to do this to other sellers in the future.

[sai83her]

Yes, I got very lucky on this one. Hopefully ebay looks into things like this and actually do something to help seller fight fraud.

[mtgraves7984]

Well said!

On top of 'Congratulations', you deserve a gold star if you've thwarted a scammer. Good work on a good sale!

[brian@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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 

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Hi @mam98031, while not always an option, there may be times when customer service can help protection a seller in situations where they've received a fraudulent return (a different item from the original one sent out). For this reason sellers should consider calling customer support when if they've received a fraudulent return to see what their next best step is. I'm glad to hear that the OP's return was closed by the buyer. 

If you have questions from this thread that you'd like me to look at then please feel free to specify the question or questions and we'll be happy to answer 🙂 

[lagarto_electronico]

"The buyer had guilt of what they did and went cold feet. "

As we all know, that wasn't remorse.  Thieves don't like to bring heat on themselves. That buyer has probably pulled the same stunt on at least a dozen other sellers using different accounts.

Glad you got a good result though. Something like this happened to me when I sold a motherboard to someone in Puerto Rico many years ago (around 2008). The board they returned not only had different serial numbers, but it had holes drilled in some of the electrolytic capacitors. My guess is that the motherboard was picked up from an industrial waste bin and swapped for mine.

I was in the middle of taking finals and I simply didn't have time to deal with it.  EBay sided with the buyer then.