Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some input or advice on how to deal with a situation that I have with a buyer. I actually have another rotten situation happening on eBay right now, with a seller, but that's for another post. It's just a bummer that there seems to be so many issues lately.
Anyway, I sold a designer wallet to a buyer for $325. I purchased it myself at the brand boutique and it was in pristine condition. Looked almost new. When the buyer received the item, he immediately left me a negative feedback saying it was sun damaged. That didn't even make sense to me, because the wallet literally never left my handbag unless I was in a checkout line inside a store. So, I contacted him right away and asked if maybe he accidentally left that negative feedback for my item, instead of the one it really should have gone to.
He didn't reply to me, but a few minutes later the negative feedback was gone, so I thought all was good.
A couple weeks later, eBay informs me that they took the $325 payment that I received for that wallet back from me because the buyer filed a claim with his credit card company saying he didn't receive what he was supposed to. He did receive exactly what he purchased so I was again confused by this and now pretty upset because he had my wallet and I didn't have a payment anymore.
I was told that the credit card company was going to review the claim and I could send a picture (through eBay) of what I shipped to the buyer for their review. I did, and waited.
A couple days later eBay told me that the credit card company did side with the buyer and I would not be receiving the $325 payment for the item. On top of that, eBay said that they could not make the buyer send the item back to me. ??? So now this scammer of a buyer has my wallet and his $325. Oh, and eBay charged me $20 for their trouble!!
I asked eBay what they would be doing about this, because none of the claims were true or accurate. I was told by the representative (via a phone call) that they would reverse the $20 charge (which they actually did), and that an appeal would be filed on my behalf. That rep basically told me that it was just a formality, but that most likely I would be reimbursed the payment that was taken from me. She said it would take a couple weeks but there was nothing more I needed to do and I would be hearing back from them.
It's been a few weeks so I reached out to inquire about the status of this appeal, and I got a reply saying there is no appeal and I'm just out of luck. They told me I should reach out to the buyer and work things out with him. During this entire process I had already reached out to him many, many times, but he ignored every single one of my messages.
I'm at a loss for what to do next. Doesn't eBay claim to have a seller protection program? Do they really let things like this happen?
If anyone has had a similar situation or knows what my best recourse is, I would appreciate your input. 🙂
Thanks!
