buyer alleged broken item, opened case, never returned item, ebay refunded buyer

[emir954]

Hello everyone,

I sold a phone on ebay and I had the buyer sending me a message saying it won't turn on (it was def working when I sent it). buyer opened a case and ebay favored on his side... Oh well, I understand. 

Now i got an email saying the buyer has been refunded, however the buyer never shipped me the phone back. so now I'm out of the phone (supposedly broken) along with out of 530 dollars.

I tried to find a way to contact ebay and I'm coming up short. their number no longer works, there is no live chat, no email and when I press contact us, it takes me to self help page with no way of finding a person.

Can anyone help me out as to how I can get in touch with someone at ebay?

I'll contact paypal and my bank if I have to I guess. the money hasn't been deducted from my bank account yet, so I guess it's due to happen soon. I'll change bank accounts before I give the money back without even getting the returned item. 

Thank you

[dbfolks166mt]

There are a few missing pieces here. Did the buyer open a case with eBay and if so what type? If it was a INAD request and you accepted the return the buyer should have gotten a return shipping label and eBay should have not refunded the buyer until you had the item back. Not sure what broke in this process. 

     As far as contacting eBay you can forget a phone call I believe most of their customer support is working remotely. I have not had any problems opening a chat session and usually get a response in 2-5 minutes. However, they are not 24x7 support and I am not sure what time you tried to contact them. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@emir954 

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Did you accept the return and send a return shipping label?

If you didn't and buyer ask Ebay to step in, they can refund the buyer from your account and let them keep the item.

[emir954]

Hello,

I believe the item I sent was not the one I sent him. I let him open a dispute. Ebay then sided with him and I got an email saying there will be an automatic refund once the tracking number shows delivered. It also said they will deduct the shipping from my account. 

Seems the person never shipped the phone back to me yet he still got his refund it seems.

it came out of my paypal on 29th. I got an email today saying me "e-check" cleared.

I don't think this was a case of here is your refund and keep the phone, since ebay instructions said there will be a refund once the item is delivered back

This was in the comments in my email

The buyer has been asked to return the item to you. Once tracking shows the item has been delivered to you, the buyer will be issued a refund. If the buyer uses an eBay provided shipping label to return the item, you will be required to pay the shipping and will see this charge on your invoice.

see my attachment ref it showing the refund.

[corvettestainless]

You state you believe the item you sent is not the one you sent- do you mean?

The item you received is not the one you sent? What do you mean 'you believe'? Do you know or are you just guessing?

If you have an item back, then there was no fraud.

Do you have the tracking number that showed it was returned to you?

1.) you needed to provide a return label- if you did not, ebay did

2.) you needed to watch the 'case' and see/write down that tracking number that the buyer inputted 

3.) If tracking said it delivered to you, you needed to take that tracking number to USPS local office and get them to give you GPS coordinates

This has been know to be a scam, buyer returns box of rocks to a nearby address in same zip code. Tracking shows delivered, buyer gets $ from ebay and keeps phone. 

[emir954]

I sent him a phone that was working (brand new refurbished from samsung) I even turned it on to take the pictures for my ad.

Buyer sent a message saying it won't turn on. I believe that is not the phone. unfortunetly there is alot of fraud where people will try to return an item that is their and malfunctioning with the one they receive from ebay sellers that work.

Dispute opens. ebay sides with buyer. 

I get an email saying there will be a refund once there is a tracking number and item is delivered

here is the email from ebay 

The buyer has been asked to return the item to you. Once tracking shows the item has been delivered to you, the buyer will be issued a refund. If the buyer uses an eBay provided shipping label to return the item, you will be required to pay the shipping and will see this charge on your invoice.

Ebay dispute center shows nothing has been shipped or mailed out. I paid the shipping back to me (8 dollars)

ebay took the money out of my account and refunded the buyer.

