Now I Understand Why Sellers Say Ebay Mistreats Them

[sbattle]

Just adding my voice as yet another cautionary tale for other sellers.  

I sold a purse for $19 with free shipping. It was new with tags attached, but had very minor scuffs from storage, which I noted.  

Buyer  received package then claimed purse had other problems that I had not disclosed.  Naïvely, I was surprised because I am a careful and responsible seller, and had examined the bag carefully before posting it. 

 I requested photos of the problems from the buyer; she claimed not to have a camera capable of capturing them.   This seemed a bit fishy to me, but to be accommodating, I accepted the return through eBay anyway, and had Ebay email her a return label to be paid by me. 

She then claimed to be having problems printing the label.   She asked me to help, and I tried, but could not figure out a way to assist her or to send a second label. 

Ebay then contacted me to tell me to provide her with a label.   This initiated a very frustrating round of emails between me and Ebay, where I  explained that I had already provided a label, etc etc.  Each eBay  response came from a new person who seemed not to understand the situation or to even be reading my emails.   Meanwhile, as I reported to eBay during these exchanges, each time I try to pull up the case details, I got an error message. 

Then, without responding to my last message at all nor requiring the buyer to return the item, eBay refunded the full purchase price to the buyer, and debited my PayPal account.  So I'm out  both the item and the money. 

I posted this item responsibly, was responsive and helpful to the buyer even though her behavior was questionable, and tried repeatedly at some length to get Ebay to understand and help.  At this point I have no idea what I could have done to avoid being shafted this way.  

Ebay  offered the option of calling them to appeal, but at this point I have already spent more time on an inexpensive item than it's worth, and have no confidence that talking to Ebay would  lead to anything other than additional frustration. 

 Thank goodness I only lost $19.  I'm done selling here though.   If Ebay can do this to me on this item, they can do it to me on anything I list.  

 I've had friends tell me that Ebay is unfair to sellers, but I did not fully  appreciate how true that is until now. 

[newnewnewmann]

WoW!

As you present this incident, it seems ebay has violated their own protocols. Since you followed the rules and did everything required, within the time-frames, and the buyer was sent a shipping label, then it rests on the buyer to return the item.

So what is wrong with ebay for not following up on the buyers inaction? I don't know. Ebay was certainly in error for telling you to send the buyer a return shipping label after ebay already did send the buyer a return shipping label.

I feel your pain!

"Each eBay  response came from a new person who seemed not to understand the situation or to even be reading my emails."

I hate that! I had a banking problem and the same thing happened-the issue gets tossed around and you have to start over with someone who does't have a clue and recites a generic script as their inane response!

"Meanwhile, as I reported to eBay during these exchanges, each time I try to pull up the case details, I got an error message."

I can only shake my head in dismay at the mess that you didn't create.

Good luck, I have no advice.

[Anonymous]

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@gramophone-georg wrote:

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@sbattle wrote:

Just adding my voice as yet another cautionary tale for other sellers.  

I sold a purse for $19 with free shipping. It was new with tags attached, but had very minor scuffs from storage, which I noted.  

Buyer  received package then claimed purse had other problems that I had not disclosed.  Naïvely, I was surprised because I am a careful and responsible seller, and had examined the bag carefully before posting it. 

 I requested photos of the problems from the buyer; she claimed not to have a camera capable of capturing them.   This seemed a bit fishy to me, but to be accommodating, I accepted the return through eBay anyway, and had Ebay email her a return label to be paid by me. 

She then claimed to be having problems printing the label.   She asked me to help, and I tried, but could not figure out a way to assist her or to send a second label. 

Ebay then contacted me to tell me to provide her with a label.   This initiated a very frustrating round of emails between me and Ebay, where I  explained that I had already provided a label, etc etc.  Each eBay  response came from a new person who seemed not to understand the situation or to even be reading my emails.   Meanwhile, as I reported to eBay during these exchanges, each time I try to pull up the case details, I got an error message. 

Then, without responding to my last message at all nor requiring the buyer to return the item, eBay refunded the full purchase price to the buyer, and debited my PayPal account.  So I'm out  both the item and the money. 

I posted this item responsibly, was responsive and helpful to the buyer even though her behavior was questionable, and tried repeatedly at some length to get Ebay to understand and help.  At this point I have no idea what I could have done to avoid being shafted this way.  

