Help with a transaction sought.

[harleys19]

Hi all,
So a buyer buys my antique watch. I box it up and send it out within the required 3 days. 3 hours after it's delivered he sends me an aggressive message about how it doesn't work. I respond by saying that it was working perfectly when I sent it. After another nonsense message he finally requests a return, along with  more nonsense? I discuss it with ebay who says I should accept the return, pay the return shipping, and inspect it when I get it back. They tell me that I can either file a claim with the shipper if it's damaged, or they will cover the cost through seller protection if it was tampered with or a different item was sent back . I already had a payout for the item so they blocked the next payout that was scheduled that day.
I'm told that the buyer needs to send a picture of the item in the return request, but they haven't done it. I'm told that in order for the buyer to get a refund they have to send the item back. which they haven't done despite me sending them a label. 
I find out later that day that the buyer has 30 days to send it back.  When I ask ebay why, I'm told that they need to have time to determine if it's working or not. I respond by saying that the buyer has already stated that it's not working, so why does he need 30 days??? eBay rep can't compute that question and states the policy again.

Later the same day I get a message from ebay that the buyer has initiated a chargeback from their payment method because they haven't received a refund yet. I'm then given the option to refund his money or dispute it with evidence.  What evidence ?  It seems like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing at ebay.  This person is obviously a pro.    Now mind you this has all occurred over 24 hours.

I'm pretty nervous because on one hand ebay is patting me on the back telling me everything will be ok, but I've heard enough stories to not believe them.

Can anyone give me some pointers on what to do, or what not to do?
Thanks, Matt

[inhawaii]

I'm told that the buyer needs to send a picture of the item in the return request, but they haven't done it.

You were misinformed. The buyer is NOT required to send a picture.

On a ebay return ebay has some say over wha happens but will find in favor of the buyer 99.9% of the time.

On a chargeback ebay has NO say over what happens. The buyer will most likely get a refund (from your funds) and will not have to return the item.

Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.

---

[dbfolks166mt]

     The first problem is the eBay customer support which is pretty much useless these days. What they told you may or may not be factual. You did not include a lot of information about the watch and this is obviously your posting ID. What kind of watch was it? Did the watch go through the authentication program? If it did not go through the authentication program and as you say the buyer  has opened a chargeback, depending on the reason for the chargeback, you may not have much chance of either winning the chargeback or getting the item back. 

     EBay does have some limited seller protection against chargebacks but it is very limited and specific. Read through the following and it may help you decide which way to go with regards to responding to the chargeback. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-dispute-seller-protections/payment-dispute-seller-protect... 

     If it went through the authentication program contact eBay through the face book connection rather than the call in support to see what kind of protections you may or may not have under that program. 

[1tuna]

the CSR lied to you right of the bat. they will not cover the cost thru seller protection, it simply does not happen, there is no real seller protection other than removing feedback for a returned item

@harleys19 

[ittybitnot]

the buyer has initiated a chargeback from their payment method because they haven't received a refund yet.

@harleys19 

You are going to have to respond to the Payment Dispute.  If this is the sort of claim that allows you only ONE jpg picture, you are going to have to be a bit creative as well as careful.  Typically, with this sort of chargeback it appears you are asked to prove "a negative" and it is very frustrating. 

You need to make a document that says the buyer was granted a return on XXXX date, issued a prepaid return label, and has not  returned the item for a refund.  include with that an image of the label. Change it to (a stitched together) jpg format and include it as your response.

Hopefully, eBay will submit that information to the C.card carrier (or PayPal if the claim was filed there).  Though you may still lose, your other choice is to  accept the claim which will allow the buyer to get a refund from your proceeds and keep the product for no charge. 

[harleys19]

Thanks everybody for your responses. I guess I'm appalled that this behavior goes on and ebay is complicit in it all.  FWIW,  This is not the account that sold the item and it wasn't a watch.  I guess I thought the buyer might be monitoring these forums and I might give up some information.  It was pretty ridiculous as they don't even need to go through that much effort.  The total on the item was $600 and it feels like I should put out some effort, it's also difficult to just accept it as a loss.  I also can't believe the amount of **bleep** that ebay has been telling me.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Try not to be appalled. You need to see it from the other side.

You could have just as easily sent a 'broken' "thingy" to a buyer and they are also appalled that they can be taken by purchasing a $600 thing that doesn't work- so they scrambled to all avenues they could to try to get their money back. 

You see, buyers are king because that is what makes this place tick. There will ALWAYS be sellers, but buyers need to be protected or they will just go elsewhere. 

[allen1853]

Fraudulent buyers monitoring these forums will now target YOUR listings. Good job. 

[donskee]

You're right. I will go elsewhere, to buy and sell.  I'm not interested in being a part of such a dysfunctional organization.  eBay has become a place for exactly this type of vermin and the unknowing of which I guess I'm one.  I'd rather donate the stuff than deal with this garbage. Clearly there are still honest sellers, but you have to be a pro and willing to take a loss., or sell $20 items that don't draw out the vermin. 

If I had sold some thingy that was actually broken I am happy to be responsible for it. The buyer had the item for two hours before he started posturing for a scam.  He initiated a return and I approved it and sent a label. Then he did the charge back. This wasn't a nervous person scrambling. 

And I'm not appalled that there are scammers, I'm appalled the ebay lets them get away with it at their customers expense. Customer service is a joke. Policies are a joke as well. 

It's not worth losing sleep over. 

Thanks

[donskee]

@ittybitnot, I did find out today that when challenging a charge back you don't have to stitch all of your evidence into one jpg. You're allowed to upload 5 images to a total of 1.5Mb. They say they're working on a modification where there will be a box to enter a statement to go along with the images, but for now I write a letter then take a picture of it as you suggested. They say the only thing in my favor is the claim for the dispute is that they didn't get a refund. If the reason had been SNAD then I would have no chance.  It's funny, the buyer has turned sweet, "just wanting to make things right" .  I'm sure it's just part of the ruse. Maybe to get me to ignore the dispute so it'll default in his favor. 

[ittybitnot]

 You're allowed to upload 5 images to a total of 1.5Mb.

@donskee 

That is good to know.  Thanks for that information.   Do let us know how things turn out. 

[donskee]

Sorry for the delay in replying.  As it turns out the receiver I sent was damaged by UPS.  After hours on the phone with ebay and the buyer I agreed to refund the money and provide a return label after tracking information showed that the package was moving back.  I'm trying to find a different way to sell as I haven't sold for the last year. I have an idea but that's for a different post. Thanks for everyone's support

[safan80]

---

Good thing I haven't opted into mismanaged payments.

@allen1853 wrote:

Fraudulent buyers monitoring these forums will now target YOUR listings. Good job. 

---

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.