Can you sue a buyer if they do not return items but wins from their bank dipute

[finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore]

I sold 2 items to a customer. It was a toilet space saver and a matching TP holder.  The buyer opened a dispute with ebay 2 months after receiving the item claiming something wrong was but indicated  they didn't open the dispute sooner because of a death in the family. Since it was past the 30 day return I was able to decline the return since there was nothing wrong with the item and the buyer also opened a false dispute to avoid paying for return shipping.  I would of accepted the return if they were just honest and said they just wanted to return it but they pay for the return.  So the buyer opened a dispute with their bank. I provided the tracking information and also indicated that they can return the items but they would need to purchase their own return shipping labels since nothing was wrong with the items.  Of course the bank decided in the buyers favor and always do  the buyer got to keep the items as well  got all their money back and dinging me for  a 20.00 fee. This seems to be so unfair as ebay told me that it is beyond their control once a claim is opened with their bank. So what should I do? Take the buyer to small claims and if so what are the steps I need to do prior to filing?

[slippinjimmy]

Don't waist your time and money, in the case as you describe you would probably have to sue the bank (credit card issuer?).

[rebell45]

I guess, if you think that it's worth it, you can file a Mail Fraud report on the USPS web site, police reports with his PD and yours, internet fraud case on the FBI website. And, yes take them to small claims court. But, unless your talking big buck, is it worth it?

[mtgraves7984]

I'm with Mr. Whipple on this one. Don't squeeze the Charmin. 🙄

[bbravo65]

...if you believe in "karma" then...let it go..."karma" nowadays returns faster than...

...save yourself from stress in legal pursuit...(and I don't trust our justice systems anymore much as it used to be...)

...I know how valuable of money, but may be your health will be better, some sickness may divert their ways away instead of coming to you, some bad lucks also will be dismissed...because the money you lost over that buyer will conquer all the ill fates...(and you know whom consumes that...)

[luckythewinner]

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@finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore wrote:

So what should I do? Take the buyer to small claims and if so what are the steps I need to do prior to filing?

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Well, first you have to positively identify the buyer and where he lives. 

Then you need to file a small claims case in his local jurisdiction, get him served with the summons, and then travel to his local jurisdiction for the hearing. 

Hopefully he won't be mad at you and try to get the hearing postposed to a later date causing you to have to travel there again. 

At the hearing, you will need to counter his argument - that you agreed to the eBay user agreement, which says that sellers agree that buyers can keep the item if eBay does not ask them to return it. 

[postingid7659]

Absolutely you can, but case needs to be filed in their state.  That will cost you probably more time and money than it's worth.  Further if you do win, you have to collect and that is difficult.   

However,  you might be able to get them to do a TV court show.    The People's Court has had a few cases like this and on there, she tells people they can't keep the item and the money. 

The tradeoff is I believe these shows work by paying people an appearance fee and if you win your money comes out of that.   

[1tuna]

here in PA if you want to take somone to small claims court its simple

what you need to do is file a "trespass and assumpsit complaint"

its not hard to do and easy to win.it worked for me 2 times with car accidents when both members lived in PA

the next time ths happens you might want to offer to pay for a return

@finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore 

[mr_lincoln]

@finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore   Any action you pursue to try and get your money back will be additional loss.  Use Line 2 on the IRS Schedule C form at the end of the year and take a deduction, including the $ 20 you paid for losing the charge back claim.

[katzrul15]

How expensive were these items?

Our small claims court has a filing fee and even if ruled in your favor, collection can be nearly impossible.  A judge will freeze a bank account, but you have to know all the bank account info to evoke that measure.

Losing a chargeback, including the $20 tacked on fee is frustrating.  Unfortunately, more commonplace than you think right now.

You can try appealing, but doubtful ebay would reverse.   You can say "no" to a Buyer on e-Bay, but it does not mean much these days.  Your "no" cost you the item and the money +$20.  Better to accept the return and have the Buyer pay to send it back.  

[finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore]

I thought of that but ebay will not give you the name of the bank institution indicating that they are not aloud to indulge that information. Basically ebay helping the thieves

[finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore]

I thought of that also going on peoples court. Because I want to make a point also as this is not the only time this has happened not in this exact manner but other creative ways that buyers have screwed me over.  For example like ordering multiple items and then open a return on a buyers remorse but only purchases one return shipping label but uses the same label for all the returns and then post office charging me for the other packages when they arrive. Ebay will not allow the deduction on the return shipping from the refund on a buyers remorse case. Its like ebay helping thieves rip people off. What is the point to sell on ebay to make money only to get ripped off all the time.

[finishingtoucheshomedecorandmore]

So why offer a 30 day return policy when in fact the buyer can return the item after 60 days at your expense? I am getting closer and closer to closing my account with this site. The other site I sell on does not allow this type of unfairness. I will take my loss and switch all my items to the other site which by the way has become more popular than ebay I get more sales and more views. 

[cstpos]

@finishingtoucheshomedecorandmoreI would think this transaction is a lost cause. In the future, I would just accept the return. When you get the item back, issue the refund minus all shipping costs, (as long as you have that in your listing). We recently had a buyer who insisted we ship a computer, even though we asked several times if he was aware there was no restaurant software included. He insisted he knew what he was doing and that we ship it. Of course he immediately opened a return which we accepted. He disputed the $92 shipping deduction, first with ebay, then with his bank. Ebay refunded our $92 after the bank found in their customer's favor because we are a TRS and the messaging supported our repeated attempts asking if he didn't want to cancel.

Sadly, there are few protections for sellers. If you argue that there is nothing wrong with it or refuse to accept the return, they will either damage it on purpose, or appeal and ebay will let them keep the item and get a full refund. Even with ebay refunding us the shipping, we were still out the ebay fees. Seems horribly unfair to punish honest sellers and reward dishonest buyers.

[biggymoe]

You can sue anybody for anything.  Chances of winning are ???  And if you do win, it's almost a 99% certainty that you will never collect.  

Your situation is very frustrating, but is it worth the aggravation?