Screwed by customer and ebay won't investigate...

[ncchoppeshoppe]

I sold an item to a relatively new buyer in Canada and he swapped his old broken parts for my parts and complained that they were damaged in shipping.  When I tried to get an ebay  person to investigate, all they would tell me is that when the customer is not happy we give him back his money. After over 20 years of selling on ebay with no problems, they blew me off and refunded this persons payment. I could not get anyone to talk to that did not have a heavy foreign accent. Now I can't sell on ebay anymore as I will never know if I will get paid or screwed. Apparently long time sellers are due no recourse or respect by ebay employees.

[gracieallen01]

Unfortunately, your selling history and record do not carry nearly as much weight as ebay's need for acquiring and keeping buyers.

Some lessons can be a bitter pill.

[castlemagicmemories]

I understand your position.  You have a great record to be sure, twenty years with no problems.  Congratulations on that!

Perhaps you might want to reconsider throwing all that away because of one issue?  One issue in twenty years?  This problem can happen anywhere you sell online; it is not confined to Ebay.

[numisnorway]

Unfortunately everything is automated and the "customer service" is only stating the official line that it is all automated.

[castlemagicmemories]

Is it possible that the parts could have been damaged in shipping?

What do you want Ebay to investigate?

[this*old*attic]

Did you formally report the buyer?

I had a buyer file a bogus INAD awhile back, and packaged the return so poorly she damaged the item.

The “Report Buyer” link allowed me to upload pics. Then I called EBay, and CS was able to look at my listing pics compared to pics of what I got back.

They released my money, although I think she got a courtesy refund (my case was less blatant than yours). 

[gramophone-georg]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

I understand your position.  You have a great record to be sure, twenty years with no problems.  Congratulations on that!

Perhaps you might want to reconsider throwing all that away because of one issue?  One issue in twenty years?  This problem can happen anywhere you sell online; it is not confined to Ebay.

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Sure it CAN, but the odds seem really high here.

If you had a store in the mall, and you were chasing down a shoplifter but mall security tripped you, held the door open for the thief, and pointed him away from the cops... would you renew your lease or find a better mall?

[gracieallen01]

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@numisnorway wrote:

Unfortunately everything is automated and the "customer service" is only stating the official line that it is all automated.

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Yes, that is what CS is paid to do - add a voice to the lines that ebay's policies draw.

[mam98031]

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@ncchoppeshoppe wrote:

I sold an item to a relatively new buyer in Canada and he swapped his old broken parts for my parts and complained that they were damaged in shipping.  When I tried to get an ebay  person to investigate, all they would tell me is that when the customer is not happy we give him back his money. After over 20 years of selling on ebay with no problems, they blew me off and refunded this persons payment. I could not get anyone to talk to that did not have a heavy foreign accent. Now I can't sell on ebay anymore as I will never know if I will get paid or screwed. Apparently long time sellers are due no recourse or respect by ebay employees.

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How do you know the buyer switched the parts?  What is your proof to support your position?

[second-chance-sa1es]

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@gramophone-georg wrote:

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

I understand your position.  You have a great record to be sure, twenty years with no problems.  Congratulations on that!

Perhaps you might want to reconsider throwing all that away because of one issue?  One issue in twenty years?  This problem can happen anywhere you sell online; it is not confined to Ebay.

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Sure it CAN, but the odds seem really high here.

If you had a store in the mall, and you were chasing down a shoplifter but mall security tripped you, held the door open for the thief, and pointed him away from the cops... would you renew your lease or find a better mall?

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Its actually far less of a problem here than in other places. dont get me started on AZ. the ways in which a seller can be screwed is......astonishing. foremost 1 false report out of hundreds and hundreds CAN result in a ban for the seller who was falsely reported against. You are talking total and complete business shut down. A great example. Seller with over 60,000 successful sales and shipments on AZ gets a rash of 6 false reports, business shut down, months of appeals and laying off employees before resolved.

