eBay

15da-da25 · ‎01-18-2023

After my conversation with the supervisor, I feel I am in the reality of George Orwell's novel 1984 where he said truth is lie, freedom is slavery, and war is peace. This was a bad day in my life. I lost hope in justice.

krasiva1 · ‎01-18-2023

What happened?

krazzykats · ‎01-18-2023

false return case - The eBay Community

KrazzyKats • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1998

15da-da25 · ‎01-19-2023

A buyer opened a false case for returning, choosing the reason "Doesn't match description or photos." She didn’t contact me or provide any evidence, but said the item was smaller than what the picture showed. It was a 14K gold chain with pendant. I provided pictures of the item lying next to a ruler, so she knew the exact size. Also, I provided a picture of the item with a 10-cent coin. Also, I provided a picture of the weight, 1 gram. I don’t believe I did anything that was wrong, but eBay made me accept the return and I have to pay for shipping.

I talked with three eBay agents who looked at the case and said I did everything correctly and I had to wait until I could escalate the case. Two minutes after I had escalated the case, I received a message that I had lost the case. I talked with a supervisor and asked him if this dishonest buyer sent the item back damaged what I could do. He told me I couldn’t do anything because I lost the case and eBay would not help me. If that happened, it would mean I would lose both shipping and the cost of the item. When I asked the supervisor why all three eBay agents told me I was correct, and everything would be OK (I have all reference numbers with whom I spoke) – just wait for the escalation – he told me all three eBay agents were wrong and he would report them.

Does anyone have any suggestions and what I could do?

pburn · ‎01-19-2023

@15da-da25 wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions and what I could do?

You can provide a mailing label to the buyer, wait for the item to be returned, and refund the transaction when you receive the item from the buyer.

As a TRS, you can exercise your seller protections, including a subsidy on your return mailing label and a reduction in the refund if the item is returned to you in a condition other than that when shipped to the buyer.

Additional Seller Protections for Top Rated Sellers

We protect all sellers from abusive buying behavior and from events outside their control. Your track record matters on eBay, and we’ll support you when you deliver on your service promise and provide a good buying experience.

Top Rated Sellers who reside in the US and list on eBay.com receive additional protections benefits when they offer 30-day-or-longer returns.

Return shipping label credit for false “item not as described” claims

If a buyer falsely claims an item was “not as described,” we’ll protect you on eligible transactions. We’ll reimburse your return shipping label cost up to $6 per return. You’ll receive the return shipping label credit on your monthly invoice and we’ll automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

Up to 50% refund deduction for decreased value on used or damaged returns

When you issue a refund for an item that was returned after it was used or damaged by a buyer, and you have a track record of delivering on your service promise, we’ll give you the ability to protect yourself by deducting up to 50% of the refund to recover the decreased value of the item. If there are any issues with buyers that may negatively impact you, we’ll take care of them by removing any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

wastingtime101 · ‎01-19-2023

@pburn wrote:
As a TRS, you can exercise your seller protections, including a subsidy on your return mailing label and a reduction in the refund if the item is returned to you in a condition other than that when shipped to the buyer.

For future OP can keep that in mind. For the current transaction that ship sailed as soon as she asked eBay to step in and they forced the process. If the buyer returns the item a full refund will be automated once tracking confirms delivery and OP loses the fees and gets an unresolved case defect on top of everything.

I hate reading these threads where CS leads sellers down a harmful path.

GLORIOUS!

wastingtime101 · ‎01-19-2023

@15da-da25 wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions and what I could do?

Hey @15da-da25. For this transaction there's not much you can do. Wait for the item to come back and see what's returned. More likely than not you'll receive the same item in the same condition. After viewing the listing this is likely a buyer that didn't like how small it was, and to get around your no returns policy they filed a claim.

Since this was escalated when you hit the ask eBay to step in button, the system will auto-refund the buyer when tracking shows delivered. Your fees on this will not be credited and you will receive an unresolved case defect on your account.

The most help I can offer is advising how to handle things differently in the future. First I'd suggest reading up on eBay's money back guarantee policy and also eBay seller performance & return policy pages. That will give you a better idea of the structure.

If you'd like the option of receiving the TRS seller protections outlined by the above poster, you'd have to change from a no returns policy to a 14 days or better returns policy for jewelry (30 days or better for most other categories). If that's not something you're interested in you can keep your no returns policy.

I'd also suggest coming here for advice in the future instead of calling CS. Sellers here will generally offer quick responses with accurate advice, and if there's something we can't solve we can point you to the best CS point of contact.

I know none of that will take away the sting from this transaction, but hopefully the financial loss (which is a loss you can account for when you file your taxes) is minimal and you can quickly make up the difference with your next sale.

