Ebay helps buyers commit fraud by lying about returns to get refunds.

[afabdave]

Ebay allows buyers to commit fraud by opening a return and saying saying their item is broken or not as described. Ebay then gives the buyer a full refund no matter what. Reporting a buyer seems useless also. Ebay clearly does not care about its sellers. Their one size fits all cookie cutter programs are nearly useless. 

[inmbri1]

No.  In my case I had the buyer dead to rights with photos of the damage he caused. I reported the buyer as a return policy abuser. I outlined the exact circumstances of the buyer's abuse and none of that mattered. EBay should never have access to your bank account without your express permission in every individual case and transaction

[inmbri1]

Ebay cannot allow theft in any transaction.

[mikeystoyz]

Honestly, if the item is a high enough value item or even if it is not, file with the post office for mail fraud.  This is exactly what it is and the Post office will eventually look into this.  I had a do it a few years ago and while it might seem silly, it wasnt just me the guy was defrauding.  Little things add up.  Depending on my mood the value of what I am willing to eat changes on a daily basis.  This time the item was 50 bucks, I got back a rock.  I actually filed a police report in the guys town as well as with the post office.  Eventually the Post Office got enough mail to file charges.  Those little 50 dollar thefts ended up costing the guy 3 years in prison and a 10000 fine.  I never got my money back but I did have a warm feeling every time I thought of the guy sitting in prison.  

Mail fraud is 

There are two elements to the federal crime of Mail Fraud: (1) devising or intending to devise a scheme to defraud, or performing specific fraudulent acts, and; (2) using the mail for the specific purpose of executing the scheme of the fraudulent acts.

You got caught up in that

[inmbri1]

Never accept a return. If you accept a return the crook can send anything or nothing and ebay will take money from your bank account to refund the crook. Ebay gave me such a warm and fuzzy feeling about them after they helped a thief steal from me that I have removed all my listings. I suggest every seller do the same. If you must sell, I suggest you put in the listing the statement " Due to ebays fraudulent return policies all items are sold as is with no warranty written or implied". The words "as-is" mean something in the law and are hard for ebay to ignore. In closing good luck sellers everywhere and go go dept. of justice. Roll coal over crooked ebay!

[inhawaii]

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@inmbri1 wrote:

The eBay admonition to sellers to inspect returns before authorizing a refund is meaningless. No matter how much a item in damaged by the buyer eBay will steal your money from your bank account to refund. I know of no policy that tolerates that kind of theft. Sellers should unite to stop ebay theft.

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I would never do business with a company who stole my money.

[tasteph343]

Hiya. I'm wondering who pays the buyers cost to ship back? Sadly, I've been at the sore end of this situation (also sell mostly vintage) more than a few times and was not sure so meekly refunded even knowing they only wanted part of the items eg lid or similar, as their replacements or other nefarious ideas. Many thanks in advance. Best, Tee

[tasteph343]

So sorry to hear that! I too have been on the bad end of a bad actor. I didn't even think to question the immediate negative feedback as pressure, was simply shocked that they didn't approach me first and put it down to newbie fever. I'm not sure who took the negative feedback off after I complained loudly which was a result but I'm still out of my item as I just gave up after having to completely refund several times before though no fault of my own, profit from item and their shipping! Thanks for opening my eyes. Best, Tee

[inmbri1]

So when does ebay make the effort to weed out the thieves and throw them off the platform. Never. It seems that ebay favors the crooks as well as buyers. But you know what, you have convinced me, I should just let people rob me and just keep my mouth shut about it. It's just so much more convenient for ebay that way. Ebay controls other people's bank account and therefore is obligated to practice due diligence in determining whether or not they are handing my money over to crooks and scammers or not. Automatically refunding just doesn't cut it.

