what can i do if buyer lied about reason for return? claimed it was defective but never opened it

[pewpew123]

hello,

someone bought a PC part from me (a PSU, if you care). they said it was defective and i was pretty much forced to take the return. i paid $25 to ship it each way due to its' weight. got it back today but the thing was never even opened. i am just supposed to eat the $50 round trip shipping cost?

is there any recourse for this? amazon lets you file a silent complaint (which is not reported to the buyer), and when a buyer had a bunch of them they are barred from returning items for a while or in some cases completely banned from the platform. does ebay have anything like that?

[lamber9347]

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@pewpew123 wrote:

hello,

someone bought a PC part from me (a PSU, if you care). they said it was defective and i was pretty much forced to take the return. i paid $25 to ship it each way due to its' weight. got it back today but the thing was never even opened. i am just supposed to eat the $50 round trip shipping cost?

is there any recourse for this? amazon lets you file a silent complaint (which is not reported to the buyer), and when a buyer had a bunch of them they are barred from returning items for a while or in some cases completely banned from the platform. does ebay have anything like that?

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Yes eBay does and you should report the buyer. Sounds like a buyer's remorse case in effect but they chose INAD as it saved them the return label. If enough sellers file complaints against this buyer then they will be suspended or at a minimum lose the ability to file INAD's going forward. Please file the report for the rest of us. Best of luck to you....

[slippinjimmy]

but they chose INAD as it saved them the return label.

Or maybe they chose INAD because the seller doesn't otherwise offer returns.

[*smedley*]

report them as a bad buyer, add them to your BBL, and move on...

[dr.kenzo.tenma]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

but they chose INAD as it saved them the return label.

Or maybe they chose INAD because the seller doesn't otherwise offer returns.

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And your point is? Sellers are allowed to not offer returns. That is disclosed upfront before someone hits the purchase button. Is not offering returns an allowable reason for a buyer to lie?

[kensgiftshop]

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@pewpew123 

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Be glad you got your item back and not their old broken one.

After the buyer is refunded, you can report them for abusing the MBG.

[pewpew123]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

but they chose INAD as it saved them the return label.

Or maybe they chose INAD because the seller doesn't otherwise offer returns.

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the margins on tech are slim. even some large retailers don't take returns on many items. 

@lamber9347 wrote:

Yes eBay does and you should report the buyer. Sounds like a buyer's remorse case in effect but they chose INAD as it saved them the return label. If enough sellers file complaints against this buyer then they will be suspended or at a minimum lose the ability to file INAD's going forward. Please file the report for the rest of us. Best of luck to you....

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thanks. i finally found the form. i couldn't find it while browsing the ebay website, i had to use google to find it 😕

if anyone is looking at this thread in the future, the form is here: https://spd.ebay.com/RBASellerHub

[Anonymous]

No, of course that doesn't make it ok. Slippinjimmy was pointing out that's a possible, perhaps even likely, reason why the buyer did lie. If they filed a remorse return the seller could deny it. Someone very determined to return something will find a way to get their money back.

pewpew123, you can report the buyer for abusing the system here: 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084

If you did have a 30 day return policy then that, combined with your Top Rated Seller status, could have afforded you some seller protections and lessened the financial impact. As things stand, and especially considering the dollar amount of the item involved, consider yourself lucky that the buyer returned the same item unopened and didn't send back an old stack of magazines instead.

[mod-designs4u]

IMO, selling electronic parts on eBay and on the internet in general is a risky business. If the electronic parts are new there's a small risk that some of them will be defective (especially if they're made in China). If the parts are used then the parts might fail shortly after the end user installs the parts. A computer power supply is fairly reliable unless the unit was defective at the get-go. If I were to sell a computer power supply, whether it's new or used, I'd "bench test" it first for a week or two. I'd include in my item description that the unit was "tested" so a potential unscrupulous buyer could not say that the item didn't work. Do you offer free returns? If so, these types of returns are commonplace on eBay. If not, then you would have had a good case for not accepting the return. When a buyer opens a truthful SNAD claim the merit of the claim should be explained with good detail. Unfortunately, eBay has created a selling environment where they tend to side with the buyer...even if the buyer is lying about the merit of a return (typically the actual reason is "buyer's remorse" which is against eBay policy). When a buyer opens a SNAD claim there's an option to email the buyer. These emails are part of the case record and serve as "online evidence" of an eBay decision to rule in the favor of the seller or the buyer. In your case, I would have asked the buyer if he actually installed the power supply in his computer. Questions like this establishes a dialog between the seller and buyer and, more often than not, would dissuade an unscrupulous buyer from proceeding any further if the computer power supply was actually working. If the buyer proved that the power supply was DOA (Dead On Arrival) then I would have just issued a refund to save myself the return shipping cost. Incidentally, some electronics have a serial number and it's very important to include the serial number in the eBay listing and include a photo of it. This would prevent an unscrupulous buyer from switching the electronic part for another defective one at the seller's expense. Hope this helps...live and learn!

[ittybitnot]

 i am just supposed to eat the $50 round trip shipping cost?

Basically, yes.  If you qualify, however, ebay may refund you UP TO $6 whole dollars for the shipping cost.

As others have indicated, you are lucky you got your item back.  You would be refunding no matter what was returned.  

Reporting the buyer for abuse of the Money Back Guarantee may result in sanctions if they are deemed an "abusive buyer".  It is not known how many times or how often a buyer has to be reported for playing the "lying card" in order for anything to happen. 

[calntom]

Great advice already provided. You are coming out of this smelling like a rose. Best of luck on the next one.