Ebay has allowed us to be DEFRAUDED 4 times in the last 30 days - each time protecting the SCAMMER!

[westextelpyc]

It is sad what Ebay has become, we are a seller of 18 years with 100% feedback over 2000+ reviews, and it seems blatantly obvious that instead of looking out for our best interest, Ebay is more concerned with protecting FRAUDSTERS and SCAMMERS!

In the past 30 days on now 4 different occasions, a buy with an Ebay account opened less than a month has purchased out Hot Tub Supplies.  Once the item was receieved, the SCAMMER made FRADULENT CLAIMS to open a RETURN.  Once the return was in fact approved, the SCAMMER returned WORTHLESS JUNK, one time was a PIECE OF PAPER another time was PIECES OF PLASTICS.

Each time we received these items, we photographed everything, pictures of the unopened return showing the return tracking # and then pictures of us opening the item and then pictures of the contents.

Now in 2 of the 4 cases Ebay has denied our reimbursement claims because "somehow" we didn't prove that the "PIECE OF PAPER" sent to us, was not a hot tub product and we did not prove that it was sent by a SCAMMER.

At this point, we will have no choice but after 18 YEARS we will be REMOVING OUR PRODUCTS from Ebay.  WHAT A TOTAL SHAME!!!

[mam98031 · Accepted solution]

@westextelpyc 

I am so sorry you have had this happen and so many times recently.  There are all kinds of thieves out there and they can be very clever thinking up a way to steal your products and money.

The key to appealing one of these types of situations is to contact the carrier you used.  Carriers now take pictures of the item a various times during its journey.  Get that information along with the details of the package, size and weight.  You can have them email it to you.  On their letterhead is best if you can get them to do it.  But with this kind of information Ebay very will may work with you.

Keep in mind that there are sellers on this site that scam as well.  So Ebay can't just believe the seller over the buyer without clear evidence.  It is insulting to those of us that have spent years building our reputations and have always operated in a responsible manner.  I really do get that.  

Please give this a try and I hope you will come back and share what the outcome was with Ebay.

You have sold 5,500 items on Ebay.  Don't let these four scammers drive you away.  Lets just work the issue and see what you can accomplish.  I'll be here for you in any way I can to help.

[dbfolks166mt]

     It is indeed a sad state of affairs and while I am by no means defending eBay the increase in what is ironically referred to as "friendly fraud" has become a multi-billion dollar a year problem for merchants. EBay's policies have not changed that much it is the proliferation of the knowledge of how easy it is to scam merchants out of products that has caused much of the problem. You can watch video's on YouTube on how to run the scams. 

     However, eBay has done little to adapt to this and in fact has possibly encouraged it. Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers/scammers, bots are setup to handle a lot of claims/cases and always seem to be tilted in the buyers favor, they fail to vet buyers with the same level of scrutiny as they apply to sellers. they hold sellers funds, and while they have established the authentication programs for some items that too is designed to protection the buyer. 

     Unlike the CC companies who are force to operate under federal laws regarding chargebacks eBay has the ability to mitigate some of this activity. While they may in fact be doing so they fail to make that information known to sellers in order to establish some seller confidence in the platform. The results are not unlike our direction and yours is not the first post I have seen on this forum where a long time seller with an extensive selling history, great reviews and a large group of followers have left the site. 

     About the only move eBay has made to enhance seller protection was/is the EIS program where seller protection is virtually absolute. I have often wondered if eBay and/or EIS deals with scammers with the same impunity. 

     Sorry to see you go. I wish you success in whatever path you decide to go down. 

[wmsakalaucks]

There comes a point though that a seller with over 5000 sales and a top ranking needs to be believed over someone who just opened an account in order to scam sellers.  Needs to report this to Postal inspectors for a criminal case.

[mam98031]

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@wmsakalaucks wrote:

There comes a point though that a seller with over 5000 sales and a top ranking needs to be believed over someone who just opened an account in order to scam sellers.  Needs to report this to Postal inspectors for a criminal case.

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Sorry, I don't agree with that.  That would be ripe for abuse by some sellers.  

Yes, you can file a report for Fraud by the buyer, that is a Federal crime.

But if you'd like to try and get some or all of your money back, you should seriously consider the suggestions I gave you.  Time is of the essence as Ebay doesn't let you appeal after 30 from the time the case was originally closed.

[ckimodog]

@westextelpyc 

Very sorry for your situation.  The internet has become a rather risky place to do business anymore.  It's a shame to see any good honest seller victimized as so many are & it's not just eBay.  I can only wish you well and all the best with future opportunities.  

Good luck!

