eBay let buyer return an item and it was sent to a wrong address and it was lost!

[roy8765]

Around a month ago, I sold a used laptop on eBay, clearly mentioning in the item description that the battery was not good and it could hold only about half an hour of charge (to the best of my knowlege) and that returns were not accepted.  The buyer claimed that the battery was bad and requested a return which I declined.  However, eBay let the buyer return it and they even provided a return address to him which was 11 years old without asking me first and the laptop was sent to a wrong address.  I never received the laptop and for all practical purposes, the ~$250 laptop is lost!  I appealed eBay's decision multiple times and they always rejected my appeal and forced me to fully refund the buyer plus shipping.  Eventually I asked for their legal department and I'm considering suing eBay in a small claims court.  What are my options and chances of success here?  Any advice from the community and the sellers who have been in this situation?

This is a pretty clear mess up on eBay's part....  They turned a long time customer into an active enemy!  Any lawyers who would like to take this case on my behalf?

[goodluckselling]

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@lewisburggold wrote:

Thats great .  Most that fight returns are losing the money and item.  have been watching it happen for months.  Defending that is wrong.

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If a seller has a return policy it is for any reason.  It really does not matter what the reason is for.  If that same seller refuses a return for whatever reason it stands to reason the seller does not want the item back so eBay moves forward with the promises they outline in the MBG.

If the seller does not have a return policy eBay still requires a return for any reason that is not buyers remorse (it does not matter if the buyer is using a valid reason or not) (that is all up to the seller to pursue if they want) and based on the policies they require the buyer to return within the windows they have set in order to get refunds.

So nothing is automatic as you are suggesting.  Actions are required from either side and sometime both sides before a refund is issued.

Good Luck Selling!

[castlemagicmemories]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

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@roy8765 wrote:
As the accepted answer has indicated, according to eBay’s own policy, buyers are responsible for reading the item description. In this particular case, the buyer should not have been allowed to return the item and get a refund. This case was clearly mishandled and I’m looking into legal channels to recover my damages and also help other “real and independent” sellers in similar situations. I’m afraid eBay has messed with the wrong guy this time around.

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Hopefully your legal services are free.

If your legal services representative(s) has any experience/sense/honesty they should immediately let you know that you are whizzing in the wind.

Request from USPS that they go recover the item that they delivered to the wrong person(s).

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The USPS did not deliver it to the wrong person?   They delivered it as it was addressed.

Good Luck Selling!

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True.

[buyselljack2016]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

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@roy8765 wrote:
As the accepted answer has indicated, according to eBay’s own policy, buyers are responsible for reading the item description. In this particular case, the buyer should not have been allowed to return the item and get a refund. This case was clearly mishandled and I’m looking into legal channels to recover my damages and also help other “real and independent” sellers in similar situations. I’m afraid eBay has messed with the wrong guy this time around.

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Hopefully your legal services are free.

If your legal services representative(s) has any experience/sense/honesty they should immediately let you know that you are whizzing in the wind.

Request from USPS that they go recover the item that they delivered to the wrong person(s).

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The USPS did not deliver it to the wrong person?   They delivered it as it was addressed.

Good Luck Selling!

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Sure they did. Wrong person. The addresse is not only the "physical address", but also includes (at least in many areas) to whom it is being delivered.

A customer having moved 11 years previous would probably not stike  the carrier as being wrong because of employee turn over in most places, but the name on the package should have raise a couple of flags for the delivery, as it in all likelyhood, it did not match the name for any other mail being delivered that day, or any other.

One office that I worked at.  Mail got delivered that was not for that person.( I did not do it). Return of the item was requested. Recipient claimed... did not know anything about it/or did not have it.( many years ago. I don't remember exact response)  Postmaster let them know that the item needed to be returned, or the postal inspection service would be paying them a visit. ( possibly an empty threat) Item suddenly became available.

[cadbury0007]

Everybody has had a 'bad buyer', so this is really about where the item was returned to.   You want to shift the blame to eBay, but it sounds like you should be mad at yourself for not updating the address. Nobody likes to admit that they were wrong, but it happens. Once you found out where the package was headed, why didn't you fix that problem with the post office online? You could have rerouted the package to the correct address (at a cost to you), but at least you would still have the laptop. You have the tools available to you to take care of a lot of problems, if you look for them.  I've been reading the boards here for only a short time (they can be very entertaining to read), but it seems like I've read about a seller who listed an item in the 'parts/not working' section and still had a return, so nothing is perfect.  You got a bad buyer (not your fault), you refused to find a way to make them happy so they would keep the laptop (that's on you) and you never updated your old address (again, that's on you).   That 2 out of 3 against you.  A lesson learned sometimes comes at great cost.  Tomorrow is a new day and a fresh start.  Learn from your mistakes and move on.

