eBay

luxgoods · ‎02-18-2019

I RECENTLY SOLD A SHIRT TO A BUYER. THE BUYER OPENED A CASE SAYING THT THE SHIRT DID NOT FIT. NEVER A PROBLEM ACCEPTING A RETURN FOR THIS REASON. THE BUYER SENDS A SHIRT BACK TO ME. IT IS A SHIRT THAT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT AND IN POOR CONDITION. I TAKE A PICTURE OF THE SHIRT AND THE PACKAGING AND SEND IT TO THIS BUYER ASKING THEM TO SEND THE CORRECT SHIRT BACK. THE BUYER REPLIED WITH ONE WORK "OK"

SOMETHING SEEMED FISHY TO ME SO I CALLED EBAY CUSTOMER SERVICE AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION. THE REP TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULD GIVE THE BUYER 5 DAYS TO CONTACT ME WITH THE RETURN DETAILS. IF NO CONTACT WAS MADE BY THAT TIME, THEN EBAY WOULD CLOSE THE CASE IN MY FAVOR. I FIGURED THIS WAS FAIR.

YESTERDAY, I RECEIVED AN E-MAIL THAT THE CASE WAS CLOSED IN FAVOR OF THE BUYER! RATHER THAN LET THIS GO, I CALLED EBAY CUSTOMER SERVICE. I WAITED THE USUAL 10 MINUTES AND THEN I SPOKE WITH A REP IN THE PHILLIPINES THAT NEEDS TO TAKE A ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASS. I WAS TRANSFERRED TWICE AND FINALLY GOT TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE WHO EVENTUALLY REVERSED THAT RIDICULOUS RULING. EBAY REALLY DOES ENCOURAGE THIS BEHAVIOR BY THE SCAMMERS AND I URGE EVERYBODY TO FIGHT WHEN THIS HAPPENS

tenbiksewingembroideryitems · ‎02-18-2019

Yes, they may have "reversed" the decision, but I guarantee they refunded the buyer!

luxgoods · ‎02-18-2019

You are absolutely correct! Reward the scammers.

needful_little_things · ‎02-20-2019

Yes they do reward the thieves. I had a similar incident with a return which I received yesterday. Buyer completely lied in the case to file a SNAD so that they would not have to pay return and original shipping costs ($43.00), then they steal a significant part from the item, rendering it useless. And of course we know the rest of the story, I am FORCED to give a refund. Well done eBay, I'm sure your thief buyer has had a great eBay experience.

I work hard to provide for my family, whilst eBay enable buyers to work hard to steal food from my table.

I wonder how many MILLIONS $$ are stolen from sellers on eBay every day.

orangehound · ‎02-20-2019

@tenbiksewingembroideryitems wrote:
Yes, they may have "reversed" the decision, but I guarantee they refunded the buyer!

You know, if eBay wants to refund the buyer ... OK. But, eBay should also terminate the account.

My concern with eBay (and my impression) is that eBay allows buyers to do this over and over and over again without consequence.

dtexley3 · ‎02-20-2019

When a buyer returns a different, damaged or altered item you should take the following steps. eBay considers sellers to be a business and that we should accept these occurrences as "the cost of doing business". So, let's act like businesses and put the onus and cost on eBay when appropriate.

1. File mail fraud with USPS if they were the carrier.

2. File fraud complaint with ic3.gov

3. File with your local PD. Insist on them taking a full report, and forwarding a copy to the buyer's PD. With some departments you have to be insistent, remind them that mail fraud is a felony, not a civil matter. Tell them a police report is required to process your claim with eBay.

4. Collect copies and records of all the above.

5 Call eBay, you can try to ask for Trust & Safety (some posters have stated that they were told that there is no such department). Present your evidence, if you already refunded then you open an appeal, and upload all the evidence.

If you do all of the above eBay may refund you. Of course they don't penalize the buyer, but at least you might get your funds back. There's no guarantee, but it's been reported that the police report is required in order for eBay to take action.

