How does e-bay protect the Sellers from Buyers who make fraudulent claims?

[crpickins]

Here is the situation...Customer paid.. I mailed out the item. Customer stated the item was damaged. I asked for pictures, got pictures. Filed a claim. Got a letter asking to bring item in. Contacted customer. They stated they got the same letter and took it in with the letter and the PO took a copy. I called the PO...NO they did not ....Since the customer had no warnings-like under review for FRAUD...I AM OUT THE ITEM / MONEY....I AM SURE THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED ....I KNOW WHAT I WILL DO DIFFERENTLY..BUT I BELIEVE E-BAY NEEDS TO PUT AN ALERT ON CUSTOMERS LIKE THIS THEY LOOK LIKE FINE UPSTANDING BUYERS OUT ON E-BAY...SELLERS BEWARE..its more than a dispute...it is FRAUD! THEY NEED TO UPDATE THE SYSTEM...SOMEONE ELSE IS GOING TO BE A VICTIM. E-BAY MAKES ALOT OF MONEY OFF OF IT'S SELLERS...LIKE A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION THEY NEED TO take some steps to protect the Seller.    Yes I contacted  e-bay customer service....

[soh.maryl]

I am certain you know this:

Buyers can never ever be given negative feedback.

eBay is never ever going to identify any buyer as "under review for fraud".  

[titipeo]

First, sellers protection is very minimal on eBay. Other than making sure you ship item to the address on label, that's about it. As for your claim, I think you are making some assumptions. You asked for pictures, and you received pictures, buyer indicated they got same letter as you did and went to PO with copy of letter, and I presume damaged goods. You contact PO, and they have no evidence of such. It can happen, maybe another person/dept is looking into that. 

As for the fraud, what type of fraud is the buyer doing, I mean he provided you with pictures of damaged goods and appears to be cooperating in providing same to the PO. The typical fraudster will not be cooperating with you, and submitting pictures, just files claims, maybe sends you a box of rocks, gets refund, and keeps the item. USPS also has its own issues in approving claims, and sometimes use poor packaging as its excuse to deny such claim. 

Your idea of eBay having some sort of check mark on users for fraud, or under investigation is great, but that is not stopping a fraudster/scammer in deleting and creating another account, thus bypassing this. I certainly do agree that sellers should have more protection, but, when there are video tutorials online showing how to scam a seller, you have a hard time protecting yourself. 

Good luck.

[maxine*j]

You do not sell items subject to much fraud, and this looks nothing like a case of fraud.  

Your buyer cooperated fully with you.   S/he was under no obligation to send you photographs or make a trip to the Post Office, but s/he did. 

Don't jump to the conclusion that you have lost the USPS insurance claim, as it can be a lengthy process.  And even if you do lose it, remember that everyone who sells has to take the occasional loss, and if this is your first one in 11 years of selling you have been extremely fortunate. 

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[goodbrakes]

All you needed to do was say you were sorry to hear the item was damaged during shipping and tell them to file a return through eBay. That is how we handle it and 99% of the time you never hear back from the Buyer. Better to get it back damaged than think you got scammed. 

[vintagecraze50]

In cases where a customer asks for a refund because of a damaged parcel. You approve the return and then you send in the insurance claim and wait for the payout with the PO. You send the pictures of said damaged item to PO if they request it. But, the buyer must be refunded first.

[vintagecraze50]

Adding, yes they can make false claims. Just get the item back and then relist it if it is indeed not damaged.

[tsme35]

Next time, kindly ask the buyer to get a receipt and send a picture to you. Most buyer will like to help out but don't have to, I've been lucky 95% of the time. The buyer may have took the package in, most PO don't  fill out the insurance claim, either don't know how or want to take the time. The receipt has helped me out a few times when the PO denies a claim for not being inspected, I just appeal with the receipt.

[luckythewinner · Accepted solution]

They stated they got the same letter and took it in with the letter and the PO took a copy. I called the PO...NO they did not

eBay does not require buyers to spend time their time, effort and money to help you file a USPS claim.