- Your customers package can get stolen from the front doorstep, you as the seller get screwed

- Your customer seals your package from the doorstep, you as the seller get screwed

- Your AZ sorters at the warehouse are being lazy, pressed for time, or needing to improperly shove a few hundred packages into a smaller number of flex routes and your items end up on a route where they were never scanned and your Flex driver decides to be shady. Package vanishes and no one can prove it one way or the other and you as the seller get screwed.

-Your customer makes a sizing mistake or a remorse buy and lies and says item was not as described (all AZ customers know they can skirt responsibility for return shipping by doing this) and you as the seller get screwed

that doesnt even begin to get into issues like the wall that is so high around every single category restriction within that platform. As a paying customer you have to request permission to sell in each category and they want a retina scan, a blood sample and your first born child before they will ALLOW you to sell a screwdriver (Im not kidding)

it sucks when we get screwed here and trust me, Ive swallowed that pill twice in the very very recent past. But its nowhere near as bad as other places.

[second-chance-sa1es]

there are certain trigger phrases you need to use to get real help. The trick is to understand the way that these parts of the companies are structured.

1. These CS employees are given strict prompts and told flat out that if they stray and are reported or if their call happens to be reviewed they can lose their job, end of story, and its not an exaggeration. I have a friend that works in CS for another company and has for more than one company. Shift supervisors have the ability to listen in on a call in real time at most CS companies.

2. What you should do is contact the bay again and try a different phrasing, be distressed but not angry. Explain that you do not feel that its fair that this person is stealing from you and that its a loss you cant afford to take, explain that it will damage your ability to continue selling on ebay because you cant afford the loss, but be kind. if that doesnt work politely ask to speak to a supervisor.

3. if all else fails rinse and repeat until you get the desired effect. and point out your record, your history of doing a good job. of treating customers fairly.

It can happen, you can win because I know because Ive been screwed before.

[tunicaslot]

And you can always appeal - file all the reports - upload those into the appeal and call Ebay right away to have a CS actually look at all the work you did to verify your position and maybe get a courtesy refund.

[second-chance-sa1es]

100% agreed Tunicaslot.

The cold hard reality is simple, We have an ethical responsibility to be fair to our customers, Ebay has an ethical responsibility (and an important business strategy) to protect its buyers (which I think most of us will agree has gone too far into the customers favor) but there is noone here who has an ethical responsibility to protect us besides ourselves. That last sentence will probably make every seller in this forum who reads this angry. But its the cold hard truth.

So here is the solution as sellers we can do two things to help ourselves and to help each other.

1. Be armed with knowledge and understanding of how the system here works. Knowledge of this variety gives you power to help mitigate a percentage of these problems.
2. Post often, ask questions, help others and as cheesy as it may sound, competition or not I would rather help another seller be armed with knowledge and stick around to help keep the platform alive and healthy, than to (pile on without evidence as some sellers seem to do) or give them a lame response like (accept return and move on with life) and watch the seller get more frustrated and leave.

That said sometimes return and maybe appeal is the only protection a seller is going to get.

[robot-hands]

Unless sellers make it financially painful for ebay to continue operating like this it will most certainly continue.

[rainbowcolorz]

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@robot-hands wrote:

Unless sellers make it financially painful for ebay to continue operating like this it will most certainly continue.

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It's unfortunate this happened to a long time seller, and it would really bother me if I were in her/his shoes but if someone claims, as the OP stated  "that they were damaged in shipping"  - how is eBay supposed to investigate?   Even if the package was stamped "damaged in shipping" by the P.O. .... the buyer is entitled to get his $ back, no??  And someone has to pay for the shipping, but certainly not the buyer.  

Maybe eBay could have a Return Resolution Center where they have a fund from which return postage can be taken and paid on behalf of the buyer and seller?

I mean ... wouldn't that loss also be considered "a part of doing business"?   And eBay could possibly just write it off their taxes??