FRAUDULENT & DISHONEST BUYER, SELLERS BEWARE!

[omejiauto]

Sold a 2019 Transmission to this buyer *** and he used the address of the freight terminal as his shipping address obviously to hide his real address. We shipped out transmission, buyer picked up from the freight terminal and requested a return the same day transmission was picked up. We provided return label, only for us to receive the transmission 2 weeks plus later with the torque converter swapped with a completely different torque converter that does not belong to the transmission, and also after further look, we noticed the tamper detection paints we used on the bolts were stripped meaning the transmission has been opened and some of the oil pan bolts were missing. Behold when we opened the oil pan, all the internal parts including valve body were stolen by the buyer. We received pretty much an empty casing which is worthless. Buyer already stole the parts he needed to fix his own transmission and returned the remaining junk to us. We reported to eBay, objected to refunding the buyer. eBay disappointedly as usual claims there is no way for them to verify that the buyer stole the parts, even with the pictures(which means eBay's is saying that we stole our own parts, since they didn't believe that the buyer did). They decided against us and issued the buyer a full refund and billed us for both the eBay fees and of course we uncured the shipping and returned fees of almost $1k. Not asking for sympathy, just alerting other sellers, because eBay has also decided to keep this buyer on their platform. Just protect yourselves guys. 

 

 

 

[inhawaii]

I think most of us are already aware that some buyers are fraudulent and dishonest.

There is an old saying amongst ebay sellers...

"Never sell anything on ebay that you can't  afford to lose."

Sorry this happened to you.

[ten_o_nine]

They decided against us and issued the buyer a full refund and billed us for both the eBay fees and of course we uncured the shipping and returned fees of almost $1k

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Never let eBay decide an INAD case, they will 100% decide for the buyer, you can explain to them till you're blue in the face and they will still decide for the buyer.

eBay also gave you a defect for letting them decide. You don't want a defect on top of losing your money, next time issue the refund and take them to small claims court.

[pereirahawk]

This sucks.  I'm sorry.  May karma find your scammer over and over.

As a seller on Ebay, we're flying blind in regards to knowing buyers history; and having any sellers tool to evaulate and remove nefarious buyers.  I left out unpaid item strikes tool because it does nothing to prevent scammers.  As I was stating:  sellers are flying blind and buyers see all.

Others retort to this by stating that if a customer walks into a store does the store owner know the buyer and his or her history.

This is how I retort:  Horrible comparison because in the above scenario the buyer can't rip you off by:

1. bring back an empty package and asking for a return.

2. trying to get a full refund by bringing you a box of rocks.

3. A 30 day golden ticket of a return policy whereby nefarious buyer/scammers can get away with anything...with no accountability.

With a Ebay's generous policies on our items, sellers deserve buyer transparency with an ability to evaluate and remove potential bad buyers. 

I sell in stamps category, which I feel has a high degree of individuals that happen to be very honest.  I'm grateful for this.  So, I'm not stating this for myself...its reading the countless stories like this: not just on Ebay forum, but many different sites.

It sickens me that Ebay allows these scammers to remain.  

[dbfolks166mt]

     This is one of those instances where I would have never accepted the return or supplied a return label. This also where eBay has waffled on it's seller protection with regards to FF or collection by a third party. Did you explain to eBay that the buyer used a FF as the shipping address or is the shipping address of the FF the same as their registered address? If it is the same I would have suspected something fishy. I would contact eBay through the facebook connection and explain the situation and appeal the decision.  The buyers MBG coverage should have ended when the item arrived at the FF. 

[ms.rodriguez*]

That is correct.  To the poster, go to Facebook and find ebay.  Then contact Ebay by hitting MESSAGE  and state your name, ebay ID and the item # and tell them what happened.  Ask that they help you recover your money because the buyer used a freight forwarder.   Your message will be private.  None of your friends or family will know that you have contacted Ebay via Facebook.  If you are not sure how to do Facebook, get your kid or nephew to help you.  Believe me, it's very easy.

Download Facebook on your phone /tablet.  Download Messenger. You need the Messenger app to communicate.  That will be how the Ebay team will get back to you.  That is why I say that the discussion will be completely private.   Keep these two  apps on your device until you get your refund.   

[omejiauto]

We did reach out to them on Facebook already, pretty much waste of time. They're sticking with their decision claiming the appeal cannot be overturned. They're pretty much the judge and the jury sadly at the same time, and I guess that's how they trained their agents to make decisions on cases like this too. And they also told me that they don't want to make their buyers second guess shopping on eBay. Pretty messed up angle, they don't care about the sellers I guess, they just want the fees. 

[dhbookds]

@omejiauto 

You used the term "freight terminal".........did you mean "freight forwarder"? 

[dbfolks166mt]

     You have the buyers name and what went down. I would contact the police department at the location of the freight forwarder and file a report. I would also file report with the cyber crimes division of the FBI. Then I would plaster this incident all over social media explaining what happened and how eBay refuses to stand behind its own policies. 

     There are also other creative ways to exact justice but I will refrain from venturing down that road in this forum. 

[stephenmorgan]

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@omejiauto wrote:

They're sticking with their decision claiming the appeal cannot be overturned. 

---

This is not true.  You need to prove they made the wrong decision and the appeal will be overturned.

You basically are saying the transmission was stripped out and you received an empty casing.  There would be a difference in the weight of what you shipped and what was returned.  Can you get the documented weight of both shipments?  Make a police report then get back with eBay.

Even if all seems final you can appeal the denial with a court hearing or arbitration hearing.

[robbie31415]

If the item wasn't reshipped it doesn't matter if the item was shipped to a freight forwarder.

The buyer has to admit it was reshipped to void their perfection. No address simply voids the buyer protections.

[lakefor94]

As a top rated seller that allows 30 day returns, you missed your chance to refund 50% to the buyer for returning your product missing parts.

You tried for the whole enchilada and lost, which is what happens when eBay is allowed to decide the case.

[psfhobbies]

Contact the BBB I did once and got 250.00 + for the same thing happened to us on a remote door lock 

they said it was a one time refund I had tons of proof and post office personal proof in writing but Ebay sided with a low feedback buyer against us.

[iwcautoparts]

No, not freight forwarder. They used the dock address of R+L Carriers and pickup up from the dock. 

[iwcautoparts]

We explained everything including the delivery receipt that shows picked up at the dock. I just think they don't want to admit they administered the wrong judgement.