[fredcosales-4]

I just had it happen to us again. A customer bought a sports jersey. We inspect all items before they can be shipped to make sure that they exactly match the listing sold from. The customer received the jersey and wrote that it was damaged and worn and asked for a refund. We asked three times for pictures and what we finally got back did not exactly match what we had sent him. We notified eBay who instructed us to accept the return and let them know what we received back and that we were covered under seller's protection in case we did not receive back exactly what we sent in the condition it was sent in. The customer finally returned the jersey to us today, three weeks after he received it. It was NOT what we sent him. It was the same design jersey, but it had damage that ours did not and most noticeably, the two labels on it were very worn and did NOT match at all what we sent. The customer sent his old jersey to us in order to keep the much better condition one that we sold. We sent the photographic proof in an email to the customer as eBay requested so that they could review it. It was evidence that would stand up in court if it had to prove such fraud and theft. What did eBay do? They told us that they did not have the shirt in front of them so they could not make any ruling one way or another and that they would take our money from us and give it to the thief and that there was nothing we could do about it. What a load of MANURE! eBay facilitates fraud and theft and then steals from the very sellers that are providing the money to eBay to protect them from such theft. 

[robbie31415]

@fredcosales-4

This is the world of online sales.

Do you know how many people switch product to Amazon and Walmart? You think eBay is unique to this?

I get it, it hurts you way more than the big bois because you are a small seller so every product switch has a much bigger punch to the bottom line.

The problem is that this is a part of online sales, unless product goes to a third party for verification. Example, the seller protections provided by eBay's authenticity program.

Buyers are protected under consumer protections laws, and that is just what it is.

Sellers can sue the buyer, but its costly. Submit mail fraud complaints, etc.

However, while you ship direct to consumer and eBay has no way to verify that you shipped what you claim, you will lose.

[clemowbooks]

along with a long conversation

ON THE PHONE?

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that means giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.


https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
 

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

Happens all the time with retailers like Nordstrom, Macys, Bloomingdales etc…. Customer walks into a store to return and says I ordered A and you sent me B. Most often really hard to prove it didn’t happen and when the  customer initiates the conversation it is even harder to dispute. 

[nordicsunpower]

i have the same problem. sold cameras and buyer complain on bad packing it was not.  He got refund and ebay took 900 in selling fee. plus the Buyer still have my cameras  and ebay protect and say case closed. and ebay is impossible to contact just ghosting me. buyer dont answer. is anybody know what to do??  

[fredcosales-4]

Yes, this may be the world of online sales, but it still does not make it right, any more than any other criminal behavior. In this case we knew what was happening before it did as we examine every item before it can ever ship to make sure it exactly matches the listing sold from. We provided eBay photographic evidence of the fraud that was so airtight as to have stood up in a court of law. I have been in retail businesses longer than most people have been walking on the planet and there is only so much I will take. After eBay told me they would do nothing except take my money to pay off the fraudster, I reported the customer and then filed a complaint on the Return, detailing again what happened, and reminded them that all my actions were taken at eBay's own request and their promise to me that I would be protected under the Seller Protections part of my contract with them. This morning I got a message that they were closing the Return and not holding me responsible. They also paid the customer who was committing the fraud, the VERY thing that I was objecting to. YOU DO NOT PAY OFF A THIEF FOR THEIR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. You also do NOT keep them on eBay so that they keep doing this to other sellers. eBay should be the BEST site online, NOT the one doing the "corporate dance" of playing both sides to get as much money from both as they can. 

[fredcosales-4]

eBay Customer Service has changed over the years from trying to help the sellers and the buyers with problems to one where they try to waste as much of your time as they can, making promises that are never kept, submitting reports that no one ever reads or responds to or does anything about. The corporate goal is to exhaust you until you give up and say "That's how things are!" This is especially true for the service reps they hire from all over the world, very friendly folks reading from a computer screen and submitting those "reports" for you. No matter how bad the problem is, no one will do anything for you. Well, maybe 1 in 20 times they will actually do so, and that is only at your persistence. Good luck all of you.