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@wmsakalaucks wrote:

There comes a point though that a seller with over 5000 sales and a top ranking needs to be believed over someone who just opened an account in order to scam sellers.  Needs to report this to Postal inspectors for a criminal case.

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You would think so but unfortunately that is not the case. I agree reporting them to the Postal Inspectors.  As ckimodog has posted, this is not an issue that only applies to Ebay. Online sales can be difficult and problematic as you probably know. It would be nice if Ebay would consider the side of a seller who obviously has a proven track record. Sorry for your troubles and hang in there.

-Good luck

[mam98031]

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@wmsakalaucks wrote:

There comes a point though that a seller with over 5000 sales and a top ranking needs to be believed over someone who just opened an account in order to scam sellers.  Needs to report this to Postal inspectors for a criminal case.

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@westextelpyc 

I get it that this sounds good.  All seasoned sellers would like something like this.  However this is NOT a solution to your current issue.  It simply is not something Ebay is going to offer.  They can't for reasons I've already outlined and more.

[whiteyswrecking]

I know the feeling been running 2 store for 8 years and just put my 2 weeks in, I will never have to open an eBay page again, ( and I wont )  , it is starting to feel real good. 

[az93]

Sorry you are experiencing this. Hopefully you have blocked all these bad buyers. Returning junk in lieu of item should be an immediate NARU by ebay. Ebay should be protecting sellers better.

[mam98031]

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@whiteyswrecking wrote:

I know the feeling been running 2 store for 8 years and just put my 2 weeks in, I will never have to open an eBay page again, ( and I wont )  , it is starting to feel real good. 

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@whiteyswrecking 

What does that mean?  Do you work for the seller as an employee or are you the seller?

[westextelpyc]

I could not disagree with you more, as mentioned above we have been selling for 18 years (since 2006) we have 100% positive feedback and are "Top Sellers," we have not had 1 complaint of impropriety in 18 years.

This buyer somehow opened 4 different Ebay accounts, purchased the same item every time (I am certain they were reselling the) then made false claims to be able to return an item that was listed originally as non-returnable.   Each time they returned something as thin as paper to us, as mentioned we took photographic evidence of everything, yet two were approved with the same evidence and 2 were denied.

With the above given facts, I am sorry but I do believe if somehow there is some "gray area here" which I could not understand in the first place, that we be given the benefit of the doubt given our track record, not someone with a 2 week old account and now a "documented pattern of abuse."

As mentioned previously, if this is going to be the new "norm" with Ebay then we will simply stop selling here as we are not going to be blatantly DEFRAUDED $92 at a time. 

[mam98031]

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@westextelpyc wrote:

I could not disagree with you more, as mentioned above we have been selling for 18 years (since 2006) we have 100% positive feedback and are "Top Sellers," we have not had 1 complaint of impropriety in 18 years.

This buyer somehow opened 4 different Ebay accounts, purchased the same item every time (I am certain they were reselling the) then made false claims to be able to return an item that was listed originally as non-returnable.   Each time they returned something as thin as paper to us, as mentioned we took photographic evidence of everything, yet two were approved with the same evidence and 2 were denied.

With the above given facts, I am sorry but I do believe if somehow there is some "gray area here" which I could not understand in the first place, that we be given the benefit of the doubt given our track record, not someone with a 2 week old account and now a "documented pattern of abuse."

As mentioned previously, if this is going to be the new "norm" with Ebay then we will simply stop selling here as we are not going to be blatantly DEFRAUDED $92 at a time. 

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While a seller can have a No Return policy, that actually isn't completely true.  If the buyer files an INAD for any reason, the seller has to either process the Request or just refund the buyer without taking a return.  We all have to have a return policy that meets or exceeds the MBG.

I understood what your issues were with this buyer.  I gave you some things you should do if you want to try an appeal and get the money back.  But if you don't want to do that, that is something that is certainly your choice.

YOU having pics will not do the trick.  Ebay just doesn't really consider them evidence.  But if you do as I originally suggested to you in post #2, you will have a chance of getting your money.

Sadly there is nothing "new" about what you have experienced.  You should report each buyer for abusing the return system and make sure you note that you believe they are connected.  It is easy to do and won't take a bunch of your time.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084

[whiteyswrecking]

I'm an employee, at a business, so I myself don't loose anything, I did turn the stores around and things were good when I started,  but just so tired of watching eBay go down hill for years and punish sellers for thing out of our control and theft/scams that eBay does nothing about 

[mam98031]

Understood.  Thank you for taking a moment to explain.  I hope you have great fun and success in whatever your next adventure is.