eBay

olshaus · ‎01-23-2019

Hello all!

tl;dr: Tried to do the right thing and send back something incorrectly sent to me, seller is unreasonable, and the following ensues.

I'm going to apologize in advance for the bit of long winded-ness here, and try to get straight to the point. I bought a bowling ball from a seller. Used, it came to my door, I got excited, went and got it plugged and rilled to fit my hand. I come back home fro ma long weekend, and bam! Another ball on my porch in a box. I recognize the label, and reach out to the seller to let him know that he made a mistake, and that I'd help him out of his bind, because somebody wants their ball, and we all make mistakes. I'm going to post the conversation following, and will change the name of the seller for anonymity's sake. I really need to know what to do in this case, and I'll interject at the point that I had contacted eBay, and what they had to say on the matter. Thank you all in advance for the insight!

***Side note, the "no response" he's referencing is appx 3 hours, while I was busy at work***

***I call eBay again, being tired of being berated and being called a thief and the likes. An extremely helpful lady says that they have opened a case, and they are investigating, and that she will initiate a refund so that I can get the shipping back on the ball he mistakenly sent***

Me (final refund response):

You will not get back the ball I plugged and filled prior to me even recieving the ball you incorrectly addressed, labeled, and shipped to me. The reason this has all been dealt with through eBay's messaging is so that they can verify and track that I am 100% in the right on all of this. I have never been treated in such a demeaning manor in my entire life while trying to do someone a favor by fixing their own mistake. I am no longer willing to subject myself to any of this treatment, and you can deal directly with eBay on all of this. I will not be replying to any further contact from you on a personal level and will wait to hear further from eBay and eBay alone.

**At this point I closed the refund request with the following notes***

The seller is being 100% unreasonable and all contact for the future of this return and mistake on his part will be dealt with by him and the eBay staff. I no longer allow myself to be subjected to the demeaning manor that he has put me through, all in a good faith effort to try and help him fix a mistake that HE made, by shipping ME an item that I never ordered, and he addressed to me. The message history will show exactly what happened and that I have been unreasonably treated in such a poor manner that I will no longer talk to the seller on a personal level. eBay staff need to investigate this matter thoroughly.

So if you've made it this far, I thank you immensely. I am at a loss for how to handle this, and I am going to be in contact with eBay again in the morning. I am emotionally troubled by this, and it's really hard for me to fathom how doing the right thing could turn into this. I guess I'm looking for some sort of guidance from a seasoned eBayer or maybe just to get this all off my chest, thanks in advance for the replies, and advice!

silly-shoes · ‎01-24-2019

I would have someone take a picture of you throwing it in the bay,and then send it to him with caption " problem resolved"!

cream_couture · ‎01-24-2019

@berserkerplanet wrote:
>>You are actually required to send the ball back to the seller.

Nope. The OP is under no obligation ethically, morally, or legally to be out of pocket to rectify the seller's error.

Yes, they are legally required to send it back. The consider it a gift law is for unsolicited, unordered items from companies you have no relationship with. That law was put in place because companies would send items to random people and then try to bill them for it. If you have a relationship with the seller, you are required to send it back.

Morally and ethically, it is obviously right to send it back.

anste35 · ‎01-24-2019

@cream_couture wrote:
@berserkerplanet wrote:
>>You are actually required to send the ball back to the seller.

Nope. The OP is under no obligation ethically, morally, or legally to be out of pocket to rectify the seller's error.
Yes, they are legally required to send it back. The consider it a gift law is for unsolicited, unordered items from companies you have no relationship with. That law was put in place because companies would send items to random people and then try to bill them for it. If you have a relationship with the seller, you are required to send it back.

Morally and ethically, it is obviously right to send it back.

If the seller is unwilling to pay shipping, they are not obligated to return

cream_couture · ‎01-24-2019

@anste35 wrote:
@cream_couture wrote:
@berserkerplanet wrote:
>>You are actually required to send the ball back to the seller.

Nope. The OP is under no obligation ethically, morally, or legally to be out of pocket to rectify the seller's error.
Yes, they are legally required to send it back. The consider it a gift law is for unsolicited, unordered items from companies you have no relationship with. That law was put in place because companies would send items to random people and then try to bill them for it. If you have a relationship with the seller, you are required to send it back.

Morally and ethically, it is obviously right to send it back.
If the seller is unwilling to pay shipping, they are not obligated to return

Yes, but that’s not applicable in this case. For the issue we are discussing, the seller has clearly offered to pay for shipping. The seller didn’t at first, but they have now a few times. The buyer needs to send it back.

cream_couture · ‎01-24-2019

And if you look at my comments, nowhere did I say or even imply that the buyer should pay for shipping. Lol I said use the label the seller sends and drop off at FedEx or leave for FedEx to pick up.

beardedbovine · ‎01-24-2019

@cream_couture wrote:
I don't know why he got huffy or why he started talking about you also returning the ball you actually did order.

Because the OP and the CS rep opened a return on their order. Once they filed a case the seller would assume they're sending back the item they did order for a refund.

The OP had good intentions but took it in the wrong direction when they involved CS, opened a return, etc... better to keep it simple and tell the seller to send a return label for the extra item... if needed arrange pickup... end of communication. It's up to the seller to comply or not.