Ebay support not telling the truth

[barclays_curious]

Had a customer buy an item, and a week later message me that it was OK when they got it out of the box, but it broke afterwards. I told them I'm sorry we don't insure items, we only guarantee they are delivered unbroken. I told them however: we bought shipping insurance for you, and gave them the USPS hotline. I said you can file a claim and get your money back if there was any damage at all on arrival. I added in the message: Please don't open a case with Ebay since you already texted me the item was not broken on delivery. Since it was also sold under the agreement: "Returns Not Accepted", this was an open and shut issue, right?

To my surprise, they write back. They refuse to file a claim. Instead they want money from me only. And if I don't pay, they will open a case With Ebay, they threaten.
OK. So, you don't want your money refunded- you just want to file a case because I asked you not to file a case. This is definitely a problem buyer.

So I call Ebay support and explain the whole situation. The person refuses to file a claim, so they aren't cooperating.
Don't worry about it, they said. We understand. You did your part, you delivered it and it was not broken. If its broken, they have shipping insurance.
I went on that to say well what if they leave bad feedback?  How is that fair?
We will not let the bad feedback stand, said the support rep. Do not do anything, its taken care of.
Okay. Can you please put this in the notes that I called? Sure.

So a week later, the person opens a return case. However they were tricky: This time they claimed the item was plastic, and not cast iron, as described in the ad.
It was a complete and total lie. The item IS cast iron!
But I look and see my funds are now on hold, they've been seized by Ebay. I'm given these options: Agree, pay for return shipping and issue refund only. I call back. What happened?
Oh you have to pay to have the item shipped back to you. But it wasn't broken when delivered, and you said it was taken care of last week, I say. We have no notes of your conversation they say. Are you kidding? I say, beginning to get upset at this point. They send me up the chain.

After about a 15 minutes a supervisor tells me there is 'nothing we can do' and the person at Ebay I spoke to last week will be reprimanded by their supervisor. You will have to pay to ship the broken item back to yourself, and basically eat it, we take your money and give it back to them. So, in other words, Ebay lied the week before.

How can they do this? Quite frankly what is the purpose of having Ebay support if you can't believe anything they tell you. Its impossible to run an online business this way. Note that I'm not talking about what happened: I'm simply stating they say one thing, and do another, and still take your money, on top of the fees.

[kensgiftshop]

You can talk to 5 of those phone reps and you'll get 5 different answers.

Insurance is for the seller and the buyer is covered by the MBG and all they have to do is file an INAD.

Since Ebay never sees the item, they have no idea what the buyer received and they'll always side with the buyer.

[barclays_curious]

I love how you can sell an item under the agreement "Returns Not Accepted".   But if they then file for a return for any reason, your computer prompts are "Accept Return", "Issue Prepaid Postage" (billed to you) or "Message Buyer".  There's no option to not accept!   
What kind of tomfoolery is this.     When you say Returns Not Accepted, and the buyer agrees.... is it too much to ask that Ebay stands by those terms?    Its just straight up dishonest mediation imo

[mtgraves7984]

A couple of observations... 1) Yes, call-in eBay C/s is dismal, at best. Sorry you learned the hard way. 2) You or  your buyer can't open a USPS insurance claim on an item broken after  successful delivery. USPS did their part. Breathe...

[donsdetour]

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@barclays_curious wrote:

How can they do this? Quite frankly what is the purpose of having Ebay support if you can't believe anything they tell you. Its impossible to run an online business this way. Note that I'm not talking about what happened: I'm simply stating they say one thing, and do another, and still take your money, on top of the fees.

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The customer service is farmed out, and you can get a lot of different wander due to such.

As for your problem other wise. All they have to do is say item not as described and you get a choice:

return for refund (you pay return costs)

or let them keep it and refund.

Oh and if they do send some thing else back file with the proper law enforcement officials.

Ebay does not have any Idea what was sent or returns. How could they as it is not in their hands??

