Can a buyer now wend an item to be "worked on", damage it and sent it back as damaged and get refund

[kbooks1]

I had posted earlier this month. Buyer tried to get me to refund his money and keep the item [$300]. He refused to send it back wanted me to turn it into my insurance as damaged in shipping when the damage he stated did not exist in his pictures he sent.  I told him to send it back for a refund and he stated he could not as he shipped it out to be worked on. Now after quite a while he has sent  it back. The item looks exactly as it did when sent but now it does not work. I was informed here that if a buyer modified an item he was not eligible for a refund. The buyer stated that he sent it out to be worked on and that was why he could not return it so I have his statement to that effect in my messages. Ebay is pushing me to refund. Is there no longer an exemption to the refund policy for modifying the item?

[mam98031]

Is the claim they opened still open or did it close because they took too long to return the item?

When did the buyer actually receive the item?

What date did they ship it back?  Not the date you received it but the date they shipped it back.  The tracking should tell you.

Can you prove they modified the item?

[inhawaii]

They can if they select "not as described" as the reason for wanting to return their item.

[kbooks1]

Claim still seems to be open as eBay wanted me to refund by May 1 and nothing has happened other than the bay withholding money for the things I sold. He received it on 4/8 in the afternoon, stated it was damaged in transit with two pics showing neither early in the evening [my original pics clearly showed the speedometer and the minor dings and chip to the glass] and within the hour wanted it turned into my insurance and stated he had sent it out for repair so would not return it unless damage could not be repaired. My repeated appeals for return were rebuffed as he 'didn't have it'. On 4/11 said he would return it. He put it in the mail on 4/22. It has oil on the stem that turns the speedometer/odometer and is no longer in working order. Even his own pics prove it was in working order as the 1/10 mile indicator is different from what it was when originally pictured. [both myself and my son tried it and it worked freely]. At this time while I will probably still sell on the bay, all my higher dollar stuff will be elsewhere [auction houses, two other sites I use and I will explore other possibilities].

[kbooks1]

My original picture and his first picture [second is a blurred miss, first not too clear but can be made out with careful close examination] show a difference of 1/10 mile on the odometer so it must have been working].

[kbooks1]

They now have placed a hold on my account.

[dreamation_designs]

I think it is a very serious incident

[kbooks1]

I am not used to the inner machinations of this site but it would seem they do what they please without informing the seller and their judgement is always or nearly so in favor or the buyer/scammer. Evidence does not seem to sway their judgements. It seems from my perspective that it is all based on what cost the company the least amount of time and money. They did send me an email encouraging me to become a power seller.

[kbooks1]

He stated he sent it out to be repaired before he even contacted me to tell me I better have purchased insurance. What insurance company pays a claim without any evidence?

[kbooks1]

He did throw a "not as described" in there after a message stating it was damaged in transit. Who receives an item late afternoon, sends it out for repair the same day, then messages the seller that he better have insurance and sends a picture of a chip in glass that was clearly pictured in the second picture? In subsequent days he kept claiming more defects every time I told him to send it back for a refund. It came back identical to the pics in original  listing only that it does not now work and there is an oil stain on the stem.

[the_fancy_fox]

go over to Facebook, ebay for business. Click the message button.  Someone will get back to you. Keep your message as to the point as possible. I would cut and paste the buyers message that says they sent the item out for repair. 

[mam98031]

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@kbooks1 wrote:

They now have placed a hold on my account.

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On your ENTIRE account or the amount of this specific transaction.  If it is for this transaction, they would have started holding your funds from the moment the buyer filed their claim.

[mam98031]

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@kbooks1 wrote:

I am not used to the inner machinations of this site but it would seem they do what they please without informing the seller and their judgement is always or nearly so in favor or the buyer/scammer. Evidence does not seem to sway their judgements. It seems from my perspective that it is all based on what cost the company the least amount of time and money. They did send me an email encouraging me to become a power seller.

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The Power Seller program was retired a while back.

I get it that you are frustrated, but by you own admission you aren't up on the rules.  Because it isn't working out the way you want it to doesn't equal that Ebay is doing something wrong.

Have you presented the evidence you have to someone at Ebay?  If so what method did you use to contact them?

In your first post you stated " I was informed here that if a buyer modified an item he was not eligible for a refund. "  Whom were you informed about this?

Just because a buyer said they did a certain thing doesn't mean they did.  I know your buyer said they sent it out for repair, but you have no way of knowing if that is true.

It doesn't appear that you have any real tangible evidence that the buyer tampered with or changed the item.  You have good reason to suspect it, just not proof, unless I misunderstood something.

As to the the buyer's claim of damage in transit.  It is unlikely that the carrier would fall for that without any proof after all this time has passed.  Sometimes they even want to inspect it when it was in the buyer's custody.  Now it was shipped again back to you, very unlikely the original carrier would allow any kind of insurance claim.

I know it may seem unfair, as you have all kinds of reasons to suspect this buyer is not being completely honest, but it doesn't appear you have any real proof.

Enough time has passed that there is likely an option on the claim to Ask Ebay to step in.  The seller only has 3 days from when they receive it to refund the buyer.  So far you have been lucky that the buyer has not checked that box.  If they do, it will cost you a little more money.  Ebay will force you to fully refund the buyer and they won't allow you any credits on the FVFs for this transaction.  Plus you will get a Defect on your seller Dashboard which can be harmful to the health of your selling account.

I honest understand how you feel and why.  I don't personally think you are wrong.  Most of us here have handled this type or very similar and felt the same way as I'm sure you do right now.

It would be my advice to go into the claim and refund the buyer right away before Ebay steps in and does it for you.

If you want to contact Ebay directly, here are your options.

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

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service.

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/


If when you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant, type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options.

https://www.ebay.com/help/contact_us?id=4002&st=10

[kbooks1]

I get tired of ebay nicking me for funds. Every item I sold they held the money and hit my personal account for shipping. I was advised to pay or ebay would hit me with charges. I got tired of no response other than to sell more items so I could get into the brownie club [used to be power seller now top rated seller]. I tried facebook and received an 'oh that is terrible notice' and then an "we're sorry we can't help you because you paid" notice.  I would and probably should drop ebay like a hot rotten potato and may still.  I have high end stuff that will not see the light of day in this place. I have been here since either 2000 or 2001. The only reason I may stick around is I  go to garage sales with one of my children and the stuff found there is more suitable to this site.  If I do list here instead of shutting this down it will be stuff found there.  I sell on two other sites and have done so since the mid 2000s and have not had one experience as bitter as the three that I have now had here, nor have I ever had another site so give me the runaround and thus wasted my time.

[a_c_green]

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@kbooks1 wrote:

I get tired of ebay nicking me for funds. Every item I sold they held the money and hit my personal account for shipping.

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As an infrequent seller (it's not a matter of how long you have had an account here), eBay will exercise their right to withhold funds for a while to ensure that the sale isn't going to get disputed. Once your sales pick up, the holds will be lifted.

Regarding the source of funds for shipping, that's your choice, found at the bottom left of the Shipping form when you're buying your label. You can change the payment source from your PayPal account to the pending funds currently held by eBay, so that you can pay for the shipment using the funds that the buyer paid to you (even though the remainder of the balance is temporarily being withheld).