buyer claims item not as described and sends me pics of a beat up pair of sunglasses?

[cybertwin1]

Sold a pair of used sunglasses and indicated some scratches on lend and it was preowned but in good shape. after buy it now i send him a message asking if he is sure they will work for him because i dont want a return.He says they will be fine and so i send them.

Now he sends me a message saying he realizes i mentioned the scratches but they are too scratched to see out of and sends me like 5-6 pics of the "same" style frame glasses(oakleys) but beat to **bleep** with super scratched lenses and gouged up frames.

He says he will be ok with a partial refund of just the shipping($5)

I call ebay to ask them about this and direct them to my listing and the pics the buyer sent me and how they are obviously NOT the same glasses..maybe a similar style but not the ones i listed and i sent to him.

He then messages me that he is out of town and when he gets back  HE WIll open a return and let ebay deal with it.

I call ebay again and now they tell me he has a valid return. So i sent him a message that i am open to a partial refund if he open a return.

I know they are not the same glasses i sent him from the pics but ebay seems to always side with the buyer in cases like this and i dont want a beat up pair of sunglasses back to toss out. Totally bummed but  we will see.

[emerald40 · Accepted solution]

Yup, $5 back is going to suddenly allow him to see out of these severely scratched glasses.

IMO partials = scam.

Return for refund.

[oaklandmaryland]

THIS SCAM HAPPENS FREQUENTLY BECAUSE EBAY ALLOWS IT. SAD!!!!!!!!!!

[blijeolifantje]

If $5 was worth his reputation then have pity on him to think that way and help him. Issue the $5 and be done. Sad but what can u do when people want to scam. Karma will find its way if it has not already done so.

[cargo11]

Returns the "bad" glasses and they are NOT what you sent to him - Please report your buyer to Ebay for Fraud.

[Anonymous]

Never admit to a partial refund unless you are at fault, your buyer seems to be pulling a classic ruse, tell him to return for a full refund - don't back down. If he sends you back **bleep** or a brick then lodge a complaint with his local police and the USPS fraud division. It may not get your money back but it will put the scum on the radar.

[bnbsellingtime]

Sad this is allowed to happen. Of course OP should stand up but he is not selling much and has one recent neg and another is going to be a hard blow when it happens. The buyer probably knows this and probably knows how to make one stick.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, this the eBay we all have come to know and love... screw me, yes, please deal me in with the pooper or whatever deemed proper.

[alehkhi3]

ok end result>>

He wanted $7 partial. I called ebay 2x on this and they told me he has a legit claim for not as described even though the fella that helped me said he can see my listing pics and the buyers pics show 2 completely diff glasses( same style but his were severly beat up)

anyhow so i figured he would just likely return the beat up pair to me and  ebay would refund him from my paypal the full amount plus i would have to pay shipping back as well...A total lose situation for me.

So i refunded him $7 from his open case and am done with him. Not happy at all with ebay telling me on one call not to worry i am covered and on the 2nd call telling me that a buyers pics dont even matter here and if he says they are not as described then he has a valid return/refund. So sad.

I have run across the 3 times now with various items in 10 years out of hundreds of items i have sold. So its not a high percentage and i try to keep my items lower priced to maybe avoid this with buyers.

[chipper01work]

So to sum it up, the eBay rep told you he was able to see that the sunglasses the buyer was using a "proof" of SNAD were not the same one's in the listing. So eBay has facilitated yet another theft of money from one of it's users. It's nice to be associated with such an honorable company, isn't it?

[cybertwin1]

I AGREE...its odd that ebay wouldnt say.."sir..the glasses in your pics are clearly not the same glasses in the sellers listing so i am sorry but this will be denied.
"

do that a few times to obvious scammers and i think it would cut down on it alot.

[markchristiariver_0]

Ebay Sellers always have an option to appeal in a case that was closed in the buyer's favor. With this scenario, I'm sorry to hear that you find this is a scam and you think eBay always sides with the buyer.  Sellers may think that eBay always side to the buyer's because they lose on the case. Have you tried calling eBay and asked them an option when you received a returned item that is not the same as what you sent? Let me give you a heads up. You request for a faulty return if you can prove that what has been sent back to you is not the same as what you sent. You can always call eBay and ask for other options if you're going to lose on a case. Hope this help.

[gone_4_good]

report him immediately for misusing returns
only thing you can do but is effective (eventually)

[luckythewinner]

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@cybertwin1 wrote:

I call ebay to ask them about this and direct them to my listing and the pics the buyer sent me and how they are obviously NOT the same glasses

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That does not prove that you sent the glasses pictured in your listing.

If eBay ruled in favor of the seller based solely on the pictures in a listing, then a whole lot of unscrupulous sellers would be picturing Louis Vuitton bags and shipping K-Mart bags and then winning the SNAD cases.  

[postingid2017]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Never admit to a partial refund unless you are at fault, your buyer seems to be pulling a classic ruse, tell him to return for a full refund - don't back down. If he sends you back **bleep** or a brick then lodge a complaint with his local police and the USPS fraud division. It may not get your money back but it will put the scum on the radar.

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I've been saying this all along, it is the proper thing to do - thank you