your thoughts on unfair actions by ebay

[kozlodui]

Hi all,

It does not happen very often but these few times ruin the whole experience.

The latest situation: I am a perfume collector so I know when the perfume is good or not. I put one very good one for sale. It was bought by a person in the US and I am in Canada. She paid, I shipped, she got it and then I get a message with lots of typos "your perfume is stale, I puked on it, I want to return it."  And starts the return "item not as described" right away. I don't accept returns and it is written in my items, I know she is lying but whatever, I decided to take it back, just kind of in good faith, it's the holidays, etc. I ask her to ship it to my US address, so it's cheaper for me, even though I won't get there for months because of Covid. She says that she is not comfortable with it. Ok. Ship it to Canada or maybe accept a partial refund to avoid the hassle. I also explain to her that I cannot issue her a USPS label because I am in Canada and Usps.com does not take cdn credit cards or paypal. I ask her to tell me how much the shipping will be so I can pay her for it. She says "it's too complicated" and stops communicating. I talk to ebay, they say I am fine with everything, I should wait for her to ship. A day later I see a message on return page that they put the case on hold so she could provide additional info. I continue trying with her with zero answers.  And a few days later ebay reimburses her in full from my Paypal. I call them again, explain, appeal, everything is denied with multiple standard messages how she sent it back and they are not responsible, etc... Finally one of them gets it that she never sent it back and writes to me that they reminded her to return it. Nothing, no answers, no messages, one of her messages that first day was also for me "to mind my tongue" and "to check my tongue" because "she senses that there is a hint of rudeness". I was polite, really. Yes, it's fine that she is nuts and a liar, we've seen them all, but for ebay to just do that? She stole my perfume and my money basically. In all this I lost about 80$. It's not the end of the world but just the whole nastiness and unfair ebay action still makes me mad.

Something like that happened to anyone? What could be done?

[simba6]

Return fraud is a problem in all forms of sales.  You have to add some to all your prices to cover such loss. It's sad but, ebay has become well known at a place where you can get stuff for free that way.  You can try another call to ebay and ask for a supervisor.  Not sure if you can even get through anymore to them.

[kozlodui]

This is a good idea, thanks. I might try that. But I spent already so much time calling and writing, it seems that I spent a lot of "money in time" too. I started adding tonnes of "read", "be sure", "be responsible" to my listings too, but these people are once a crook, always a crook, it will not deter them. It used to happen once every few years, now I had similar things twice in 2020 (one is supposedly returned the item but it is in the US and she didn't send tracking, so maybe not). Once also in 2019, where first he wanted all kinds of rebates and software to send him and when I didn't, he found a scratch under a microscope (really) and claimed it as not as described and ebay refunded him.

[donsdetour]

the problem with item not as described is this:

eBay has no idea what you shipped or condition.

Same goes for the returned item.

They find for the buyer most of the time;

No return does not mean no refund:

When a case is opened you get the choice to have them return for refund, or no return for refund.

You agree to the buyers guarantee when you list an item for sale.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

[soh.maryl]

ALL eBay sellers need to read the Money Back Guarantee for buyers so that they will have an understanding of a buyer's rights regarding an eBay purchase.

Not going to get into a discussion of whether or not this is fair, just explaining to you that a buyer can open an item not as described case and eBay will require the seller to front him in advance for return shipping and to refund the buyer's total payment when he receives the returned item.  

Your "no refunds" has no standing if/when a buyer opens an item not as described case.

[northernlightsofoz]

"I also explain to her that I cannot issue her a USPS label because I am in Canada and Usps.com does not take cdn credit cards or paypal. I ask her to tell me how much the shipping will be so I can pay her for it. She says "it's too complicated" and stops communicating." 

I thought that this was the only way a seller from a different country could have their item returned to them?

Unless something has changed.

[kozlodui]

if you've read my first message, you can see that she is not all there, with the "puking" and "minding my tongue", etc. She was not planning on returning anything, just abusing the policy. However, I feel that buyers also have to cooperate in such matters so the fact that she did nothing and ebay refunded her is not ok.  Ebay is mostly at fault here in my opinion. If I were uncooperative, it's one thing. But I offered a partial refund or full refund with the return. I even called them to confirm whether I was ok with my actions and they said yes. And then still refunded her. So I am out of the item, and the shipping that I paid. She got her money back 100% plus free expensive perfume which is perfectly fine.

[kozlodui]

yes, "when he received the returned item" as you say. I got nothing back and she is not answering my messages. She is not/will not return anything, just effectively stole my item with ebay's permission.

[kozlodui]

She actually posted a picture of the item she received, seemed the same as I sent her, normal bottle, no issues. But she claimed it was "stale" and "she puked on it". Of course, ebay cannot smell it, but why believe her over me, that's a questions usually, but in this case I was accepting the return, just tell me how much for postage, I pay it, you return, I reimburse, but she just got the money from ebay and never did anything else. She is not returning the item and they wash their hands.

[kozlodui]

i agreed to return and refund. There was no return but full refund even though she was supposed to return and even stated that she does not wish to keep the item when I offered her a partial refund to avoid the hassle. But she very well kept it.