Ebay "Return due to Defect" is so broken

[tim940401]

As a seller, I am always following the rules on Ebay, and I was trying to be the best seller I could, if anything was wrong I will instantly refund the buyer. No problem with that.

What happened a couple weeks ago was something I never experienced. Someone bought the item I was selling, it was in perfectly working condition. The buyer got the item, then claimed the item was defective. So... with doubt in my mind, I accepted the return and provided with return shipping label. Then, couple days later I found out it was perfectly working without any issues. So I contacted the support team, their answer to me was:

"As mediators please understand that if the buyer complained the item being defective, we can’t establish the truthfulness of their claim and since they are the end user of the product we have to believe on their statement. To be fair, the best resolution that we can provide is to ask the seller to get the item back in exchange of a refund."

So, Ebay will refund the buyer no matter what the truth is, even with all the evidence I have (video proof of the item is working perfectly, and shown not having the issue the buyer claimed).

I am not being mad because I have to pay double shipping + fees. I am fine with it when the item is actually defective. I won't accept this kind of resolution for a false claim. 

Please stop this stupid return as defective nonsense and give the seller here a little protection? 

[dhbookds]

I'm not sure what's going on.........you accepted the refund and got the item back?  It's working....... and now you want ebay to refund you the shipping back?  and What double fees? 

[paradiso*bella*a*venire]

You should report that buyer so if they do it often, they can be dealt with.

Also, I would think it a good thing to get back a working item that can be resold (maybe at a slightly  higher price to cover at least some of those fees or money lost?) Because heck knows I have seen many many people say how they received back destroyed items or even items that werent what was sent out

[gracieallen01]

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@tim940401 wrote:

As a seller, I am always following the rules on Ebay, and I was trying to be the best seller I could, if anything was wrong I will instantly refund the buyer. No problem with that.

What happened a couple weeks ago was something I never experienced. Someone bought the item I was selling, it was in perfectly working condition. The buyer got the item, then claimed the item was defective. So... with doubt in my mind, I accepted the return and provided with return shipping label. Then, couple days later I found out it was perfectly working without any issues. So I contacted the support team, their answer to me was:

"As mediators please understand that if the buyer complained the item being defective, we can’t establish the truthfulness of their claim and since they are the end user of the product we have to believe on their statement. To be fair, the best resolution that we can provide is to ask the seller to get the item back in exchange of a refund."

So, Ebay will refund the buyer no matter what the truth is, even with all the evidence I have (video proof of the item is working perfectly, and shown not having the issue the buyer claimed).

I am not being mad because I have to pay double shipping + fees. I am fine with it when the item is actually defective. I won't accept this kind of resolution for a false claim. 

Please stop this stupid return as defective nonsense and give the seller here a little protection? 

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Unless you really, really like dusky blue, I wouldn't be holding my breath.

[kensgiftshop]

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@tim940401 wrote:

I won't accept this kind of resolution for a false claim. 

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You will if you want to sell on Ebay.

It sucks, but be glad you got your item back in working order and not a rock and still have to refund the buyer.

When a seller has a no refund policy, buyers know they'll have to file an INAD, even a false one to get their money back.

[tim940401]

When buyer claimed the item was defect with specific reason, seller should provide the return label and proceed with return, right? I found out that it wasn't defect in any way, in this sale I covered sales shipping + returned shipping + PayPal fee + Ebay final value fee. No final value credit refund for me in this case.

Shouldn't there be any kind of protection for seller against false claim? What if your item get swapped / intentionally damaged, are we accepting this as a right way to resolve these types of abuses?

[tim940401]

I guess I just haven't sell much stuff here to experience the dark side.

[kensgiftshop]

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@tim940401 wrote:
I guess I just haven't sell much stuff here to experience the dark side.

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It gets pretty dark sometimes.

You'll soon realize that Ebay is for the buyers, no matter what it does to us sellers.

[kensgiftshop]

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@tim940401 wrote:
What if your item get swapped / intentionally damaged, are we accepting this as a right way to resolve these types of abuses?

