I had a guy buy a collectible silver bar from me last week for $425. I mailed it out the next day then a couple days later he messages me some **bleep** claim that he was just looking at an offer I sent him when eBay mysteriously glitched and purchased the item for him charging his credit card. He said he had zero interest in keeping the item and wished to return it after it arrived.
The first issue with his claim is that he didn't accept an offer, he paid full price. The second issue is the obvious, eBay doesn't just glitch and buy an item on for you on it's own, and the 3rd issue is why did he wait 2 or 3 days to message me after purchasing the item and after it shipped?
Anyways it was delivered on Monday and as it's silver bullion I had a no return policy which meant that in order to open a return he had to falsely claim the item was not as described. The problem with that is that it was exactly as described and he provided a picture of the bar in his possession as evidence he received it in as described condition.
I was taken a back when I realized my only 2 options to respond to his fraudulent case were to accept the return and provide a refund or refund partially or fully and let the buyer keep the item. Naturally I called eBay customer service for a resolution.
Jay the CS rep told me to ignore the case until it closed and that it would be closed in my favor and since the buyer abused the item not as described MBG feature to start a fraudulent return he would have his account limited in some way.
Well this morning all at the exact same time I received 3 different emails from eBay that the return was escalated to a case for review, that my funds were on hold, and that the case was closed in the buyer's favor and they instructed them to return the item.
I immediately contacted a CS rep by phone. She informed me that Jay gave me bad advice telling me to ignore the case and that the buyer already printed a return label. She told me once I receive the item I can deny the return and file an appeal but now I'm thinking that's more bad advise because from what I understand it says they will refund the buyer as soon as the return tracking shows delivered to me.
What gripes me the most is this buyer is also a seller and he also sells silver bullion....oh and you guessed it, he also says NO RETURNS. eBay used to have a no return policy for bullion. I can't really find if they still have one or not but they do have this in the bullion learning center.....
Can bullion be returned after it's been purchased?
Each seller has its own return policy. The vast majority of bullion sellers - both on and off eBay - don't accept returns. When you buy bullion, the spot price is the No. 1 factor that influences your purchase price - and the spot price is constantly changing. You're locking in the cost of the bullion when you purchase it. If you decide later that you don't want to own the bullion, you can always resell it on eBay.
