Problem with a buyer and a learning experience

[airplanealy]

I’m not a pro eBayer. I’m just selling off items of value in preparation for a cross country move to med school. 

I “sold” a $1300 piece of electronics to a guy. We messaged back and forth and I answered all the question he had and uploaded a video of the item turned on and functioning perfectly. Right before he purchased it, he messaged me asking if I would take $300 less than listed prices and his nonprofit would send me a donation receipt for 3x value. I said absolutely not that’s tax fraud. If he wanted the item he could go through proper channels and purchase it like any other eBayer and not to send me his phone number or personal email like he had just done. 

He purchased the item at BIN and sent me messages over the next 7 days saying “I’ll pay tomorrow” or “I’ll pay ASAP please keep holding the item” or “My internet is bad I’ll pay soon (Sent from my iPhone)” On day 5 I warned him he needed to quit promising payment and asked for a date he planned to pay and that if I didn’t get payment by day 7 I would open an unpaid item case. Radio silence. 

I filed the unpaid item case. 10 hours before I could close it, I get a message saying he is having PayPal trouble and can’t pay for the item just yet and thanks for continuing to hold the item for him.  By now I’m over dealing with this buyer. 

The next morning still no payment. I also noticed he updated the eBay shipping address to the the items manufacturer repair dept complete with an RMA. I go ahead and close the claim thinking it’s highly likely I’m going to get an Item Not As Described claim. And, I won’t ship to a non-pp address. 

Not 10min after the case is closed, he opens an Item Not Received case against me saying the item was sold to him and he wants it. I called eBay CS twice. Both reps said yes the case was in my favor and they verified no payment had been sent. I asked for the case to be closed on the phone. 2nd rep said it was and I would revive a message saying it was closed. 

No message has come, the case shows “You contacted Customer Service. Awaiting response”. Should I keep calling until they close it? 

[csbbct]

There's a chance it might not get closed instantly.  Here's a recent thread with a similar issue and CS would not close it immediately.  It had to go through the whole process.  As you can see by other seller comments, most were unhappy that eBay CS does not instantly close these when the seller calls in.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Non-paying-bidder-entitled-to-item-not-received-case/m-p/30137...

[wastingtime101]

---

@airplanealy wrote:

No message has come, the case shows “You contacted Customer Service. Awaiting response”. Should I keep calling until they close it? 

---

No, don't waste your time. If you don't see it closed within a few days then call or use facebook which might be faster and less hassle.

When you relist check "immediate payment required" on the listing and do not use best offer. Although, with a feedback score of only 19 (6 for selling) I wouldn't list a $1,300 electronic device unless you use local pickup only.

[vintagecraze50]

Let me get this straight. Was this guy trying to offer you 3x the amount for the item with a donation receipt, or something like that? Maybe I misunderstood. You may have a scam artist . Be Careful, and if it were me I would be on the phone with Ebay until that case was closed. You are selling in a very high risk category and a very expensive item, again, be very careful here and get that case closed.

[airplanealy]

Yes, the guy was saying the nonprofit would send me a donation receipt for 3x the value. He did send me the same of the nonprofit and it does exist. The name of the original ship address was a person at a church that also checked out.

[airplanealy]

Learned my lesson on the immediate payment option. The reason I listed this item is because it’s not going to sell in my small local area. I sold another like it without a problem and the buyer for that one was happy.

[fashunu4eeuh]

You said you closed the (first) claim/case. What case does this refer to? If i understand correctly, you closed the unpaid item dispute? Did you see that dispute thru? He cannot open a Not Received claim if you gave him the non-paying strike. Are you saying you decided not to deal with it anymore and therefore you closed the dispute without giving him the strike? Sorry, just trying to follow what happened. 

If he didnt pay, how did he open a Not Received claim? Did you go to PayPal to determine payment status directly?

I believe you are dealing with a scam artist here. He might have wanted to send you a bogus email message stating payment has been made, hoping to prey on your inexperience on eBay. Scammers target new sellers with pricey items. (I would have immediately blocked this person after he suggested the tax fraud.)

