*SELLER BEWARE*: You are not protected from scams as a Seller on Ebay whatsoever!!!!

[to425cdt]

I have been a seller on Ebay for 19 years. I advertise and ship products  EXACTLY as I advertise. Never had an issue until now: A buyer purchased an item and after they received it, “claimed” a part on the item was missing and requested a refund. Before agreeing to a refund,  I requested they send a photo of the part they claim was missing, and they never did. I explained this to Ebay and asked them to open an investigation. Their initial response is that a case had been opened and they may reach out to me (the Seller) and/or the buyer to provide additional details. While waiting to hear the status of the investigation from Ebay, the next thing I know, I receive an email from Ebay saying they sided with the buyer and issued them a refund- and the buyer apparently also gets to keep the item and not return it to me. Ebay NEVER sent me any information/ status of their investigation of this case; Nothing saying they had reached out to the buyer and asked them why they did not send the information/ proof I requested. Just ruled in their favor despite the likelihood that they were either scamming me from the start or may have just had “buyer’s remorse”. Now despite my positive selling history after 19 years, I am left with this buyer having a refund and keeping my item- no recourse, really? I now have been scammed twice- first by the buyer, and second by Ebay. *A MESSAGE TO ANY POTENTIAL SELLERS*: Ebay does not protect Sellers like they claim. They, like many other companies these days have become complicit in allowing scammers to benefit, and those of us doing the right thing are truly left to fend for ourselves without recourse, other than escalating to legal action or otherwise. *SELL AT YOUR OWN RISK ON EBAY*.

[dnasilver]

Confused - buyer stated a part was missing - you ask buyer to take a picture of the missing part - How do they take a picture of something that is missing? What was eBay supposed to investigate?

Ebay does lean heavily towards the buyer.

We found it best to have the item returned and then refund. It is possible the person will send a bunch of rocks back but "knock on wood" we have been lucky on the few returns. 

[bonjourami]

Once a seller asks Ebay to step into a case, they will always rule in favor of the buyer. They see the seller as non responsive in handling the buyers complaint.

[bonanza125]

Were you given the opportunity to accept a return then refund after receiving the item back and instead of accepting the return you decided to have the buyer escalate the case and Ebay ruled in the buyers favor? If so this is why you must not leave the decision in Ebay's hands. Accept the return and refund the buyer. Then sell the item to someone else.

[itscalledapostingid]

Demanding photos from the buyer doesn't put the request on hold.

You are required to properly respond to the return request in a timely manner:

How to handle a return request as a seller | eBay

[kensgiftshop]

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@bonanza125 wrote:

Were you given the opportunity to accept a return then refund after receiving the item back and instead of accepting the return you decided to have the buyer escalate the case and Ebay ruled in the buyers favor? If so this is why you must not leave the decision in Ebay's hands. Accept the return and refund the buyer. Then sell the item to someone else.

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Buyer didn't escalate the case, the seller did, which never turns out good for the seller.

[wearmans]

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1. Always tell the buyer to send the item back.
2. Report the buyer if there are any issues. Very Important.
3. You can refund the buyer up to 50%, and for the shipping depending on the reason for return. If the return is due to "does not fit" and you have the measurements in the listing, you don’t need to refund the original shipping. You have a good chance to win on the shipping.
4. Avoid opening a case, as you may lose.

These are my guidelines; they might be helpful for you in the future.

[dbfolks166mt]

     You didn't provide a lot of detail but a couple of things that may have taken place here. 

1. Contacting customer support these days is pretty much useless and can often be to the sellers detriment. Customer support will tell you exactly what you want to hear to get you off the phone even if that means intentionally lying to you. 

2. It is highly unlikely eBay ever opened any kind of "case" (see #1) and may have in fact interpreted your request as asking eBay to step into looking at the claim and as kensgiftshop mentioned, never works out for the seller.

3. I am not sure which of the two sold items this pertains to but both listings state "seller does not accept returns" which does NOT translate to no refunds. 