Ebay  offered the option of calling them to appeal, but at this point I have already spent more time on an inexpensive item than it's worth, and have no confidence that talking to Ebay would  lead to anything other than additional frustration. 

 Thank goodness I only lost $19.  I'm done selling here though.   If Ebay can do this to me on this item, they can do it to me on anything I list.  

 I've had friends tell me that Ebay is unfair to sellers, but I did not fully  appreciate how true that is until now. 

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@Anonymous

How can a seller be awarded a defect and wind up being out item and money by following eBay policy... again?

"Closed without seller resolution" because buyer  couldn't/ wouldn't follow through? C'mon.

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I would have to review the specific details to see what happened in this case. There are times where the buyer lets us know the label provided does not work and we would ask a seller to provide another label to the buyer and confirm to us this was completed. If this wasn't done, a strike may be recorded. Most often I see this when a seller has accepted the return but the buyer is having trouble printing the label from the case. If the buyer is unable to use the label provided in an eBay Money Back Guarantee case, no charge will occur for this label. The seller could send the buyer funds in PayPal at this point to cover shipping or purchase another label to send to the buyer. 

That being said, I will take a look at the specifics of this case to see if the right decision was made or if additional options are available. @sbattle keep an eye out for an update shortly!

[bigmotormania]

@Anonymous

Does eBay have some sort of confirmation process that shows that the Seller did in-fact provide the Buyer with an eBay provided return label, and if so, why doesn't that have an automatic hands off policy in regards to the Seller?

If the buyer is having trouble printing the label, or outright refuses to, for whatever reason, then why should the Seller be taken out to pasture? 

If this case went exactly as was stated, then they literally did everything by the book as far as eBay policy goes, and still got hit for it.

That's very bad business, my friend. 

[retrose1]

trinton@ebay

I would have to review the specific details to see what happened in this case. There are times where the buyer lets us know the label provided does not work and we would ask a seller to provide another label to the buyer and confirm to us this was completed. If this wasn't done, a strike may be recorded. Most often I see this when a seller has accepted the return but the buyer is having trouble printing the label from the case. If the buyer is unable to use the label provided in an eBay Money Back Guarantee case, no charge will occur for this label. The seller could send the buyer funds in PayPal at this point to cover shipping or purchase another label to send to the buyer. 

So a buyer can claim that the label doesn't work - and even though the seller did everything correctly through ebay - and because ebay has the glitchy problem OR the buyer is lying - the seller will lose the item and the money AND get a double whammy strike for doing everything right???

And no experienced seller will ever send money through paypal for the buyer to buy a return ship label.  That will be the partial refund that the buyer was hoping for and the money will never be used and the item will never come back.

[bonjourami]

Wow, I am really sorry this happened to you..you have been here for a long time too..sometimes it just takes one little thing to push us over the edge and say I quit! Good luck to you.

[sbattle]

Bonjourami - thank you for those kind words - much appreciated!

 I am happy to say that Ebay did just  refund my $19.   Although I wish the process has been easier and less frustrating, I am satisfied with this outcome, and will feel more comfortable using eBay again going forward. 

Thanks trinton@ebay.  

[bonjourami]

Thats good news, you are an honest seller that Ebay should try to keep..

[advan.ltd3]

This happens all the time.  Had a foreigner purchase 5 headphones and claimed they were filthy and broken and wanted a refund but not return the product.  It is still on the returns list (he won't send them back) and my PayPal account has been debited the full amount pending receipt.  So, with the fees and the horrible scams that are floating around it makes selling a real unpleasant experience.  The number of scammers is escalating because word is out all they have to do is claim defective, damaged, or wrong item sent and ebay will give them their money back without any proof that this is true. 

[the_fancy_fox]

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@sbattle wrote:

Bonjourami - thank you for those kind words - much appreciated!

 I am happy to say that Ebay did just  refund my $19.   Although I wish the process has been easier and less frustrating, I am satisfied with this outcome, and will feel more comfortable using eBay again going forward. 

Thanks trinton@ebay.  

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Did they remove the defect?

[sg51]

So a buyer can claim that the label doesn't work - and even though the seller did everything correctly through ebay - and because ebay has the glitchy problem OR the buyer is lying - the seller will lose the item and the money AND get a double whammy strike for doing everything right???

