eBay

needalittlehelpsometimes · ‎01-25-2019

I have this buyer who gave me a sob story when she bought her item about her being disabled etc. She bought a tube of lipstick from me. She receives it and immediately emails me that it broke over halfway down when she tried to use it.

The only way that would happen is if she advanced it all the way and then used it. Anyone who has ever used lipstick knows you only advance just enough to use because it will break if it's advanced all the way and then pressure is applied.

I asked her to clarify how it broke because I wanted to know if this was a defect or if she broke it by advancing it all the way and this is what she said :

"I am disabled and on disability and $12 is a whole lot to pay for lipstick that I cannot use. I had told you in my email before that it broke down over half of the way down. It won't work for me, unfortunately. Don't know what I need to do about this and I thought I had explained already what happened."

I have a feeling that she may be wanting something for free or it is her fault that it broke. Why tell me she is disabled? I'm sorry for her but I am a stranger to her. Why tell me that?

My thinking on this is to have her return it because if she is trying to scam me and if she gets away with it, she will do it again to another seller. It will cost me more money to get something I can't resell back but it's the principal of the thing.

I have a feeling that when I ask her to return it she will balk. I'm betting she will tell me again she is disabled, doesn't have access to a printer, no paper etc.

My question is what are my options if she refuses to return it?

There isn't a retail store out there who would give a refund without getting the item back.

I'm telling you all this before I ask her because I need to be ready to respond quickly. She has already berated me for not shipping on MLK Day and for taking more than 5 hours to respond to her email.

Thank you for any advice you can give

rainbowcolorz · ‎01-26-2019

@needalittlehelpsometimes said: She could have opened a case with ebay. If she doesn't know how all she has to do is follow directions online. Ebay has it spelled out so it's pretty easy to do. I'm talking about that big 'Return' button right beside the item was bought.

******************

I don't disagree that the possibility exists that this buyer was just looking for a freebie. It happens (as we have seen here) a lot. I have also seen that big Return tab.

I had a buyer who now has over 1000 feedback stars (she has never sold anything) and at about 875 stars, she started buying from me. I clearly stated in my listings to not pay until you receive an invoice from me IF you are purchasing more than 1 item.

She would bid on multiple auctions every. single. week. for months on end.

After winning about 8-10 items (I always gave my buyers plenty of time to pay, sometimes over a week) she would pay me individually for each item, paying an incredible amount of postage. And then go on to bid on multiple other items. And she usually outbid someone or won the items for the price I listed.

I messaged her through eBay and even included a note when I shipped her Padded Flat Rate Envelope with all her jewelry, that I really wanted her to save $ on shipping and all she had to do was request an Invoice either by messaging me when she was finished or clicking the tab to Request a Total.

It took her about 3 months before she was finally able to figure out how to request an Invoice. She also did not know how to respond to eBay messages. And she has been on eBay a very long time.

So, my point is, what may seem easy to do for some, might not be for someone else.

rainbowcolorz · ‎01-26-2019

@lintbrush* said: She lost her battle 14 months ago. She was only 74. I miss her.

*******************

Oh my goodness. I am very sorry to read this.

My mom is dying from cancer. She is 85.

sam9876 · ‎01-26-2019

@*madison wrote:
I lean toward believing that she is disabled, and the return would be difficult.

Why? Because a true scammer would have done a better job of getting a refund.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Like what though?

I think the buyer has done all they can to get the item for free, provided a full sob story, which does work with some sellers, so I can't think of anything else a true scammer could have done.

Can you?

SNAD complaint.

lsislanders · ‎01-26-2019

The word "disabled" can mean several things. She may have physical, emotional, intellectual, or other disabilities. For the amount of money in question, I don't think this is an issue to resist. She may be having a very difficult time even getting this far. She may also be a crook, but I tend to think she is probably disabled.

needalittlehelpsometimes · ‎01-26-2019

@hioctane62 wrote:
What does her feedback and feedback left for others look like? It's possible that she's done this so many times that she's been kicked from the MBG.

It's not that great. She has definitely done this before and used the 'disabled' excuse before.