[airplanealy]

I closed and Unpaid Item Case first. I checked my PayPal account first to make sure the buyer had not paid.

About 10-15min later the buyer opened an Item Not Received case against me. After searching the forum I do know this has happened to other eBay sellers.

When I called eBay CS, they also confirmed the buyer had not paid. I only accept PayPal or CC payment. eBay CS confirmed the buyers case against me for an Item not received was in my favor since the could confirm the buyer never paid for the item and I had follow the unpaid item claim rules.

[airplanealy]

And, you are right. I should have blocked the buyer after that message. Lesson learned. I blocked the buyer after I closed the claim against the buyer for not paying for the item. Somehow they were still able to open an Item Not Received claim against me.

The other weird piece of this whole thing is the buyer changing the ship address on eBay to the items manufacturer complete with and RAM number.

[fashunu4eeuh · Accepted solution]

---

@airplanealy wrote:
And, you are right. I should have blocked the buyer after that message. Lesson learned. I blocked the buyer after I closed the claim against the buyer for not paying for the item. Somehow they were still able to open an Item Not Received claim against me.

The other weird piece of this whole thing is the buyer changing the ship address on eBay to the items manufacturer complete with and RAM number.

---

Well, you did everything right you were supposed to do. What a perplexing situation! So sorry this happened. The change to the shipping address is very weird, I agree. But most frustrating is that customer service should have closed this in your favor immediately. I think I would keep calling eBay until someone helps you. Also, one of the community eBay guys that come to the forum often to trouble-shoot might be able to assist you. Let me see if i can find their names to page them to your post.

[airplanealy]

Called eBay again. The rep I talked to just now again confirmed that the case was found to be in my favor. When I looked at the listing again it now says "This order was not successful. Payment for this order has failed. "

The rep said the case was closed in my favor and should reflect that in the cases within 24hrs. Hopefully I will see that closed case tomorrow. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

---

---

---

@airplanealy wrote:

Called eBay again. The rep I talked to just now again confirmed that the case was found to be in my favor. When I looked at the listing again it now says "This order was not successful. Payment for this order has failed. "

The rep said the case was closed in my favor and should reflect that in the cases within 24hrs. Hopefully I will see that closed case tomorrow. 

---

Excellent news. Just got the info to page one of the "blues" to your post. If the matter isn't resolved, let me know so I can pass your post on to one of them for investigation.

[mam98031]

---

@airplanealy wrote:
And, you are right. I should have blocked the buyer after that message. Lesson learned. I blocked the buyer after I closed the claim against the buyer for not paying for the item. Somehow they were still able to open an Item Not Received claim against me.

The other weird piece of this whole thing is the buyer changing the ship address on eBay to the items manufacturer complete with and RAM number.

---

Blocking the buyer would not prevent them from emailing you or stop them from being able to open an INR.  It would block them from being able to purchase from you again, but nothing more than that.  

You have nothing to worry about here.  You have done everything you should have done plus you were extremely patient with this buyer.  I'm not sure I would have put up with all that as long as you did.

For now there is nothing for you to do but wait.  Wait until Ebay auto closes the INR because the buyer can not prove they paid therefore you aren't shipping.  

As to the other stuff with this buyer.  None of it really matters anymore you are actually done with them.  You are merely waiting for Ebay to close the INR.  Beyond that just move on.  You are done with this buyer.

[slati_2013]

Set your "Unpaid Item Assistant" for 4 days and you won't have any of these issues. I don't understand why every eBay seller does not have this turned on.  

[mam98031]

---

@slati_2013 wrote:

Set your "Unpaid Item Assistant" for 4 days and you won't have any of these issues. I don't understand why every eBay seller does not have this turned on.  

---

Because it is faster to file if you do it yourself.  On your own, you can open it 48 hours and one minute after the purchase if payment doesn't arrive.  

Also for those that offer combined shipping discounts and have certain ones set up in the system, it can limit how soon you can open a UID using the Automated Assistant.

@slati_2013