Since the customer had no warnings-like under review for FRAUD...I AM OUT THE ITEM / MONEY

Even if the buyer has "warnings-like under review for FRAUD" (whatever that means) you would still be out the item and the cost of shipping. eBay offers a money-back guarantee, and by design it is the seller who pays for the guarantee that eBay offers.

I AM SURE THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED

I suspect it has happened millions of times since 2008 when eBay first offered the Money Back Guarantee.

I BELIEVE E-BAY NEEDS TO PUT AN ALERT ON CUSTOMERS LIKE THIS THIS

eBay has no idea whether the buyer is lying about damage, of whether you shipped an item that was already damaged. So in theory, the buyer could conceivably argue that eBay should put an alert on you.

LIKE A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION THEY NEED TO take some steps to protect the Seller.

eBay does not have first hand knowledge of what was shipped and what was received. So anything they did would be a guess.

[m60driver]

If a buyer claims an item is damaged then work as quickly as possible to either get the item sent back and get a refund sent to the buyer as soon as possible.  Do not dispute or ask for photos.  Do not get Ebay involved as then you are most likely will lose both the item and the money.  Remember, the buyer's refund is unconnected to any future refund you might get from the PO.  If the PO wants to see the damage then you are at the whim of the buyer to have them taken to the delivery post office.  Again, the buyer does not have to wait for any USPS insurance claim decision, it is not their problem as they just want their refund from having received a damaged product and that claim will have Ebay's support.  And unless there is obvious outside damage to the box, usually noted by the PO before delivery, insurance is unlikely to cover you as it can be assumed to be from insufficient packaging.

[soh.maryl]

There is no eBay requirement that the buyer send a picture, thus, a complete waste of time to ask them to do so.  

[slippinjimmy]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

There is no eBay requirement that the buyer send a picture, thus, a complete waste of time to ask them to do so.  

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It's not a waste of time to ask, on the few damaged claims I've had I've always asked (if the buyer didn't volunteer), if they send me a pic showing the damage then they will get an instant refund from me.

Along with the refund I will ask that they retain the item pending my insurance claim. Since I didn't string them out on the refund they have always been more than willing to hold on to the item and packaging and respond to any inquiries from USPS.

On the other hand some sellers attempt to delay the inevitable and all that does is alienate the buyer who might no longer be in a co-operative  mood and certainly won't be the next time they have a similar issue with another transaction with a different seller.

[crpickins]

I was to frustrated at the time to Thank You for your advise and guidance......Thank You for taking the time to respond. 

[oayz]

25 years with eBay, mostly as a buyer. Got few sales lately with no problems but now came across of bad buyer and found that eBay's MBG is an enabler and promoter of such behavior. 

Buyer  claims item not as described with claims contradicting listing and photos. Buyer didn't respond to the message to provide any details. Two calls to eBay resulted with "we are sorry, we will protect our sellers" but than w/o any reasoning eBay accepted return which resulted in seller paying round trip shipping in excess of $50

Based on this experience I can clearly state that MBG can and most probably is  used for abuses such as:

1. Basic buyer's remorse.  Understandable but causing seller financial loss, double if item was shipped free

2. Item replacement. Sending back broken device while keeping functional one, clear case of mail fraud.  I'll be able to detect it since I have photos of both  device screen with serial number and the same on the box

3. Buyer revenge. My buyer tried to lowball, offering 75% of final price, going through 4 rounds of negotiation. Ordering and returning cost buyer nothing 

Will post update but very much upset with eBay anti-selller bias. 

[kennys-kollectibles]

Ebay does not protect sellers in this matter. 

And in some ways they prevent you from trying to protect yourself.

If it's me, I would file a postal fraud case against the buyer if in another state. 

If in the same state, I would sue them.  In court they would surely lose. 

Ebay has too many scam loopholes that need  plugging.