GLORIOUS!

kensgiftshop · ‎01-19-2023

@pburn wrote:
@15da-da25 wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions and what I could do?
You can provide a mailing label to the buyer, wait for the item to be returned, and refund the transaction when you receive the item from the buyer.

As a TRS, you can exercise your seller protections, including a subsidy on your return mailing label and a reduction in the refund if the item is returned to you in a condition other than that when shipped to the buyer.

Additional Seller Protections for Top Rated Sellers

We protect all sellers from abusive buying behavior and from events outside their control. Your track record matters on eBay, and we’ll support you when you deliver on your service promise and provide a good buying experience.
Top Rated Sellers who reside in the US and list on eBay.com receive additional protections benefits when they offer 30-day-or-longer returns.

Return shipping label credit for false “item not as described” claims

If a buyer falsely claims an item was “not as described,” we’ll protect you on eligible transactions. We’ll reimburse your return shipping label cost up to $6 per return. You’ll receive the return shipping label credit on your monthly invoice and we’ll automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

Up to 50% refund deduction for decreased value on used or damaged returns

When you issue a refund for an item that was returned after it was used or damaged by a buyer, and you have a track record of delivering on your service promise, we’ll give you the ability to protect yourself by deducting up to 50% of the refund to recover the decreased value of the item. If there are any issues with buyers that may negatively impact you, we’ll take care of them by removing any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

I thought they had to accept returns to qualify, which they don't.

Have A Great Day.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎01-19-2023

In some categories, 'accepting returns' is NOT required; but in most categories, they are required.

pburn · ‎01-19-2023

@kensgiftshop wrote:
I thought they had to accept returns to qualify, which they don't.

@kensgiftshop

No, not for TRS. You must be thinking of TR+ listings.

@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

In some categories, 'accepting returns' is NOT required; but in most categories, they are required.

@stainlessenginecovers They are required for TR+ listings, not for TRS.

Qualify as a Top Rated Seller

To become a Top Rated Seller, you must meet the following guidelines:

An eBay account that’s been active for at least 90 days.
100 or more transactions and $1,000 in sales during the last 12 months with US buyers.
A defect rate less than or equal to 0.5%, with three or fewer defects from unique buyers.
Cases closed without seller resolution less than or equal to 0.3%, and two or fewer cases.
A late shipment rate less than or equal to 3%, and five or fewer late shipments.
Tracking uploaded within your stated handling time, and carrier validation for 95% of transactions to US buyers.

Once you meet these requirements, we will automatically upgrade you to the Top Rated Seller status at your next evaluation.

Top Rated Plus

As a Top Rated Seller, you can qualify for a Top Rated Plus seal and additional benefits when your listings offer the following services:

Same or one-business-day handling, and
A 30-day-or-longer free return period with money back option.

You can choose to offer these in some or all listings. For listings that qualify, you earn the following benefits

The Top Rated Plus seal, displayed prominently in search results and your listing description.
A 10% discount on final value fees.

sapphire_studio · ‎01-19-2023

You can't take 50% off for damaged returns unless you offer 30 day returns (buyer paid returns works for this)

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/protections/top-rated-program

wastingtime101 · ‎01-19-2023

@kensgiftshop wrote:
I thought they had to accept returns to qualify, which they don't.

Correct. https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protections?id=4345#section4

GLORIOUS!

wastingtime101 · ‎01-19-2023

@wastingtime101 wrote:
If you'd like the option of receiving the TRS seller protections outlined by the above poster, you'd have to change from a no returns policy to a 14 days or better returns policy for jewelry (30 days or better for most other categories). If that's not something you're interested in you can keep your no returns policy.

Correction to my above statement. The 14 days for jewelry as part of "select categories" is for TRS+ listing status and it needs to be 14 day free returns.

What I intended to suggest to the OP is reviewing regular TRS protections and for those a 30 day returns policy is required (does not have to be free returns) per the link I posted a few minutes ago.

GLORIOUS!

mtgraves7984 · ‎01-19-2023

@15da-da25

For what it's worth... moving forward, you might want to revisit your Returns policy. It is true that as TRS, you'd only have to offer 30-day (Buyer pays) Returns to have one of the last seller protections left, which is the ability to discount the (impending) full refund in these cases. 'No Returns' is really the worst of all, in my opinion, but I digress...

Another FWIW... I find that if an item sells once, it will again. In the future, you could approve such Return requests, adjust the price to make up for any loss and relist it for the right buyer.

You've learned a lesson... we empathize. I'm sure many sellers made the same mistake... that one time. Good luck.

coolections · ‎01-19-2023

Can you imagine if they told every seller that they must accept the return regardless. They would just have to have a procedure to hangup on the customer as soon as they completed the sentence. No one would ever agree to what they said so the best choice is for CS to say anything possible to get them off. I do feel bad for the seller and the buyer in this case. That pendant you almost need a microscope to see it so I can see both sides here.