4. I am going to assume the buyer opened a refund request for Item Not As Described (INAD) which you had 4 days to respond to but failed to officially do as crazystuff4sale  noted. Even if your call did not trigger the request for eBay to step in the buyer may have asked eBay to do so. 

     At this point about your only recourse is through legal avenues. You can file a police report with the buyers local police department although that will probably get little action unless the police department notices a pattern. You can file a small claims court case. You can report the buyer to eBay but since you did not respond to the case and eBay had to step in that too will probably receive little action or response. 

     As a seller of 19 years consider yourself fortunate that this is the first issue you have had with a buyer. Most seasoned sellers are fully aware that eBay provides very limited protection from scammers and/or dishonest buyers and manage those risks in multiple ways. 

[fbusoni]

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@to425cdt wrote:

A buyer purchased an item and after they received it, “claimed” a part on the item was missing and requested a refund.  Before agreeing to a refund,  I requested they send a photo of the part they claim was missing, and they never did. 

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Did the buyer formally request to return the item, or did the buyer communicate with you via eBay messaging?

[luckythewinner]

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@to425cdt wrote:

 *SELL AT YOUR OWN RISK ON EBAY*.

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That has been true on eBay for the entire 19 years that you have been here. And it was formalized as eBay policy in 2008 when they introduced the Money Back Guarantee for buyers.

Based on my reading of this board over the past decade, 19 years without a scam is an impressive run.

[isaiah53-57]

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@to425cdt wrote:

 *A MESSAGE TO ANY POTENTIAL SELLERS*: Ebay does not protect Sellers like they claim. They, like many other companies these days have become complicit in allowing scammers to benefit, and those of us doing the right thing are truly left to fend for ourselves without recourse, other than escalating to legal action or otherwise. *SELL AT YOUR OWN RISK ON EBAY*.

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I believe most reasonable people sell here believing they will have reasonable protections - It is a reasonable assumption - It is an eye-opener for them when they find out they were mostly wrong in that belief...It would appear that anyone with the desire, can steal your item at any time with the simple filing of a fraudulent "Not As Described" case or credit card chargeback... Its literally that simple...

It is the main reason we do not list our items here anymore...

[soh.maryl]

Most of long been aware of the fact that eBay is heavily biased in favor of buyers.

All you had to do was tell the buyer to open an INR case.  He is not required to prove his claim.

How did the buyer get refunded without returning the item? Did you ignore his complaint.

Whoever told you they "had reached out to the buyer" was lying.

How could the buyer send a picture of the part that was missing if they did not have the part?

ALL eBay sellers need to get acquainted with the MBG and how it works.  Can't figure out what happened in your case, but it seems like you may have inadvertently missed a step somewhere.  

[soh.maryl]

The crux of the matter here which isn't clear is whether or not the buyer opened an NAD case and whether or not the OP responded to the case.

If the buyer did indeed open a case, it would have been an NAD case from the OP's message (part missing) in which case the seller would have had to send a prepaid return label and to refund in full upon receipt of the return.  "Doesn't fit" has no play here per the OP's original message.

[newpath13]

"Never had an issue until now"

You've been selling on eBay for 19 years, a problem comes up and now eBay doesn't protect sellers?  One incident in that many years is amazing!  And with everything you've made off eBay over all those years, one hiccup is nothing in the grand picture.  Don't put so much effort into letting it be negative and ruining your day.  

That being said, buyers are what drives eBay revenues, and eBay is going to side with buyers the vast majority of the time.  Even if they refund the buyer themselves and not dock you for it, they want to take care of legitimate buyers.  And if this buyer had positive history with no issues, then there is little reason to doubt them.  Not saying you screwed up, not saying they are scamming, but there is definitely a communication breakdown in what you sold and what they were expecting.  But it's handled now, time to move on. 

[ronzorn]

Interesting perspective.  I still get the sellers point, have had the same thing happen and is very frustrating.