eBay

newtypeshop · ‎06-18-2019

So buyer called ebay today and refunded buyer, I was waiting for item and it shows it was delivered last week. So I called up the USPS and they told me it was sent to a different address than mine. They won't tell me what the ship to name was but it was a different address than my home address in my home town. I will file a police report but I will report what has happened to ebay community.

What I believe is that the buyer doctored or taped a different address on the return shipping label. The ship to address has been changed to a chinese take out restaurant instead of my home.

The buyer must have either some connection with the place. I will file a police report to investigate this.

The item is over $500

dtexley3 · ‎06-18-2019

brian@ebay Just bringing your attention to this.

@newtypeshop You need to get a letter from your post office on their letterhead that states the item was delivered as addressed to a different address than yours. They don't have to list the other address, just attest to the fact that the delivery address was not your address.

Report the buyer for buyer abuse. If eBay has not yet closed the case, call and ask for trust and safety. Have the case reviewed and send them the PO letter and the police report.

If eBay has already closed the case, open an appeal and again work with the resolutions team or trust and safety with your evidence to get refunded.

In these cases you should always:

File a mail fraud case with USPS
file a fraud case with ic3.gov
file a police report with your local police office and have a copy sent to the buyer's local police office. If they try to tell you it's a civil matter or unimportant insist on the report. Point out to them it's a federal FELONY crime and you expect it to be treated as such. Also let them know that the eBay appeal process requires a copy. Have them contact eBay's law enforcement liaison if necessary.
If it's a high value item file a "stolen Rolex report". (I've seen this mentioned several times by other posters, but I dont' have the details).
Report the buyer for being an abusive buyer on eBay. Include copies of the above documentation if possible.
Call eBay and contest the case, either the original case or via appeal.
If it's a cell phone, take the above evidence to the local store for the carrier and have the phone reported as stolen and bricked. This also applies to other devices that can be remotely disabled.
Depending on the value or the purchase, consider civil action against the buyer.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

orangehound · ‎06-18-2019

@newtypeshop wrote:
So buyer called ebay today and refunded buyer, I was waiting for item and it shows it was delivered last week. So I called up the USPS and they told me it was sent to a different address than mine. They won't tell me what the ship to name was but it was a different address than my home address in my home town. I will file a police report but I will report what has happened to ebay community.

What I believe is that the buyer doctored or taped a different address on the return shipping label. The ship to address has been changed to a chinese take out restaurant instead of my home.

The buyer must have either some connection with the place. I will file a police report to investigate this.

The item is over $500

@newtypeshop

You can also get this decision overturned by eBay ... this situation can be navigated and you can get it corrected on appeal. This is a common scam where the buyer "returns" a bogus package to a location in your zip code ... the software robots or CS minions see delivered to your zip, and assume it is properly delivered.

Call up eBay, and explain the situation, notifying them that this is an attempted scam/theft ... they are aware of this technique because it is pretty common (you may need to speak with someone at eBay that handles fraud).

In similar situations, the victims needed to get a letter or some other documentation from the USPS to establish that the product was not returned to the proper address.

alseyf-73 · ‎06-18-2019

@newtypeshop wrote:
They won't tell me what the ship to name was but it was a different address

The ship to address has been changed to a chinese take out restaurant instead of my home.

Go get the fake return from the chinese take out restaurant @newtypeshop at the address USPS won't give you. That label will be your best evidence when you win the appeal at eBay.

newtypeshop · ‎06-18-2019

OK, update. I went to the location in my town and it was in the side of the take out place. It was a lobby for some apt building. So the scammer must have scouted the area and found this to be an easy spot to delivery the package and then drop by and grab the item. But I'm just surprised by this tactic instead of simply shipping back a different item.

I spoke with someone from the ebay appeals dept. They can accept a letter or printout by the USPS that shows the actual shipping and tracking address different than my returns address.

fa_8305 · ‎06-18-2019

@newtypeshop wrote:
OK, update. I went to the location in my town and it was in the side of the take out place. It was a lobby for some apt building. So the scammer must have scouted the area and found this to be an easy spot to delivery the package and then drop by and grab the item. But I'm just surprised by this tactic instead of simply shipping back a different item.