This also gets the buyer on the radar with the authorities and if they get reported a few times they will receive some unannounced visitors.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

stuff4divas · ‎02-20-2019

@orangehound wrote:
@tenbiksewingembroideryitems wrote:
Yes, they may have "reversed" the decision, but I guarantee they refunded the buyer!
You know, if eBay wants to refund the buyer ... OK. But, eBay should also terminate the account.

My concern with eBay (and my impression) is that eBay allows buyers to do this over and over and over again without consequence.

Why do you think this is? If eBay keeps refunding the scammers, what's in it for eBay?

stuff4divas · ‎02-20-2019

KUDOS to you for fighting it!!

stuff4divas · ‎02-20-2019

For future reference, contact ebay thru this link so you don't have to be put on hold>

https://www.ebay.com/help/account/contacting-ebay-customer-service/contacting-ebay-customer-service?...

needful_little_things · ‎02-20-2019

Thank you for your advice. I am aware of all the procedures to go through, as this is not the first theft I have endured. However with eBay, they MIGHT refund the return shipping cost only. More concerning this is not the first time this particular buyer has stolen on eBay, as another seller has left feedback for them indicating this. EBay just does not care, because it is not their money or product.

My objection to the whole eBay return farce, is that eBay take the buyers word as gospel, but the seller with photo evidence to categorically show the buyers claim is a lie, is treated with contempt. EBay refuse to follow their own policies.

I import my own products, and have been selling on eBay for 17 years, yet I am treated by eBay like something they stepped in. This is my last few months on eBay, my store subscription ends in May and I will not be renewing. If I treated my customers like eBay treats their customers (sellers) I wouldn't have any. Sorry rant over.

orangehound · ‎02-20-2019

@stuff4divas wrote:
@orangehound wrote:
@tenbiksewingembroideryitems wrote:
Yes, they may have "reversed" the decision, but I guarantee they refunded the buyer!
You know, if eBay wants to refund the buyer ... OK. But, eBay should also terminate the account.

My concern with eBay (and my impression) is that eBay allows buyers to do this over and over and over again without consequence.
Why do you think this is? If eBay keeps refunding the scammers, what's in it for eBay?

eBay doesn't always refund scammers ... though I have no data, it is my guess that (a) most of these incidences end up with the seller absorbing the scam since the bulk of sales are done by large sellers who understand that it is more costly to fight the scam due to the labor costs ... eBay neither makes nor loses money; (b) the next largest portion of these incidents involve a seller objecting, losing the case, being forced to refund, and forfeiting their eBay commission ... eBay makes money in this situation; and (c) the smallest portion of these incidents involve eBay reimbursing the scammer ... eBay loses money in this scenario.

Again, I don't know and have no data ... and eBay doesn't reveal the data ... it just seems that eBay does very little to purge the site of thieves and scammers. I say this because I encounter dishonest buyers and scammers here on eBay, but I do not on another "water-themed" platform that actively removes thieves and scammers.

SIDE NOTE: Regarding (b) above, how corrupt is it for eBay to be making decisions on these matters? If they decide the case against the seller, they actually MAKE money ... smh.

creekcoyote · ‎02-21-2019

@stuff4divas wrote:
@orangehound wrote:
@tenbiksewingembroideryitems wrote:
Yes, they may have "reversed" the decision, but I guarantee they refunded the buyer!
You know, if eBay wants to refund the buyer ... OK. But, eBay should also terminate the account.

My concern with eBay (and my impression) is that eBay allows buyers to do this over and over and over again without consequence.
Why do you think this is? If eBay keeps refunding the scammers, what's in it for eBay?

They retain a buyer. Enough of these types of refunds and they may have to rethink their priorities.

But since so few sellers actually go through the process posted above, E-bay's pocketbook just hasn't been hit hard enough yet.

I agree 100% with the poster who gave all the steps for filing claims, etc.

These types of buyers should be reported to the police.

I see no difference in someone stealing from your home and this type of buyer behavior.

Almost everyone reports to the police if something has been stolen from their home.

Why should what happens on E-bay be any different?

COYOTES RULE!!!

tykev1 · ‎02-21-2019

The postal inspector also the police doing nothing I had few times a issue the not even care maybe if a item is more worth we 1000$ maybe then but all under 1000 $ the doing nothing