I am out of 520 dollars, and my phone was never returned to me. (i didn't get anything. there is no tracking number, no package at my door, no box of rocks... nothing)

[comam47]

I sold a actuator and the buyer said it didn't work so it was shipped back.   The part we got back wasn't ours i engrave SAS on all of our parts and it was totally different.  I sent pictures to eBay and started a appeal. i  was supposed to get a police report of course it went over 3 state lines and with covid19 they refused.  So they refunded money back to buyer, and the appeal went against my service matrix.  Oh yea and I'm out 139.00 and a part.   I completely get your pain on it. Sellers need more protection.....

[kensgiftshop]

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@emir954 wrote:

I let him open a dispute.

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Sounds like you didn't accept the return and buyer had Ebay step in, which is never good for a seller.

When the buyer filed the INAD, if you had accepted the return, you could have sent a return shipping label and the buyer wouldn't have been refunded until something was returned.

When you didn't accept the return, the buyer ask Ebay to step in and when Ebay gets involved, they can let the buyer keep the item and refund them from your account.

[emir954]

gents... I have an email from ebay selling they provided the seller a return label. I got an email from ebay saying the person will be refunded once the item showed delivered. 

Ebay did not tell the person they can keep it. They provided him a shipping label and he never sent me the item. They still refunded him.

I'm trying to contact ebay and I keep clicking the "contact us" button and it keeps taking me to the help page without any type of live chat help. 

I mean, I can't even get to speak to anyone from ebay about this?

Please, I'm asking for help on how to contact ebay... I lost my money, and my phone. 

[nwvintage]

how in the HELL is ebay getting away with this **bleep**!!!!!!!!!

Buyers are literally robbing sellers & NOTHING can be done about it????

[emir954]

So I checked the address (was going to take him to small claims court) and realized the address given (7801 NW 37th St VIPSAL 1553TX9SV Doral FL 33195-6503) is some forwarding service to another country (I assume south america). 

I googled the address and found bunch of posts here on ebay community about scams etc. I guess it's a way of getting around the "no international shipping" which I check off. 

Just so disappointed I can't get anyone from the ebay team to talk to me. I don't know and can't figure out how to reach them.

[scout1917]

This just happened to me this week as well.  As emir954 related I did not immediately pay for a "return label".  He took it to ebay and they quickly sided with him....took the money from my account.  The "customer service" person who emailed me back stated

"I'm glad that I received your email today because I work with this type of case almost on a daily basis and I am an expert at resolving it"

Daily basis? So your saying this happens a lot....

So your saying your an expert at ...what exactly?

They also stated:

"It is still going to be the buyers decision about returning the item. 50-50 change of getting the item back"

This may not help you but you may feel the comraderie of getting ripped off like me.  The email I fould to contact them was :

concierge@ebay.com 

Maybe I'll just sell $5 items from now on.  Wish you better luck my friend.

scout1917

[dbfolks166mt]

     More than likely you have been scammed out of a phone. This happens more often than it should and eBay condones it. Electronics are a HUGE target for eBay thieves especially international ones. Computers and phones are an especially attractive target in less affluent countries where theft is about the only way someone can acquire an item.

     Not much you can do from a legal perspective as far as reporting it but if you have the IMEI number for the phone you can report it as stolen. 

https://www.imeipro.info/report-stolen-lost-phone.html 

Places the phone on a IMEIpro Global blacklist. 

[dbfolks166mt]

FYI on the address. That would be the address for Trans Express Inc. They are indeed a logistics forwarding service. You may want to contact them with the tracking information and let them know the buyer stole the phone. 

[topothemorninshop]

You can contact someone at ebay. When you are on the page with articles, just keep scrolling down to bottom and it gives you more options to contact them. You can have them call you back, or call the number. Just go to "Help and Contact" on the menu bar at top of page. Scroll down and there will be a box that says "Need more help?" Click on contact us. It will take you to page that says contact us and you should pick  "How to handle a return request as a seller". When you get to the next page, that page does have articles you can click on, etc. that are not helpful IMO. HERE is where you scroll ALL the way down to the bottom of the page and click on "Have us call you" You can also start a chat if you want.

Hope this helps - good luck!