[sidemouse]

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@roy8765 wrote:
The bigger and root-cause problem here is that why the heck eBay lets lazy or fraudulent buyers return stuff with their "No Returns" policy? The buyer has already accepted the risk when ordering the item. I personally never buy "No Returns" items, but when a buyer does, it should be their sole responsibility.... I absolutely will never sell anything on eBay again and I now actively advise all my friends to refrain from doing so.

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You are absolutely correct, however you can refuse the return and issue the refund.

You do NOT have to allow ebay or the buyer to return the item, you are always welcome to let them keep the item which brings forth another question, why didn't you?

[roy8765]

Because I never suspected that eBay would allow a return and refund as it was obvious to me that the buyer could not claim INAD due to an accurate item description (the buyer claimed the battery was bad for the reason to return which was exactly as I'd described!!) That's why I declined the return and didn't bother to check my return address. eBay didn't even send a confirmation email to me with the return address before authorizing the return. Any way if eBay is found at fault in this case, I'm sure my lawyer will make them pay for all damages (and probably a lot more than that) and it doesn't really matter that I didn't have an up-to-date return address due to the precedence of the root cause default from their side.

Btw, I did try to return it to the sender (i.e. the buyer), but the buyer does not respond to my inquiries whether he's received it or not. And the buyer does not live in Champaign either:

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?tRef=fullpage&tLc=2&text28777=&tLabels=4206182193019201...

[brema-82]

eBay won't be found at fault.

YOU were negligent in updating your address.

A good lawyer won't take your case, you might get lucky and find a shyster to rip you off

[roy8765]

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@brema-82 

Your opinion is duly noted.  The lawyer won't be charging anything if he doesn't win the case.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

Fully functional means EVERY PART of the item is working 100%. The battery was and is part of the item and it is not fully functional by your own addmission.....so you are giving conflicting information in a listing which you cannot do....it is NOT ALLOWED.

YOU chose to have a no return policy and YOU FORCED the buyer to file a dispute to deal with this issue. EBay did not have anything to do with your choices...and you left the buyer no other option to resolve this issue.

Buyer won the dispute because your item was NOT 100% fully function as you claimed, again by your own addmission....in black and white in the listing.
Basically you helped them win the dispute....won it for them.

You are also REQUIRED to keep your personal info up to date. YOU DID NOT.
Because YOU did not keep your personal info up to date the return was sent to the address on file which was not the correct address because YOU did not bother to keep it up to date.

Buyer returned the item and Postal Service delivered to the address YOU had on file. EBay did not have anything to do with you not keeping your personal info up to date. All they can do is tell you to keep it up to date.

Everything that happened could have been avoided had YOU listed the item properly and kept your personal info up to date. This is all 100% on you ...NOT ebay.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

Such civil cases ...small claims cases are NOT done on contingency by any lawyers....there is just not enough money involved for them to do anything so you can get back a couple hundred dollars. And contingency means they take their cut out of any winnings...so how much do you think they will take for all the work and how much do you think will be left??? Average is approx 33% plus expenses. I would bet you get back noting in the end.....supposing that you could win a judgement for the cost of the laptop....and this is also supposing that a judge would ignore the facts completely or that you agreed to allow ebay to make decision on all disputes.

[roy8765]

Yes, SO MANY people here have already pointed out that a "Used" laptop should have a new battery to be listed on eBay even if it's clearly been declared otherwise in its description. We will challenge that rule in the court. If everything has to be perfect, there's no need for an item description! eBay itself says it's the buyers responsibility to read the description for terms and conditions. This is most certainly not an INAD case.

[roy8765]

You're absolutely right. This will have to be eventually decided at a higher level court.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

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@roy8765 wrote:
Yes, SO MANY people here have already pointed out that a "Used" laptop should have a new battery to be listed on eBay even if it's clearly been declared otherwise in its description. We will challenge that rule in the court. If everything has to be perfect, there's no need for an item description! eBay itself says it's the buyers responsibility to read the description for terms and conditions. This is most certainly not an INAD case.

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It cannot be both fully functional and need a battery...those 2 things are a conflict of information. And one statement makes the other invalid. You can't have it both ways.
It is 100% not as described because of that

I also do not believe anyone said it needed a new battery...just one that was working 100%

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

You should have listed is for parts or repair...as it needs a battery..which is a part of the laptop.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

It will never get that far..it will not make it through small claims court successfully because you will lose a court case for the exact same reasons you lost the dispute. As much as you do not want to take responsibilty for any of this...you are and a court will also not ignore the facts...just because you are.