She leaves negatives for a sellers who tell her to RFR so I am assuming she will leave me one too.

What I find EXTREMELY strange is that this buyer has sold several items herself. For a disabled person she seems to get around just fine when she wants to.

She left a neutral because she doesn't like Bluetooth. Seller told her to RFR and she refused. So I think you are correct in that she probably has lost her MBG privileges

*madison · ‎01-26-2019

@sam9876 wrote:
@*madison wrote:
I lean toward believing that she is disabled, and the return would be difficult.

Why? Because a true scammer would have done a better job of getting a refund.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Like what though?

I think the buyer has done all they can to get the item for free, provided a full sob story, which does work with some sellers, so I can't think of anything else a true scammer could have done.

Can you?

SNAD complaint.

A SNAD?

But the buyer would still have to return the item.

sam9876 · ‎01-26-2019

The buyer would have to return something.

*madison · ‎01-26-2019

To scam a cheap lipstick, I don't think it would be worth the trouble returning something else for a proper scammer.

If we were talking laptops / phones etc.. that would be a different story.

needalittlehelpsometimes · ‎01-26-2019

@lsislanders wrote:
The word "disabled" can mean several things. She may have physical, emotional, intellectual, or other disabilities. For the amount of money in question, I don't think this is an issue to resist. She may be having a very difficult time even getting this far. She may also be a crook, but I tend to think she is probably disabled.

IF she is really disabled and cannot return things then I am of the opinion she should avoid ebay at all costs. There are tons of great, honest sellers out there but every once in a while you will run into a bad one. She would be much better off buying from retailers where she will know for certain what she is getting. She may find a few retailers that will replace items without returning but not many and certainly not often or she will be blacklisted.

sam9876 · ‎01-26-2019

Something else?

How about air?

needalittlehelpsometimes · ‎01-26-2019

@lintbrush* wrote:

She lost her battle 14 months ago. She was only 74. I miss her.

I am very sorry for your loss. I lost my mother when I was 17 and she was 42 and my dad when I was 41 and he was 63. It is no less painful whether you are a teen or middle aged.

I miss them both more than I ever thought possible.

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎01-26-2019

So sorry for your loss.

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

needalittlehelpsometimes · ‎01-26-2019

@rainbowcolorz wrote:
@lintbrush* said: She lost her battle 14 months ago. She was only 74. I miss her.
*******************
*******************

Oh my goodness. I am very sorry to read this.

My mom is dying from cancer. She is 85.

I am very sorry to hear this. Cancer SUCKS! I have lost so many family members and friends to cancer that I have lost count. My sweet grandmother lost her battle to lung cancer when she was in her late 80s. She stopped treatment after one round because it was so hard on her. She was ready to leave this world and was at peace with it. I miss her every day.

needalittlehelpsometimes · ‎01-26-2019

@*madison wrote:
This is the final response I got:

"Like I said, I'll probably just keep it and suck it up but I'll be real cautious about buying lipstick from anyone on eBay. I have absolutely no way to get anything to mail this back in and is a lot of trouble. And living completely alone makes it even harder for me to do things. You don't realize how hard is it is for me to even go down and get my mail. I don't do that but once a week or twice a week."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How many feedbacks has the buyer got, regular ebay buyer?

I see it this way, if it's so difficult to return items, then the buyer should be cautious about buying anything on ebay, not just lipstick, but the buyer has only mentioned lipstick?

She has been a member since 2003 and has 484 FB. There are a lot of issues with her not wanting to return items for a refund, issues with her not liking the color and not liking Bluetooth. She gave the seller a negative because SHE didn't like Bluetooth. How is that the seller's fault?

She has also sold a handful of things. If she can sell an item, she can return an item.

*madison · ‎01-26-2019

She lost her battle 14 months ago. She was only 74. I miss her.

------------------------------------------------------------

So sorry for your loss, I understand how difficult it is.

My mother was killed in a car crash, 10 years ago next month, and it still feels like it only happened this morning. They say time is a great healer, but so far, time is not healing me.