refund fraud reversals

[mevianne]

I am (was) a top-rated plus seller since 2009.  In those years I have had less than 10 return requests on my item.  Recently I have been inundated with fraudulant refund cases, sometimes 3 or 4 a day) where the buyer opens a return case, then somehow "pre-ships", so that a tracking number appears on the return request.  The buyer does not ship the item, but ebay automatically refunds their costs using my funds.  I should add that I suspect these buyers to be drop-shippers, based on their notes asking me not to include an invoice.  I called ebay but got no advice, other than to change my refund policy to "no refunds".  Of course, by doing so I lost my Top-seller Plus status.  That was in mid-April.  

Since then, I have been researching on my own to come up with a true solution, since the sales I made before mid-April are still under my old return policy and these requests are still coming in.  So far I have done the following:

Changed my return preferences in seller hub, including my RMA preference to "no".

Check my notifications daily to view and keep on top of return requests.

Check my sellers account daily to see who got an automatic refund from my funds.

Click on "seller help" and then on ISSUE WITH BUYER to report these refund scammers.

Appeal any refunds that are granted by ebay that are not legit.  (Again, I rarely have a legit return on my item.)

So far this has been working and all appeals have been granted and refunds reversed. by ebay.  I hope this helps someone who is being targeted by scammers.  It is not easy.  Also, if anyone has additional steps that can be taken to prevent this from happening to good people, I would love to hear about it.   Thanks!

Tracked my seller account daily to see 

[bbravo65]

...I thought the return package must have to be properly delivered, then you have up to 2 days before you initially issue the refund...

[glasser]

That eBay would tell you to change your policy to no refunds is basically admitting they are aware of the problem and have no solution of their own. 

One eBay's greatest accomplishments was building trust in an online marketplace. The work they did in the mod-90's paved the way for all that followed.

Lately it seems like eBay's marketplace has become less trusted and more crime is being committed the in the past. In the early days people worried about scammy sellers. No the problem seems to be scammy buyers.  I think eBay should not allow refunds, under any circumstances, unless the seller confirms the return of the item. The only exception is if the seller decides to refund and does not want he item back.

Simplify everything

[stainlessenginecovers]

We have to stop after your 3rd sentence. 

Buyers giving a 'tracking number' on a return that simply states 'tracking number initiated' does NOT mean it shows tracking number DELIVERED.

Until tracking number shows 'DELIVERED', you- the seller- are not required or responsible to refund anything.

Ebay does NOT automatically refund anything until the item shows DELIVERED

There seems to be an issue with this story? 

[luckythewinner]

I'm impressed that you are able to avoid eBay's duplicate listing policy. 

[ittybitnot]

The buyer does not ship the item, but ebay automatically refunds their costs using my funds.  

@mevianne

If you are having to refund based on "fake tracking numbers" that show delivered, you need to do something else other than contact the regular outsourced customer service reps available through a call back or chat.  The fake numbers can be for a parcel delivered to your zipcode, or some random item purchased on the net and sent to you. 

If that is what is happening, I will give you the information you need to combat this problem. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@bbravo65 wrote:

...I thought the return package must have to be properly delivered, then you have up to 2 days before you initially issue the refund...

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The last return I had, I went to get the mail when it was delivered and by the time I got back in the house, got an email from Ebay saying that the return had been delivered and they refunded the buyer.

This was less then 5 minutes from the time it was delivered.

It was a remorse return, so I don't know if that made any difference or not.

[mevianne]

No, my refund requests show a "pre-ship" tracking number, but do not register as delivered.  This appears to be the standard when  I was a top-rated PLUS seller.  Ebay automatically refunded the cost each and every time and I had to appeal to get it back.  This is why I decided to accept no returns and lose my PLUS status.

[mevianne]

Are you a top-rated Plus seller?  If so, I suggest you make sure that ebay does not automatically refund your money once the buyer posts a "pre-ship" tracking number.  It happened to me at least 10 times before I got wise and changed my return policy.

[mevianne]

So did I!

[onefootflipper]

Looking at exactly what you sell it seems like you have a case of someone specifically targeting you for some reason. That just isn't the sort of item that is going to attract scammers. 

There are 8 cruddy looking Amazon sellers selling the same item. Are they drop shipping from you perhaps? Do you actually produce this product?

[pjcdn2005]

Being a trs or having trs plus on your listings does not mean that a buyer gets refunded before you receive the item back unless you refund them right away without requiring a return.   I'm not sure why that was happening to you but that definitely is not how it works.  

[chapeau-noir]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

I'm impressed that you are able to avoid eBay's duplicate listing policy. 

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One listing is under 'clothing' and one is under 'party supplies', with different titles.