I recently sold an item that a buyer claims was missing something when it arrived. While I know this was a lie - he cut pages out of a book - I went ahead with eBay's direction and worked out a return for him to return it at his cost.
1. Buyer filed a 'not as described' return request
2. We worked out that he would return it at his cost within the messaging of this request.
3. An eBay phone rep recommended I leave the case open and I can approve it once the item returns, and so we could further communicate. The buyer sent it back promptly with his own label.
4. During this shipping time eBay automatically accepted the return, sent him another label at my cost (they continue to deny this was at my cost, yet i see it deducted on my balance)
5. The item was shipped back without its original packaging and was very damaged.
6. When I hopped into the return request, eBay had already processed and refunded the return, therefore I could take no action.
7. The item/return request are now not visible to me anywhere within my ebay to further address it
eBay reps are telling me I had automatic return acceptance on and this is why it happened. It was not automatically accepted, but confirmed processed by an eBay rep. I am now being told I did not contact eBay within 5 days when I was on the phone with them many times during that period, therefore I can not do anything else.
I am looking at my account settings and have no automatic return acceptance or filters turned on. Are there multiple places these options live?
Is there a way to protect myself from situations like these? This item was thankfully cheap, but want to be prepared to navigate it with any higher dollar items.
