HELP! - Buyer claims he did not purchase item???

[colinbdog]

Buyer bought and paid for an item I sold. the money went into my PayPal and is on its way to my bank account (not processed yes). The buyer now claims he never purchased the item and has no idea how this happen.

Is this a legit browser based software issue? Or is the buyer trying to back out? 

He has a %100 buyer rating and is way up in purchases.

Any else ever get this?

What should I do?

[1tuna]

I would have a look at what the buyer normally purchases,if you sell somethig that they buy usually then they are just a lier.If you want to get smart with  them I would tell them to call ebay and have an account takeover or hack looked into for the buyer.

just cancel the sale anyway.no need to match wits with an inept buyer

[lightlily_arts]

What ever the problem is it's on their end.  What they are saying is they don't want the item and whatever lie they need to tell doesn't matter. Cancel the sale per buyer request, and refund.

[dhbookds]

The way I have my buying set up......it's very easy.....one or two clicks and it's paid for......a "buyer" doesn't really have to know what he's doing.  Tho it probably didn't happen this way........I can see a child just clicking and "making it happen".

That said.......agree with others.......just cancel it and don't try to tell the buyer he's wrong....you won't win.........

[colinbdog]

I am still waiting for the money to go in to my bank account but, I was thinking. To refund the buyer do I loose out on the Taxes and Fees incurred during the sale? I did the "promote listing" on this as well so that add's to the $$ for me the seller.

Worried buyer may claim I didn't refund the full amount or I will have to pay out of pocket to avoid negative feedback.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

[lilbama911]

Was the item mailed to a confirmed address as shown on the transaction invoice that has the buyer's name and address?   Unless the buyer opens an unauthorized use of account, or whatever, I would not refund yet.   Let eBay sort it out or let eBay give the buyer  a courtesy refund.

After all, after being paid, your responsibility is to ship the item to the confirmed address on the invoice.  As the seller, you have know way of knowing whether someone other than the buyer made the purchase.

Personally, I wouldn't spoon feed the buyer information as to what they should or shouldn't do.  Just let the buyer know that you shipped the item to the address on the invoice.

Perhaps the buyer should call the police, if they didn't make the purchase.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@colinbdog 

If you haven't shipped yet, you can cancel the order as "Buyer Requested". (1)

If it has shipped, you can tell the buyer to return the item unopened when it arrives .  You could also try to recall the package if it is in transit.  Tell the buyer that you will refund when the item arrives back. (2)

I would send this message:

Dear buyer:

If your account has been compromised, you need to call eBay and your financial institution.  To prevent further damage to your account(s), you should change your passwords on eBay, PayPal, your financial institution and your email.

I have also reported this fraudulent activity to eBay from my end.

To report this issue to eBay, use the following link.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and use the "Call Us" or "Have us Call You" option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/account/protecting-account/get-help-hacked-account?id=4196

(1) I have cancelled this order and refunded you in full.

(2) Please return the item once it arrives.  I will issue a full refund once it is delivered back to me.

Good Luck

Seller

[bewbfarta-0]

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@colinbdog wrote:

I am still waiting for the money to go in to my bank account but, I was thinking. To refund the buyer do I loose out on the Taxes and Fees incurred during the sale? I did the "promote listing" on this as well so that add's to the $$ for me the seller.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

---

I don't know but if that is a concern then you need to raise your prices to cover the cost of that.

You're welcome.

[colinbdog]

The taxes and fees from Ebay come out of the sale no matter what cost. Same with any online purchase...

[jameshen1]

You have received very good advice so far.  Just wanted to chime and tell you that buyer feedback is worthless.  It can only be positive so all buyer feedback  will be 100%.  Therefore it is meaningless.  

[donsdetour]

It is always possible their account was hacked. 

Best if you have not shipped to refund and cancel the order.

If you have shipped and it is cost effective to do an intercept and then refund if you get the item back.

All they have to do is claim such with the payment method and you will be out both money and item if you do not go the method I stated.

[reich-stamps]

Years ago,    My then 10 year old daughter saw something on ebay that she wanted.

Click,   Click,   Click.    Done deal.     She thought she understood how credit cards work, but missed the discussion about having to pay later.   

[flapperfox1921]

Well, that happens.  After a Champagne supper at the casino or at my Mom's, the next morning I am always afraid to open my Ebay account and see what's there!  LOL.  I doubt it's a software issue, more of a hard drink issue!  Perhaps.  They shouldn't have cancelled though.  Some of my most awesome purchases have been after a party.

[pjcdn2005]

As others have said, if you haven't mailed it, you should cancel the sale through ebay and the buyer will be automatically refunded. However, you mentioned that you have already taken the money out of Paypal so if there is no money in your account, you need to put money in there in order to refund.  The quickest way to do that is to have someone you know send money through the friends and family function.

You will need to have enough to refund the full amount the buyer originally paid. Once you have refunded, ebay will credit the taxes to your account and you will also receive a credit for any ebay fees. But you won't be refunded any on the Paypal fees.

[dbfolks166mt]

I have had this a couple of times and ultimately the buyer discovered through a little interrogation that one of their kids had gotten onto their eBay account and had a shopping hay day. If he is requesting you cancel the purchase you should probably just simply do so, provided you have not shipped the item yet.