Please help, unsure if I should call Ebay about dishonest buyer trying to scam me

[mclaurinusa]

A buyer recently purchased a large lot of Merle Norman cosmetics from me. She left me positive feedback last week but tonight I received a return request from her for the transaction due to "damaged or defective". The thing is, she listed all the products on her other Ebay account (but as of this writing, she removed them all but can still be viewed under her completed listings). She is attempting to scam me. I replied by stating I viewed all the items on her other Ebay account (the items were highly identifiable as the ones she purchased from me) and that my listing stated "by purchasing, you agree to final sale". I asked her to explain.

I know Ebay generally overrides return polcies but I cannot believe she is attempting to claim the items are defective when she had listed them on her other Ebay store. You can find her other store by searching for merle norman peach cheek powder because this one item from the lot I sold her is still actually listed for sale in her store. Has anybody had a similar experience? 

[sam9876]

Yes.

[vintagemoth12]

Is she going to leave the peach blush listed for sale and return everything else to you? Since you have the photos of the listing she made with your products maybe that will help in some way.  I have never had this happen but I have heard that people will buy a lot of items and then send all but one thing back. 

Maybe she will send it all back but the fact she listed it should mean something. 

I really don't have any advice but I wanted to comment on this bizarre case.

[*coins]

Are you sure that it is the same sutff that you sold her that your buyer is selling?

Did they have the cheek power listed BEFORE they received the item? If so, it is not the same stuff you sent her. Many people buy stuff and resell it for more money. That could have been what your buyer was planning to do...but when they got it, they found there was something wrong with it, so returned it.

What I am trying to say is - your buyer could have already had some of the cheek power and was trying to sell it. How do you know that your buyer's cheek power for sale is the same cheek power you sent her?

Just trying to give you some things to think about.

[ed8108]

You can file a Report, but will likely have to refund.

[mclaurinusa]

The items are all discontinued from Merle Norman. She listed all the items after she received her purchase and today replied to my message and said "it doesn't matter that I listed the items in my other store, they are gross and I would like to return entire lot." So she left positive feedback about the sale and listed all the items then took them down and is now claiming they are defective/bad. What I don't understand is how can someone list items they purchase from someone and then claim they are defective?

[*coins]

Maybe she didn't notice they were bad until after she listed them.

I'd accept the return. You can clean them up if necessary and rlist them if they are still good.

[myboardid]

To eBay, it doesn't matter what your buyer did with the items she bought from you.  If she has opened a claim that the items are defective, then you DO NOT HAVE a choice - you must accept the return and provide a return shipping label.  If you refuse, the buyer will get a refund from your account and will get to keep the items.  In addition, ebay will give you a serious defect on your account that can affect your ability to sell, or even suspend your selling. 

[mclaurinusa]

I was advised by another Ebayer off the forums who experienced a similar situation. She advised I 1st call Ebay Customer Service before doing anything else so this is what I did this a.m. I explained everything that has taken place thus far to Ebay to the best of my ability & Ebay surprisingly advised I wait until the 17th of April when I can escalate the case so they can look into it further. I asked why they cannot take action now and Ebay stated that it's just their policy before they intervene in any open case. I can accept the return at any point if I change my mind during this 7 day window without a defect so this is why they wait.

Ebay also mentioned that they can see she listed the items in her other account and her admission that she listed them in her reply message, already left positive feedback, and now claiming they are defective likely is covered under seller protection. Ebay interestingly advised that a seller cannot have 2 Ebay accounts, which I didn't know, and so that is another issue they will be addressing. Thanks for your feedback to this very strange case and I will return with an update.

[sam9876]

A seller shouldn't escalate.

[missjen831]

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@mclaurinusa wrote:

I was advised by another Ebayer off the forums who experienced a similar situation. She advised I 1st call Ebay Customer Service before doing anything else so this is what I did this a.m. I explained everything that has taken place thus far to Ebay to the best of my ability & Ebay surprisingly advised I wait until the 17th of April when I can escalate the case so they can look into it further. I asked why they cannot take action now and Ebay stated that it's just their policy before they intervene in any open case. I can accept the return at any point if I change my mind during this 7 day window without a defect so this is why they wait.

Ebay also mentioned that they can see she listed the items in her other account and her admission that she listed them in her reply message, already left positive feedback, and now claiming they are defective likely is covered under seller protection. Ebay interestingly advised that a seller cannot have 2 Ebay accounts, which I didn't know, and so that is another issue they will be addressing. Thanks for your feedback to this very strange case and I will return with an update.

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eBay will not close a request early anymore. You have to wait the 3 full business days. You might as well just accept the return. eBay is not going to side with you if you ask them to step in. They are going to side with the buyer and if you are lucky, they will tell the buyer to return the items. If you aren’t lucky, they will make you refund the buyer and let her keep the items. 

[pam9876]

No

[ends_and_oddities]

The CS reps will lie to you in the phone to get you off of it.  Always ask you CS rep for thier name and contact ID first before you get an answer.  This doesnt always help but at least they know you are willing to try and pin the conversation to them.  Ebay will always side with the buyer, regardless of how obvious the scam is.  it is best to accept the return so you at least have some control.

I have had buyers send back boxes of junk and the CS rep said they had no control of the mail and couldnt help me.

I have had to escalate the call to a supervisor, then have a manager call me.  Which was a spoof number from Utah but they were from Asia.  Only after trying to escalate it again did they offer me a coupon to use for a purchase on ebay.  I even hit them up through twitter and got  small credit to my account.  But I had to spend weeks pushing for anything.  The scammer is still active on ebay with nothing being done by ebay.

Ebay is becoming a place for scammers and thieves to take advantage of buyers.  There is no protection for buyers.  I suggest you only sell small items under $50.  

[fashions4passionint]

.>> Ebay interestingly advised that a seller cannot have 2 Ebay accounts, which I didn't know, and so that is another issue they will be addressing.<<

interesting...wonder when this rule went into effect?

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@fashions4passionint wrote:

.>> Ebay interestingly advised that a seller cannot have 2 Ebay accounts, which I didn't know, and so that is another issue they will be addressing.<<

interesting...wonder when this rule went into effect?

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It didn't.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/identity-policies/multiple-accounts-policy?id=4232

What are the guidelines?

Allowed

Users may have multiple accounts on eBay. We understand that there are various reasons why someone would choose to have more than one account.

Not allowed

Registering new accounts or using other existing accounts to avoid buying and selling restrictions or limits or other policy consequences.