Scammed or Not, not much choice...

[dkproducts]

Im a fairly new seller ... 60 days in, 90 items shipped.  Buyer purchased two ceramic beer steins two days apart so had two different shipments from me.  Packed as well as I usually do.  This weekend I received a return request from Ebay for the first one with pictures.  The return request was confusing because it listed the title of the second one that hadnt been delivered yet but included pictures of the first one.   The description of what was wrong stated that the box was undamaged and neither was the internal packaging but the stein lid had broken off at the hinge and the lid also had large chips broken off it.  The buyer stated that I must have sent her a broken stein since the packaging was undamaged and that I was a complete scam.  An hour after the first return request came in, I received a second one for the second stein, which was scheduled to be delivered to her later in the day.  It had the correct title but same description and pictures as the first one.   I refunded her for the first one and sent her a private message asking if the second one was a mistake since she hadnt received it yet.  I offered that if she received the second one in good shape, she would have to cancel the return request and keep it.  The next day I received a message back showing the second one broken with similar damage, lid broken at the hinge and unacceptable.  I refunded her money to try and prevent bad feedback and counted it up as a loss.  Will pursue a USPS claim.   The more I thought about it and looking at the pictures, the more I am thinking I may have been scammed so that the buyer could get replacement pieces for broken items they already had.   The first picture was of the 'unopened' package in thier attempt to show that the box was undamaged.... uh, why take a picture of an completely sealed unopened package before you know the condition of the contents inside unless you have a 'plan'.  Its water under the bridge now as I refunded both right away.  What are your thoughts, should I have waited, disputed, and risked the buyer damaging my 100% feedback?  

[shag182]

Even though you sold plenty, scammers still see you as a NEWBIE seller with FREE is a very good price on their shady minds. Are the steins the ones for $60 plus each I see on your SOLD list?  REFUND or not to refund immediately is a judgement call and your comfort level.  Most who will comment will say NOT to until you get the itemS back. But I also can see you as a newbie, the FB angle is important, but don't let FB cloud your judgement.  $60 or so each is still a lot of cash.  Yeah the buyer taking a picture of the unopened box smells sketchy, very sketchy.  For me personally, the $60 or so dollar amount for each, I would of refunded and call it a day as well.  Oh, since you don't have the broken itemS and the packaging, filing a claim with USPS is a loss cause, even if you did have those items, it's an up hill battle having USPS paying the claim.

But, you did what you did. Case close move on, NO stress. 

NOTE: Be sure to ADD this buyer to your BLOCK BUYERS LIST!!! STAT!!! ❤️

All the best to YOU on your selling endeavors -

[caldreamer]

No, you shouldn't dispute claim...EBAY always sides with the customer.   If you dispute claim and lose case (you get charged $20 fee) plus you get a defect on your account.

Selling online is a gamble because you cannot choose your customers.   

[reallynicestamps]

In future, tell the customer to open a Claim.

You don't have to tell them  how to do this.

Many sketchey buyers are no longer eligible for the Money Back Guarantee because they made "too many" claims, and telling them to open the Claim stops them right away.

The Claim will tell you to send a Return Shipping Label.

If the buyer doesn't use it, eventually it will be refunded.

If the buyer doesn't return the item, he loses his claim.

When you get the item back, and only then, refund him.

Feedback is not used by eBay to assess member accounts.

It is a legacy of the 20th century internet when buying online was new and scary and not how we buy underwear and plant food.

Given the strangeness of the photo of an undamaged parcel for a Not As Described/damaged claim, I would contact eBay through their social media accounts and  ask about appeals.

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that mean giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.


https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.

Your post sets out most of the situation. You might want to remove the emotion to make it clearer to the rep.

Third party insurance is fine, but usually only pays out for delayed or lost mail.  For damages, they will claim poor packaging unless there is obvious proof that the carrier's truck ran over the parcel.

Consider using Cookie Jar Insurance instead. Cheaper and more effective.
 

[fab_finds4u]

Have you read the post titled  Giant memes in posts- what can be done? (3-30-23

Community Info-eBay Community Mentors board)

[itsjustasprain]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

Have you read the post titled  Giant memes in posts- what can be done? (3-30-23

Community Info-eBay Community Mentors board)

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I really hope they will crack down on posts with those big stupid unfunny meme images. Total waste of space and bandwidth - especially on a mobile device. I cannot find the post you are referring to in the Mentors board - can you post a link?

It might be better to post about it in the Share Community Platform Feedback group instead as they have the authority to do something about it.

[bonjourami]

Did you double box those fragile items? If not, one hard knock could cause damage without damage to the outer box. And you might not be able to collect the insurance if the p.o. says 'insufficient packaging'.

[fab_finds4u]

Not sure if non Mentors have  access to the board it's on, but the url is

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Community-Mentor-Lounge/Giant-memes-in-posts-can-anything-be-done/m-p/...

[pjcdn2005]

I do remember once reading about customer service closing an nad claim once they were shown that the item hadn't been delivered when the claim was opened. But I probably wouldn't assume that the same situation would be treated in exactly the same way.    I'm not sure what I would have done in your situation though I probably would not have refunded both of them without requiring a refund.   But each seller handles things like that in different ways.

[pjcdn2005]

I have to agree that posts with huge fonts and memes are really annoying so I usually just scroll past them.  I don't understand the point of doing that and would like to see there being some sort of rules about it.

[fab_finds4u]

I'm sure I copied the url right but it's not found by clicking on it. I just looked at it 10 seconds ago. It's  the 6 post on the eBay Community Mentors board under Community Info.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

The link you posted was to the Mentors Lounge.

I don't know if they can move threads from the Mentor board but it should have been moved to Community Platform feedback.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Not just the HUGE unfunny gifs & pics but the huge fonts taking up half a screen per post.

[a_c_green]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

I'm sure I copied the url right but it's not found by clicking on it. I just looked at it 10 seconds ago. It's  the 6 post on the eBay Community Mentors board under Community Info.

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Just as a data point: the address within the link you posted was slightly corrupted somehow, with a "%2C" encoded in place of the period in "ebay.com," but when I corrected that link as shown here: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Community-Mentor-Lounge/Giant-memes-in-posts-can-anything-be-done/m-p/... 

...I'm getting an Access Denied in return, so it appears that us students cannot get into the Teachers' Lounge. 😁

I second the recommendation to bring it up in the Share Community Platform Feedback group instead; it seems to be more relevant there, and others can chime in there as well.

[dkproducts]

Yes, I did double box plus bubble plus packaging paper ... I did not tape down the lid specificallly but the bubble wrap secured it in place.  If there was any play there, I could accept possible chipping but not complete unhinging of the lid as the pictures showed.  Do my best when shipping fragile items but sometimes even our best efforts fall short, right?