[evry1nositswindy]

Sorry, but no returns means nothing.  All it means is you don't want your item returned to you; it doesn't mean you don't have to issue a refund.  All buyers have the 30 day money back guarantee.  When a case is opened, you either ask for the item to be sent back to you with you paying the postage, or you just refund them.  If not, eBay will side with the buyer and issue you a defect on your account that stays for 1 year.

[reallynicestamps]

So I call Ebay support and e

Never do that.

The social media at least give a transcript



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

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en


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.

[reallynicestamps]

When you say Returns Not Accepted, and the buyer agrees.... is it too much to ask that Ebay stands by those terms?

EBay will.

But No Returns does not mean No Refunds

The seller with a No Returns policy can abandon the item before refunding.

The seller with a No Returns policy can demand the return of the item before refunding but they will* be refunding.

The only question is who pays for the return?

*There are a very few circumstances when the Seller is not required to refund.

[toysaver]

I'd ask for pictures of the broken item.  If it has broken, refund and move on.  Consider it a valuable learning experience.  The money you are out is what you paid for the item (hopefully a few bucks) and the original shipping, not the $29 you sold it for.  Do you really want to add insult to injury and pay to ship it back to you? 

It looks like it was for the poorly designed peppermill.  A lightweight pine base with a heavy metal top?  Made to fall and break.  Did you actually test it out and see if it was functional and not just showy?  Chances are there was a made in China sticker on the bottom that fell off.   Even their stickers are cheap.  I prefer to buy wool or cotton socks and when new the feel is hard to tell the difference of cheaper fabrics but once washed a few times the made in China fabric lie becomes apparent.   I had a Land's End made in China scarf listed as cashmere that within a year was as pilled as any cheap polyester.   I frequently find silverware from China clearly listed as stainless steel that in reality is plated stainless over who knows what.... the list goes on and on.

[evelyb30]

1. No returns DOES NOT MEAN NO REFUNDS.  Never has, never will.  There are no final sales on eBay. 

2. As you found out the hard way, phone reps lie through their teeth.  They say whatever they need to

so you'll hang up, and often have no idea what they're talking about. 

All you can really do is go off-platform to Facebook - Ebay for Business and send a message which calmly (it's hard sometimes) lay out the facts: buyer broke their own item and now is forcing you to pay to get your now-worthless item back.  Can they help you fight off this scammer?  Probably not, but at least you'll have tried.  Sometimes you can get your money back on appeal.  

[soh.maryl]

"Tomfoolery"?

Really? It is clearly spelled out for buyers (and sellers should read it too) in the MBG.

If a buyer opens an item not as described case, a seller will be required to send him a prepaid return label.  The sellers "No Returns" stance means nothing if/when an NAD is opened.  

[jman0312]

Sounds like an unfair partnership with ebay if they arent backing you up after you've done 100% of what they expect. Buyer said it broke after they got it, why would your partner be ok with you losing $ over this? Odd

[bonjourami]

"Sounds like an unfair partnership with ebay if they arent backing you up after you've done 100% of what they expect. Buyer said it broke after they got it, why would your partner be ok with you losing $ over this? Odd"

Not 'odd' for Ebay.

[monster-deals]

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@barclays_curious wrote:

Don't worry about it, they said. We understand. You did your part, you delivered it and it was not broken. If its broken, they have shipping insurance.

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This is NOT how ebay works in any regard.

[chapeau-noir]

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@toysaver wrote:

I'd ask for pictures of the broken item.  If it has broken, refund and move on.  Consider it a valuable learning experience.  The money you are out is what you paid for the item (hopefully a few bucks) and the original shipping, not the $29 you sold it for.  Do you really want to add insult to injury and pay to ship it back to you? 

It looks like it was for the poorly designed peppermill.  A lightweight pine base with a heavy metal top?  Made to fall and break.  Did you actually test it out and see if it was functional and not just showy?  Chances are there was a made in China sticker on the bottom that fell off.   Even their stickers are cheap. 

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There are a zillion of those pepper mills around, cast iron (or metal) on a wooden base. Thing is, if the iron isn't cast well, it can fracture.

ETA: And yes, front line CS here is terrible. I'm sorry when people find out the hard way - it shouldn't be that way.