@zmoz wrote:
So, if you're a seller on ebay, chances are you've had to deal with a belligerent, incompetent buyer about something. You probably also know that ebay doesn't care at all about you as a seller, and will do nothing about this, even when you report them multiple times as an abusive buyer.
It's not uncommon for them to start throwing empty threats. Amazon and ebay are teaching them to be extremely stupid and rude, they don't understand ebay is different when you purchase from an individual person, and of course, individual terms are set differently in each listing. Usually being a belligerent buyer just means you get to keep something for free with absolutely no warnings from ebay. (We have ebay to thank for this) They won't enforce their communication guidelines, either.
I am very particular about this if it involves me missing an item or a payment. If a buyer steals an item from me in any way (even with ebay's blessing) I will report both to the postmaster general (mail fraud) and their local police department (theft). Unlikely that anything will be done about it, but at least they will get a warning from law enforcement and it will be on record if they keep it up.
My question is, when should I report threats from buyers to law enforcement? I know most of them are empty, but that does not make it OK. I currently have a buyer sending numerous ebay messages that say things like "I will find you", "I'm going to get you for this", "I will get my money", etc, etc. He keeps insisting that he "knows where I am". Not direct threats of physical harm but I can read between the lines and the intent is obvious if you read the 30+ nasty messages. Ebay has been made aware, ebay has chosen to do nothing. (For reference this buyer is demanding a refund on a non refundable item with no valid reason)
I don't want to waste the time of the police over frivolous things, but on the other hand, people should not get away with making stupid threats just because they are hiding behind a computer. Ebay's answer to this problem is only making it worse than it ever has been. Should I make a police report about stupid threats like this? Should I call their local PD or my local PD?
I'm not particularly asking about this specific buyer, but something similar comes up on a somewhat regular basis. Buyers on ebay seem to be mostly really stupid people, and I'm tired of them getting away with it with absolutely no repercussions.
The threats aren't frivolous. No merchant should be abused or threatened. The customer agrees to a contract on purchase and they need to honor that contract. If they don't like the contract terms, they don't have to buy.
I no longer sell here because of the high rate of fraud. I have been concentrating on my own site and other venues for about 1.5 years now.
I've just had a customer on my own site who defrauded me, taking a picture of an entirely different item, claiming I didn't send them what they bought. I agreed to accept the return. However, I do not have a free returns policy. I reminded them of that and assured them that I would issue a full refund upon return of the item. They then proceeded to threaten me, and tell me they were going to go to PayPal if I did not agree to modify my terms (they agree to my terms at checkout).
As any other business owner would do, I stood by my contract. They then went to PayPal, who told them the same as I did, that they would have to return the item for refund. They were obviously dissatisfied by this, so they went to their CC company and filed a chargeback. I disputed the chargeback, but CC company found in their favor and refunded the money.
However, I have been in touch with both PayPal and the CC company. CC company told me that the customer was instructed to return the item, and that the customer had even provided a tracking number for the return item to the CC company, and that's why the chargeback was approved. However, the CC company refused to provide me the tracking number because I am not the customer. They also informed me that they had dispatched a letter with the appropriate legalize to my address, which will contain said details, and that the I should be receiving said mailing no later than the 11th of this month.
As yet, I have not received anything back from the customer(and I wasn't really shocked by this, the interactions with the customer lead me to believe that they had NO intent to return the item at all). I also have not received anything from the CC company in question. Its been a few weeks. Meanwhile, the customer has my (allegedly incorrect) item in their hands and their money.
In the meantime, I have contacted the police department in the customer's location, who refused to file a report. I then filed an IC3, a case with the IG office, and a case with the Postal Inspector's office. I have also opened a fraud case with PayPal. I attempted to open a fraud case with their CC company but was told I need to wait until 3/11 before they will accept the case.
PayPal has informed me that they have opened a fraud investigation on this customer. No response from IC3. No response from IG office. Postal Inspector's office called me back, today.
In this case, I have clear evidence of chargeback fraud, and I am waiting on the outcome of some of the other pieces before taking further action. Luckily for me, while this customer does not reside in my state, they do live in an adjacent state and are close enough that it is feasible to file suit against them. I intend to do so.
Don't take this lying down. I don't care what you hear on here, but if you continue to let customers rip you off, they are sure to continue to do so.
I've already contacted a lawyer and in the customer's state, should I choose to pursue the case, they are facing a felony with up to 3 year prison sentence for credit card fraud. They can also still be sued for damages in a civil case, and I've already determined that they own quite a nice $600K house I can put a lien against and foreclose on.