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Yes, since you agreed to Ebay's terms when you decided to sell here.

[tdumonde2014]

How would you fix ebay's return system? 

[edwedw8383]

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@tim940401 wrote:

I have to pay double shipping + fees. I am fine with it when the item is actually defective. I won't accept this kind of resolution for a false claim. 

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Sellers have been making "Item deductions" like this for "the cost of shipping back and to" when the laptop comes back and tests with none of the reported issues:

That's because top-rated sellers with free/30-day-or-longer returns can deduct up to 50% from the refund if the item is returned in the same condition ... no, wait. Nevermind.

[luckythewinner]

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So, Ebay will refund the buyer no matter what the truth is, even with all the evidence I have (video proof of the item is working perfectly, and shown not having the issue the buyer claimed).

Correct. eBay did not see what you shipped, what the buyer received,  or what was returned. If all it took for a buyer to lose a case was a video of something working, then an unscrupulous seller with a video has a license to steal. 

Please stop this stupid return as defective nonsense and give the seller here a little protection? 

Let's say that as a buyer, you purchased an iPhone and it did not even turn on. When you returned it, the seller showed eBay a video of an iPhone that was working perfectly. 

From eBay's perspective, this case is the same as yours. What "protection" against your "nonsense" would you like to see that seller receive? 

[siamjane8]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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So, Ebay will refund the buyer no matter what the truth is, even with all the evidence I have (video proof of the item is working perfectly, and shown not having the issue the buyer claimed).

Correct. eBay did not see what you shipped, what the buyer received,  or what was returned. If all it took for a buyer to lose a case was a video of something working, then an unscrupulous seller with a video has a license to steal. 

Please stop this stupid return as defective nonsense and give the seller here a little protection? 

Let's say that as a buyer, you purchased an iPhone and it did not even turn on. When you returned it, the seller showed eBay a video of an iPhone that was working perfectly. 

From eBay's perspective, this case is the same as yours. What "protection" against your "nonsense" would you like to see that seller receive? 

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That is a good point lucky- ebay is not Solomon- cant cut the bay in half to find the truth.....

What I would say is - let the individuals return policy stand. that is fair. If they do not accept returns- then that is it.

If a customer does not feel that they want to risk purchasing from that seller- they will find another who offers returns. simple. Leave the business decision up to the seller.  If they do not prosper with their policies, they will make the business decision to change them.   

If ebay as a business wants to offer a 30 day $ back policy- that is fine, then they should compensate the buyer, they can get the return and do whatever they want with it. This would be their business decision to provide a comfort level to sellers. They would be spending a portion of their profits paid to them by our seller fees to provide a service to the buyer. That is what a middle person does. 

Of course I guess that would not work because of all the rampant return policy abuse on the site- It makes more sense to just force the seller to take the loss, right or wrong.  And double down on bad policy by extending the time a buyer has to physically return the item to 7 weeks( this is not a covid policy- it was in the last seller update)

What legitimate buyer needs 7 weeks to ship an item ( this policy promotes "renting" our items for 3 months for free)

Also wait till July with Managed payments- as soon as a return is requested Ebay takes your money immediately and freezes it!  That means anyone can open a return and not ship it for nearly 2 months and then never ship it - all the while your money was taken from you and not returned until the return is closed............. That is not industry standard. With paypal you money is not removed from you until you actually get the item back and issue the refund

[luckythewinner]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

If a customer does not feel that they want to risk purchasing from that seller- they will find another who offers returns. simple.

eBay knows it is not that simple.

eBay knows that buyers do not the read the terms or the fine print until after things go south. They simply assume that like almost every other big venue out there (Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.) they can simply return the item if they are unhappy. 

The ugly truth is that when a buyer leaves eBay, his dollars leave with him. But when a seller leaves eBay, his buyers will just buy a similar item from a similar seller at a similar price ... and eBay does not miss a beat. 

eBay wants every buyer it can get its hands on, especially since the cost of a bad buyer is borne by someone else (the seller).  Until that reality changes, wishing that eBay will change will always remain a wish.