Has anyone ever been screwed over by EBay and the buyer?

[ncfisher26]

So I sold a used cell phone to this girl and it was used, but in good shape. It was my mom's old phone, but it worked fine.  

I mistakenly put it as open box condition because I had the original box with it.

The girl got it and started saying how **bleep** it was and all that.  I have a 100% selling rating.  I have never sold junk to anyone and I was always honest.  

This girl proceeds to make threats about EBay siding with her, so I called EBay and they even said once it's in her hands, they don't know if she did anything to it.  

I figured I was ok that I had the benefit of the doubt.  Nope! I get an email saying that EBay sided with the buyer and that I need to make it right.

In the meantime, this girl got into my mom's phone, found my number and is still texting me about needing to check EBay because they sided with her and all this stuff.  Why is she texting me?  She wants me to let her keep the phone and give her a significant refund.  There's no way in hell she's keeping it after I give her a significant refund.

I'm refusing to pay because this is **bleep**.  I told EBay all of this and they still sided against me!!

Am I alone? Has this happened to anyone else?

[ittybitnot]

If the buyer files a case for any "not as described reason"  your choices are limited.  Understand that the buyer need not be truthful in the claim. 

Either you accept the return, and furnish the pre paid return shipping label and hope you get your own item back, for you will be refunding anyway. 

OR

Refund the buyer and let them keep it for free. 

If you select neither of the above, ebay will 'do it for you' and charge it all to you anyway.  You will get serious seller metric defects as well. 

To answer your original question...has anyone....???

Of course it has happened to others.  It is part of doing business on this venue. 

[bigdeals.etc]

Sorry this happened to you.

I'm sure at least one person here got screwed over by eBay and the buyer. There'll probably be more people to chime in and confirm this.

What'd me more amazing is if someone here said no they've never been.

[loveyourimagination49]

Has she opened a case?

[buyselljack2016]

@ncfisher26 

Have taken a beating from buyers, but not from ebay, as I follow eBay policies (even if I don't like them) for buyer issues.

[loveyourimagination49]

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@loveyourimagination49 wrote:
Has she opened a case?

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Ignore that. Looks like they did.

Got distracted by you sending a phone without deleting the info off of it. 

[ncfisher26]

She did as the day she got it. That's when I called EBay and explained the situation. They said they don't always side with the buyer and that she had it and they can't say for certain if she dropped it or not.

[trukur_0]

What you describe is par for the course, you're preaching to the choir here.

I hope you haven't started in on some back-and-forth messaging with the buyer, if so your chances are not as good.

Either way your one chance option is to ask the buyer to please return for a full refund.

Thank you.

[ncfisher26]

My mom didn't think about it. She handed it to me to sell, and she had just used it not that long ago before she upgraded. We had just lost my Dad and her mind wasn't on deleting her info, she was all thrown for a loop by everything. She did take it to ATT and they transferred all her info to her new phone, but they neglected to mention that the old phone needs to wiped.

[bigdeals.etc]

If it's an iPhone and it's clear the buyer has no intention of playing nice... I think you can use some apps to turn the phone into a brick. At least that'll stop the buyer from using the phone to text you with.

[slippinjimmy]

I read your post a couple of times, perhaps I misunderstand something.......

Did you list a USED phone as new-open box?

Then you say you are always honest?

Now the buyer isn't happy?

Now you are blaming the buyer and eBay?

Please tell me I'm wrong about what happened because if I'm right it's you who are screwing over the buyer!

[gamersbaystore]

You should never let buyers drag you along like this, its a waste of your own time. Its better to just tell them to return it and that be the end of it. If you refuse to accept a return, ebay will always refund them and let them keep your product, and this is exactly what the buyer is hoping you will do. As soon as you refuse a return, the buyer just won, and you just lost.

And you know what, they almost never return the items anyway.

I've dealt with plenty of freeloading partial refund beggars in the past too. They will make up every excuse in the book to beg for a refund while demanding you let them keep the product. Just forget it! I tell them here's your label, send it back, have a nice day. Many keep whining and demanding refunds, at that point I just ignore them. They can scream and cry for all I care. No product back, no money back.

But many sellers are making the same mistake you did here, arguing with the buyer, and leaving it up to ebay to decide what happens, and such a scenario will never work out in your favor.

[coolections]

Tell her to send it back. Once the case is open and the tracking shows it was delivered back to you then you give a refund. No bucking the system and a no hassle guarantee. Next time you list you have to mention every single flaw. The buyer obviously expected better condition since you said open box in the listing. She will stop texting you once she knows you will refund. Do not give a partial just give back the whole amount once it is returned. There was no need to call Ebay.

[luckythewinner]

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@ncfisher26 wrote:

I'm refusing to pay because this is **bleep**.  I told EBay all of this and they still sided against me!!

Am I alone? Has this happened to anyone else?

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Yes, there are other sellers who have described an item incorrectly and who have been forced to take a return. (Most of them do so voluntarily when they realize that they made a mistake and it was their own fault). 

Yes, there are other sellers who have refused to resolve the case appropriately, lost the case, and accumulated a potentially damaging defect for it. 

Yes, there are others sellers who have tried to refuse to refund a buyer who won a case, and weho will end up being forced to refund AND lose their item if they are not careful. 

But I have no idea if other sellers have forgotten to wipe the data from a phone before they shipped it. 

[dt38k]

I am not surprised one bit to read this

They are becoming dictators in my view

20 years of their **bleep**, I just ending all of my listings late last night

All about the mighty dollar, I see no pride in any of it

Oh and I only wish I could fully express my opinions in detail

Sorry to hear what happened, being honest and up front doesn’t cut the cake anymore

I wouldn’t be curious to know just how many sellers there are, and how many of those have felt the sting at least once

Ive been wondering why my sales seemed to be off lately and I had an eBay representative tell me last night that the reason my customers have been asking why it will take so long to get their  package is because eBay has attached a two month wait for my product to ship on the front page of every listing 

That was the last straw, they can kiss my ,,,,,