Why is eBay facilitating scammers?

[csan2c]

Long story short, I sold an expensive lens, buyer asked me to ship to alternate address, I shipped, item was in possession of foreign postal service for almost 2 weeks and in that time buyer instituted "non delivery" dispute, then received the item but never closed the the dispute and eBay refunded buyer for the item 5 days after buyer received item.

I have been in phone contact at last a half dozen times with eBay explaining this situation (in detail) and EACH TIME, I wait and then receive an email from their appeals dept. that indicates they have no understanding of the situation. Even after I deal directly with the appeals dept., they still are playing dumb and suggesting that I send the buyer an invoice for the funds (my funds) that eBay refunded to buyer, yes the same buyer who has ignored the 3 eBay messages I have sent him about the refund.

Buyer only closed the dispute after I asked him to, coincidentally the same day he received the forced  refund.

I've been on eBay for 23 years, and I'm at a loss here. This is an $800. item and clearly eBay is in the wrong. Is there an actual way to reach someone at eBay who has the capacity to understand that they refunded a winning bidder 5 days after the winning bidder received the item they won in an auction?

[hawkwind5454]

"On eBay for 23 years"... And yet you sell an $800 item to a changed address, which is not documented/verified with eBay (or PP, if you haven't switched to MP), without realizing there are just some things the seller should NOT do, in the *new eBay*?  Plus you also should have realized that eBay has turned in to quite a scary place; A seller needs to verticulate in a prophylactic manner. It's much easier to prevent, than it is to cure. I don't know that there is a fix to your problem as there are just too many eBay sellers, who

 post same here on the boards. I personally have never heard of a positive seller resolve in this situation. But then I don't get out much. ☺️ 

[myescape]

EBay expects you to protect yourself by following the policies of the site which include ONLY shipping to the address in the order details.By not doing so you are no longer covered by the little seller protection eBay offers

[stlbbrpm]

Never ever ship to a address other than what is registered with ebay.

[csan2c]

Yes, thanks, I understand that. Bottom line. The winning bidder received the item they paid for.

[csan2c]

One of the actual eBay humans I dealt with actually admitted that I did the right thing by shipping to the alternate address.

[csan2c]

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@hawkwind5454 wrote:

"On eBay for 23 years"... And yet you sell an $800 item to a changed address, which is not documented/verified with eBay (or PP, if you haven't switched to MP), without realizing there are just some things the seller should NOT do, in the *new eBay*?  Plus you also should have realized that eBay has turned in to quite a scary place;

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I never imagined it'd be a problem. They paid for the item, so what difference should it make? It's not some 3rd party, it's the winning bidder. And yeah, now I realize that my days on eBay are numbered.

Me and eBay.

[hawkwind5454]

Oh, I used to do the same thing, and not think twice about it.... And thankfully, I didn't have to learn that lesson through experience.  Can you believe it.... one of the first things I sold on eBay back in 2003 was a 1936 Art Deco Spartan radio... I sold it for $3,500! (Auction with a reserve of that figure) I then not only sold that expensive of an item on eBay, but I also shipped it to the doctor-buyers clinic, instead of his home address which was on file with eBay. Thankfully everything turned out. But that is something that today, would just curl my toes and make my palms sweat, even to think about it. But I felt this guy was a doctor, so he should be a straight shooter. The longer I was on eBay, I realized that some buyers, actually lie...Who knew??  I'm sorry that all of this happened to you, and it was a very expensive learning experience, but it has cost other sellers much more than $800. Maybe you should entertain NOT leaving eBay, but just tweak your modus operandi a bit. I have said it before, I still feel that eBay is the best selling platform for non-mass produced, cookie-cutter items. 

[releasethekraken_1]

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@csan2c wrote:

One of the actual eBay humans I dealt with actually admitted that I did the right thing by shipping to the alternate address.

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As usual, the actual eBay human was wrong.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@csan2c wrote:

Yes, thanks, I understand that. Bottom line. The winning bidder received the item they paid for.

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What proof do you have of this?

[pcobra93]

This is just one of the 20 reason why I would NEVER ship overseas outside of the GSP.

[csan2c]

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@releasethekraken_1 wrote:

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@csan2c wrote:

Yes, thanks, I understand that. Bottom line. The winning bidder received the item they paid for.

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What proof do you have of this?

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Are you serious?

[csan2c]

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@hawkwind5454 wrote:

it was a very expensive learning experience, but it has cost other sellers much more than $800. Maybe you should entertain NOT leaving eBay, but just tweak your modus operandi a bit. I have said it before, I still feel that eBay is the best selling platform for non-mass produced, cookie-cutter items. 

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Oh, it's not over yet. And sorry, but after paying 10's of thousands in fees to eBay over the years, I think I should be able to expect some consideration here. They refunded a buyer who received the item they paid for. Not sure where the conflict is here. They're penalizing me for not following a rule I wasn't aware of?

[csan2c]

OK, sure, but they received the item they paid for.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@csan2c wrote:

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@releasethekraken_1 wrote:

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@csan2c wrote:

Yes, thanks, I understand that. Bottom line. The winning bidder received the item they paid for.

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What proof do you have of this?

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Are you serious?

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Yes. What proof do you have?