Scammed and eBay won't help!!!!

[since2006atl]

Hello everybody.

I decided to post on here since eBay will not make it right. I sold a laptop on eBay to a new buyer. When they received the item they created a return even though the laptop was working correctly. The laptop was marked delivered to me but never was delivered. I received documents from USPS that they are still in possession of the item. I created a case with eBay and submitted the documents. No answer... I then called again and spoke with an agent that told me the return should have never happened due to the buyer address being a mail forwarding location and not eligible for buyer protection. When I googled the address it pulls up another eBay forum post from the next door address with the same scam. He was returned a box of rocks. here is the link https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Please-Be-Careful-Fraud-Buyers/td-p/32684275/page/2

I called eBay today to see what the status of the 2nd escalated case was and she said both of the escalated cases were denied. At this point it is clear eBay is more concerned with helping scammers than customers that have bought and sold on eBay for more the 20 years. USPS is no help either as it looks like the package was stolen and re-sent into the USPS systems as a smaller item than when it was shipped. It was shipped in the branded computer box so they probably stole it but ended up with rocks...

I posted the USPS document showing they still have it, and the email I got after creating the second escalated case where eBay says it show have never been returned. eBay never followed up after the escalated cases they just deny them and move on with out any documentation. 

[mam98031]

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@since2006atl wrote:

The attachment shows that if they used a mail forwarder that it is not covered.

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I understand.  If the item is actually shipped from the Freight Forwarder to any other address at all, the MBG coverage is suppose to be voided.  That is my understanding of this part of the policy.

[mam98031]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

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@since2006atl wrote:

The attachment shows that if they used a mail forwarder that it is not covered.

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Yes, and that has been overruled and changed, stated by an ebay employee 3+ years ago- simply stops a US Seller from sending a box of rocks and the buyer being out...BUT:

In an FF situation- It is the responsibility of the buyer to ship it BACK to the address that YOU shipped it to (the Freight Forwarder) and then talk the FF to ship it back to you. 

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What has been "overruled and changed"?  The written policy hasn't changed, so what is it exactly that you are saying changed?

That is the only way a buyer can get a return shipping label since the seller is only responsible to the address they shipped to.  However once it gets shipped to another address, the seller no longer has any control on how it was packaged or handled, which is why it voids the MBG for the buyer.

[a_c_green]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

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@since2006atl wrote:

The attachment shows that if they used a mail forwarder that it is not covered.

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Yes, and that has been overruled and changed, stated by an ebay employee 3+ years ago- simply stops a US Seller from sending a box of rocks and the buyer being out...BUT:

In an FF situation- It is the responsibility of the buyer to ship it BACK to the address that YOU shipped it to (the Freight Forwarder) and then talk the FF to ship it back to you. 

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What has been "overruled and changed"?  The written policy hasn't changed, so what is it exactly that you are saying changed?

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That's a reference to a claim that eBay representative Trinton made some years ago. He said that it was not sufficient to simply show that the item was sent to a reshipper address; you had to actually prove (somehow) that it really was forwarded to the buyer elsewhere in order for their MBG claim to be disallowed. His argument was that the item might just have been purchased by someone who worked at the reshipper, in which case that would have been the final address with no forwarding occurring beyond that point.

He stuck to that argument despite it being ridiculous on its face, and was vague about how the seller was supposed to prove the forwarding, even when the buyer himself was obviously registered in another country. (I believe Trinton is still working somewhere else within eBay, but has no further contact with users.)

I don't think that he really had any power to change the rule itself, which remains clear in print, so I would just be sure that if push comes to shove, you have a stored link to that particular exclusion so that whoever you're in contact with can read it for themselves.

[mam98031]

@a_c_green 

You are likely correct.  One thing I found that worked for me, if the buyer filed an INAD, I approved it and issued the return label.  The return label is issued for the address in which the seller shipped to, so the buyer would have to pay their own return shipping from wherever they are, likely the cost would be too expensive.  

In my experience the buyer just ends up going away.  

[robbie31415]

No address voids the eBay MBG.

What that employee said was incorrect, which is why it was covered by eBay's MBG.

The policy refers to services such as freight forwarding and mail redirection, not the address itself. Without evidence that the package was forwarded/redirected, which would pretty much be omission from the buyer via messages, then eBay will still allow the buyer the eBay MBG. However, if you contact them enough you might get a rep that closes the case in your favor, regardless of the actual policy.

eBay Money Back Guarantee policy

Not covered:

• The buyer used third-party freight forwarding or mail redirection

[dbfolks166mt]

     You never mentioned but did eBay refund the buyer and take the funds from your bank or charge it to your CC? If so and you have documentation from the USPS showing the item was never delivered you might try opening a chargeback with your bank or CC company noting that you have never received the item. 

     Also use this for a lesson learned experience. Cell phones, computers and other electronics are one of the favorite targets for the scammers. I would never sell high dollar electronic items on eBay there are FAR too many other less risky ways to sell these type of items.