So your buyer returned the actual $500 item but changed the address to "a lobby for some apt building" which your buyer "scouted the area" first, before leaving to go return the item from afar. Then your buyer quickly traveled back from afar to be in "the area" soon after delivery to "drop by and grab the item."

By and by, you "went to the location" in your town, at an address* that USPS "won't tell" you, but it's no longer "a chinese take out restaurant" and now it's "in the side of the take out place."

Is that your update, so far?

*Is that near the fried chicken bomber?

fa_8305 · ‎06-18-2019

https://www.nytimes.com/live/new-york-explosion/a-family-business-that-aggravated-neighbors/

dtexley3 · ‎06-19-2019

@newtypeshop wrote:
OK, update. I went to the location in my town and it was in the side of the take out place. It was a lobby for some apt building. So the scammer must have scouted the area and found this to be an easy spot to delivery the package and then drop by and grab the item. But I'm just surprised by this tactic instead of simply shipping back a different item.

I spoke with someone from the ebay appeals dept. They can accept a letter or printout by the USPS that shows the actual shipping and tracking address different than my returns address.

brian@ebay Please look into how these directions were given. The Post Office WILL NOT release the actual delivery address in most cases. We have several threads where Trinton and other staff have stated that the letter needs to state that the address is different. It does not need to include the false address as that is difficult if not impossible to obtain in most cases. The above highlight may be a summary of what was actually directed, but we need to maintain clarity on what is ACTUALLY required.

Thanks.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

a_c_green · ‎06-19-2019

@newtypeshop wrote:
OK, update. I went to the location in my town and it was in the side of the take out place. It was a lobby for some apt building. So the scammer must have scouted the area and found this to be an easy spot to deliver the package and then drop by and grab the item. But I'm just surprised by this tactic instead of simply shipping back a different item.

You're overthinking this. He simply returns a trinket or random thing in a trackable package to a different address in the seller's City and ZIP code. As soon as that shows Delivered, eBay interprets that as returned (they cannot see the actual address of a tracked package, only the City and ZIP in which it is delivered), and issues the refund. It's a simple and not uncommon scam.

kensgiftshop · ‎06-19-2019

@newtypeshop wrote:
OK, update. I went to the location in my town and it was in the side of the take out place. It was a lobby for some apt building. So the scammer must have scouted the area and found this to be an easy spot to delivery the package and then drop by and grab the item. But I'm just surprised by this tactic instead of simply shipping back a different item.

They didn't ship the item to that location.

They usually send an envelope or small box to the location and as long as tracking shows the package was delivered, they get their refund while they keep your item.

Have a great day.

brian@ebay · ‎06-20-2019

@dtexley3 wrote:

@newtypeshop wrote:

OK, update. I went to the location in my town and it was in the side of the take out place. It was a lobby for some apt building. So the scammer must have scouted the area and found this to be an easy spot to delivery the package and then drop by and grab the item. But I'm just surprised by this tactic instead of simply shipping back a different item.

I spoke with someone from the ebay appeals dept. They can accept a letter or printout by the USPS that shows the actual shipping and tracking address different than my returns address.

brian@ebay Please look into how these directions were given. The Post Office WILL NOT release the actual delivery address in most cases. We have several threads where Trinton and other staff have stated that the letter needs to state that the address is different. It does not need to include the false address as that is difficult if not impossible to obtain in most cases. The above highlight may be a summary of what was actually directed, but we need to maintain clarity on what is ACTUALLY required.

Thanks.

Hi @dtexley3, you are correct the USPS does not need to state what address it was shipped to, only that it was not shipped to the return address provided to the buyer. The letter from USPS also needs to be on paper with USPS letterhead on it.

Brian,
Community Team

applemacrecoveryhelp · ‎07-01-2019

Update 7/1/19:

Ebay has reversed the decision based on the evidence that I submitted.

I spend probably 3 days on this. I called USPS to open a case to trace the delivery location and gotten it.

The buyer definitely scouted the area. The buyers original address was only about 1 hour away from my return address. He picked an apt lobby that didn't have any attendant. It was publicly accessible.

No cameras were there either.

I visited the post office and printed out the full tracking info and showed the original item weights almost 2 lbs.

When they showed me their report, it was only 4 ounces. The item was dropped off only 25mins from me instead of near the buyers address.

I got a printed copy of the report and filed an appeals case.