I'm not really grasping the actual policy here.

Buyer says the label doesn't work.  But maybe if seller sends a 2nd label that will work better?  Why would it work better?  Most times when buyer can't use the first label, buyer can't use the 2nd or 3rd either.

Seller can send money to pay for the return.  Seriously, is ebay requesting that be done?  And is ebay guranteeing something if seller does that?  And should seller send an amount which covers the higher cost of counter shipping?

I mean, I predict that if I were to choose ANY of those choices, I'd end up with the felony conviction strike.  Maybe if I was lucky, Trinton would still be around, so that I could present my case for how unfair it had been, and get it fixed.  However, long periods have gone by with no Trinton.

So the bottom line, given this equation, sure looks like I give a full refund when buyer escalates, or I take the brutal srike, and somehow hope for mercy from someone.

And that creates a really, really effective plan if buyers come to understand it.

[b4b4b4b]

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@sbattle wrote:

Bonjourami - thank you for those kind words - much appreciated!

 I am happy to say that Ebay did just  refund my $19.   Although I wish the process has been easier and less frustrating, I am satisfied with this outcome, and will feel more comfortable using eBay again going forward. 

Thanks trinton@ebay.  

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WOW, I am absolutely SHOCKED !!!!     Congratulations OP !!

😉

Tammy

New Hampshire

[b4b4b4b]

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@the_fancy_fox wrote:

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@sbattle wrote:

Bonjourami - thank you for those kind words - much appreciated!

 I am happy to say that Ebay did just  refund my $19.   Although I wish the process has been easier and less frustrating, I am satisfied with this outcome, and will feel more comfortable using eBay again going forward. 

Thanks trinton@ebay.  

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Did they remove the defect?

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GREAT QUESTION !!!!!!  If I were you I would DEFINITELY want an answer on that.

[sodelight]

The seller provided the shipping label via ebay, so if it doesn't work it's ebay's fault! I don't see how someone can claim a label they haven't even printed doesn't work! It's obvious the buyer is incapable of printing it or simply being deceptive, that is not the fault of a seller. Pure nonsense.

So in this case, ebay lets the buyer get away with this by giving them their purchase for Free and also returns the sellers $ (which should never have been removed). No b&m store would ever do this, they wouldn't allow a buyer to keep the item they walked in to return AND hand them their $ back! This is why sellers are being nickeled and dimed constantly, so we can support all these scams!

[retrose1]

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@sg51 wrote:

So a buyer can claim that the label doesn't work - and even though the seller did everything correctly through ebay - and because ebay has the glitchy problem OR the buyer is lying - the seller will lose the item and the money AND get a double whammy strike for doing everything right???

I'm not really grasping the actual policy here.

Buyer says the label doesn't work.  But maybe if seller sends a 2nd label that will work better?  Why would it work better?  Most times when buyer can't use the first label, buyer can't use the 2nd or 3rd either.

Seller can send money to pay for the return.  Seriously, is ebay requesting that be done?  And is ebay guranteeing something if seller does that?  And should seller send an amount which covers the higher cost of counter shipping?

I mean, I predict that if I were to choose ANY of those choices, I'd end up with the felony conviction strike.  Maybe if I was lucky, Trinton would still be around, so that I could present my case for how unfair it had been, and get it fixed.  However, long periods have gone by with no Trinton.

So the bottom line, given this equation, sure looks like I give a full refund when buyer escalates, or I take the brutal srike, and somehow hope for mercy from someone.

And that creates a really, really effective plan if buyers come to understand it.

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Here is the plan as I understand it.

Buyer tells ebay that they want their money back - doesn't matter the reason why, and ebay sees to it that the buyer gets their money back and the seller gets punished if they cause any sort of delay in that happening.  Like asking for a return before they refund.

It isn't enough that ebay doesn't keep track of the scammers making a living scamming sellers out of their merchandise, not enough that ebay makes rules that favor the buyer, it's a disgrace that ebay will believe any buyers outrageous story but won't believe a high volume loyal seller that has operated on ebay for years without a problem, not enough that ebay rewrites policies and hides them, or cuts the time period a seller has to respond to a case and doesn't tell them, or that ebay totally ignores their own policies - now ebay has to punish a seller because they actually followed ebay's policies to the letter.