Scammed and ebay forced the refund! Plus more!

[kyotoma]

Ebay stated since the buyer, forced a return by stating the item is not as promised, They would force me to provide a refund, they stole the money out my bank account that was linked. The buyer then sent in the item as a piece of scrap, stripped down as bare as it could be. Ebay told me i'm liable for the sells fee($58) due to they stepped in and had to help the buyer...WHAT WAIT?! Helped the buyer...Who scammed me? And I am expected to pay these final fees for no reason at all other then ebay forced this upon me. The buyer got his money, I got a paper weight back and ebay insist i pay the $58 OR they send the amount owed to collections. I will never personally sale on ebay again. They literally assist and support buyers who intent to scam sellers. Anyone else have this issue? Or experience in this matter? 

[eleanor*rigby]

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@kyotoma wrote:

Anyone else have this issue? Or experience in this matter? 

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The Selling discussion board is littered with threads about this kind of transaction. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.

[gwzcomps]

Nothing new unfortunately. eBay is no longer a safe place for part time sellers. Be sure to file a Police report, IC3 report and mail fraud report if it went USPS.

[this*old*attic]

Did you try to fight the return rather than accepting it and appealing later?

[this*old*attic]

The perfect shape “no returns “ rifle scope?

[mam98031]

@kyotoma 

All too often new sellers learn this lesson the hard way.  It is so important for anyone considering selling on Ebay to do their homework FIRST.  Learn at least the basic rules before jumping in and selling.  Now I wouldn't expect a new seller to know the best way of handling a return request.  But once you got one you should have jumped into the policies and learned everything you could before assuming and reacting.  That is what cause this to end up how it did.

If you have visited the policies for returns you would have read that if you ask Ebay to step in and they rule in favor of the buyer they will approve the return and once you get it back, you will be refunding them.  Ebay did NOT steal anything from you.  They did exactly what the policy says they will do.  

Also when a seller asks Ebay to step in and if they rule in favor of the buyer, Ebay will NOT refund your FVFs and you will get a defect on your selling account.

Now you can appeal this decision and you really should do that.  Also report the buyer for not returning what you sold to them in the condition you sold it to them.  

I'm really sorry this happened to you and I see this is a pretty expensive lesson too.  That is definitely something that makes this all even harder to swallow.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/appeal-ebays-decision-return-missing-item...

Pull together all your information, take pics and any other evidence you have and then file the appeal.  I sincerely hope this turns out well for you.

[fashunu4eeuh]

It is hard to read about new sellers running afoul of the Money Back Guarantee, but the other poster is right, eBay did not steal your funds, you gave them permission to access your money when you listed your item. Ebay expects sellers to know the policies that govern the site. Below are some links to information that may help you if you decide to continue selling. Sorry you got stung. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement?id=4259

[coolections]

@eleanor*rigby 

A small exaggeration but that is OK because these discussion boards are littered with exaggerations.

OP, file a police report and postal fraud report. Someone may come by with the links to do so. But if they do not just google it.

[2dz_a2z]

Police will tell you it is a Civil Matter ie Small Claims Court.    The problem with online selling is that NO ONE can prove what a seller sends the buyer.   Not even Ebay.  And unfortunately folks are discovering we are living in a dishonest society.  

[modern-abode-2001]

several times. ive been with ebay 20 years and I think 2019 was my last

[inhawaii]

Welcome to ebay!

[luckythewinner]

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@kyotoma wrote:

 Ebay told me i'm liable for the sells fee($58) due to they stepped in and had to help the buyer...WHAT WAIT?! 

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In the eBay user agreement ...

1) eBay promises every buyer a money back guarantee

2) you agreed to let eBay to make the final decision in money back guarantee cases

... consider those two things together and perhaps you will be less surprised about what happened! 

[dazzlecity]

here's what disturbs me the most - as the OP stated: "OR they send the amount owed to collections."

It recently happened to a friend/fellow long term seller I know. He was speaking to a foreign C/S rep. I've been hearing that phrase more and more. C/S never used to say that and it seems like a new fall back comment their sending sellers now. Is this the mob mentality from the Philippines?

Here's what I do - first I use a PO box so I'm at the PO everyday. Occasionally - I mean not very often but it does happen that I get a return. I always open my returns at the PO counter.  If a fraud has occurred - I pull the picture of the sold  item up on my phone and the po clerk immediately files the fraud report.  Funny how postal fraud resolves most issues without ebay getting involved.

Yes my box does cost me $140 a year (deductible operational expense) - worth every penny not having my home address exposed to the really weird world we all live in these days.

[ittybitnot]

In the eBay user agreement ...

Even if you read the user agreement, all rules and policy pages, it does not prepare you for what actually happens.  

Basically, if you are a seller on ebay you 'agree' to be made a monetary victim of buyer fraud in which ebay will gladly assist the perp.