Ebay continuing to abuse the sellers. Forced to give refund after receiving positive feedbak

[sfcompguy]

I offer ebay help you sell service at my computer shop. My policy has always been that the owner of the item will not be paid for the sale of the item until positive feedback.

A client had a nearly brand new barely used Canon Pixma printer they wanted me to sell. 

I tested the printer 2 times before listing the printer and made sure everything was working prior to listing and shipping. 

The buyer received the printer and left positive A++++ feedback and also told me in a PM that she had the printer working fine.

Based on this I issued the money for the sale to the owner.

But a week ago I got a message from the buyer Saying that the print heads were not working And asked me for a refund . I told them that I could not because we do not accept refunds after receiving positive feedback and that the funds had already been given to the original owner . 

The buyer then continued to open a claim against me and 7 minutes after opening the claim ebay Decided to give judgment to the buyer . There is no way that anybody from their company could have had time to review all of our messages and details of the sale to come to that conclusion. 

So now I am expected to give a full refund and pay for the return shipping on a sale that was given positive feedback and the funds from the sale giving to a client that I am no longer in contact with 

Can they really just do that? 

I am not a loss for words and have lost all respect for this website. I'm going to end up losing $150 of my own money after spending time corresponding with the owner of the item taking pictures getting it ready to ship on time 

So now I have to lose $150 of my own money when allí they made was $10.00 for all the work I did. If this is how Ebay is going to be where I'm not going to using their services anymore. 

Has anyone else heard of a buyer being able to get a refund on an advertisement that says no refunds accepted and had already given positive feedback. This is ridiculous to me.

Does anybody have any suggestions or advice. I would really appreciate it.

thank you 

[takikawa4]

@sfcompguy

Feedback has nothing to do with refunding. If the buyer opened an item not as described case, you can either accept the return or fight it and lose both your money and your item.

[dbmm-media]

if you are going to sell on this site, you really need to know all the rules.

 as you found out, your disclaimer about refunds / feedback means nothing.

you can have a no refund policy, but, you will still be giving refunds. 

[garmentvarmint2004]

SF..

OK  I just looked up  your  Seller profile--and you  are not new here.  In fact you have  been here since 2006.  You have lots of  succcessful  sales showing--and you have a perfect  Feedback  Score--of  100%.   So you obviously been  selling  some  very nice items. And have lots of happy buyers. 

Have  you recently changed your your  Source   for the items you are selling?

[monday*night*auctions]

@sfcompguy

It took me only 7 seconds to realize you used stock photos of a brand new printer to advertise your used printer.   Never, ever do that.  You did add 5 pictures of your own, but never use any pictures that are not of the exact item you are selling.  That right there will cause you to quickly lose a case if any problems should arise.

It did take me a few minutes longer to realize that the stock pictures that you used were different than the model you were listing.  You can tell that the face of the printer is different.  Also, in your listing you went on to describe a model MG5720 instead of your MG7520 that you were actually selling.

Right there, you could get easily dinged by a buyer for delivering an item not as described.

Both sound like simple mistakes, but if a buyer complains and points that out in a claim, you will lose every single time.  So, yes, it would only take a few minutes for a buyer to point that out, and the case is closed in their favor.

Sounds like you're getting the printer returned, take it and try to recoup some of your loss and consider it a lesson in selling.

[garmentvarmint2004]

SFCOMP..

Well,  youCAN make up  your own rules  when it comes  to  when you  are going to pay  "your client.   (that is--your Source."  But  that has nothing to  do  with whenBuyers are allowed to  file  Disputes  against you.    If you have been including that "disclaimer"   on your  istings  folr the last few years---you  did not know it was invalid---because  all your other Buyers have  been  happy  with what  you  sent them,.  Therefore,   there was no need fo rany of them to  challenge that  statement of yours..  And that is why you  did not know--UNTIL  NOW  THAT your terms were invalid. 

[chrysylys]

You do understand that FB is entirely voluntary and no buyer can be forced, required or coerced into posting it, right?

So what do you do in the cases where the buyers do not?  Do you (illegally) refuse to pay the property owners what you owe them?

[electrola_man]

I am sorry this happened to you.  This is the reason I long ago stopped agreeing to sell anything for friends.  I could see the scenario.  I do all the work, I get paid by the buyer, I pay the friend (who is then totally free of the situation), then trouble happens and it is entirely my problem.  I won't ever do that again.

[uncle.steven]

Feel free to correct if I am wrong.

Unfortunately, an item that is not as described or does not work can be returned through PayPal up to six months from the sale date.

Even if you won through eBay you would probably lose through PayPal.

Sorry this happened to you

[sfcompguy]

It was not just positive feedback it was a private message to my inbox as well stating that the printer was working great. The printer arrived exactly as described and the buyer did not start having problems until they tried installing their own ink cartridges and then they decide to change their mind and ask for money back. So where is the line drawn can buyers return things now for no reason at all and just make something up and have no repercussions. I guess I won't be using eBay very much anymore

[sfcompguy]

Again issue was not anything to do with photos or the item being as described. The printer was working fine until the buyer installed faulty ink cartridges which clogged a printhead

[sfcompguy]

I wish people would read my posts and its entirety or other than just a headline. Again the buyer sent me a personal message saying the printer was great and was exactly as described. That is until a week later after trying to install her own faulty ink cartridges which caused a printhead to clog and decided it was my fault and wants a full refund

[sfcompguy]

Okay so I'll say it again the buyer had no issue with item being as described. She sent me a personal message saying how great the printer was and love the quality of the Printsn she was getting. It was until a week later when she tried to install her own faulty ink cartridges that caused a printhead to clogged that she decided to blame me for that and ask for money back. I tested the printer twice before sending it out and it was working perfectly and had not even gone through 100 sheets of paper in its lifetime

[takikawa4]

Maybe if you mentioned those faulty ink cartridges in your first post, but you didn't. And, once again, neither feedback nor a message from the buyer mean a thing if the buyer files an item not as described.

[sfcompguy]

I have given refunds many times because they were warranted and fair. Not just because the buyer tried putting in generic cartridges and messing up the printer after it arrived in perfect condition. I have no problem giving refunds when they are deserved. And remember when I'm talking about feedback I wasn't just talking about feedback rating system. She actually sent me a private message saying how wonderful the printer was and she was extremely satisfied and happy with it. EBay case employees should be able to discern the validity of the return based on on our conversation. And I don't know if I mentioned the fact that the case was shown to be in favor of the buyer just seven minutes after the case being opened. With the amount of dialogue me and the buyer had there's no way that anybody could have read it all and came to a decision in 7 minutes. It pretty much seemed like it was automatically favored to the buyer no matter what