Ripped off by yet another buyer! Ebay's Buyer Wins no matter what policy.

[esell-resell]

Has this happenned to anyone else?

I sold a Computer Server to a buyer on Ebay, this guy phoned me, we discussed everything about the server and shipping. Now this guy was cheap I could tell just by him whinning about how much the shipping would be and how long it would take.

So me being a nice person and I know what it is like to have to wait and wait for my package, I told him to send me $90 and I would express ship it out to him and he would have it in 3 - 4 days. He agreed and sent me the extra $90 plus I gave him a deal on the server $169.99 , when I could have easily got $200. The server weighs 70lbs and is 26"longX19"highX9"wide and has to be shipped in it's proper sitting place so I had to label it with THIS SIDE UP stickers and also HEAVY stickers (70lbs) and alot of FRAGILE AND HANDLE WITH CARE stickers. It cost me $280.00 to ship it to him (no lie I have the receipt from UPS on my account) and only charged him $90. When I packaged the server I did it at the UPS office that I go to all the time and the UPS agent helped me actually. I wrapped it in packing cardboard and used a bubble packing envelope for extra cushion on the back of the tower server so that none of the conections would be broken. It was then triple wrapped with cardboard boxes customly made top fit tight around the server and several layers of red Tuck Tape were used to seal it all up.

The buyer received it I believe 6 days later because some of the paperwork for the border ( Canada to USA) were not proper so it took a few more days. When his even NORMAL shipping, like the cheapest from Winnipeg Manitoba Canada to New York USA would have been $133.00 and would have taken 2 - 3 weeks to get there. Remember he only paid $90?

Anyway 3 days after he received the server he sends me a message that it was damaged during shipping because it was not packaged properly and he wants all his money back and also the shipping money. In my listing I had listed no returns or exchanges. I want all of you to know that I have sold many of these units and I always, ALWAYS run a system check on them before shipping them out and I have never had a problem. So I replied to him that I most certainly did package it properly and I asked him to send me pictures please and I also asked him why he would accept a package that was damaged. He would not respond or nor did he send any pictures.

Yesterday I received a buyer complaint thing from Ebay and Paypal puts a $179.99 hold on my account. I responded to the complaint and explained everything in detail and informed the buyer that I would be contacting Ebay and UPS this morning.

This morning I woke up a little later than usual 11am and noticed that the buyer had already escalated the complaint with Ebay at 6am. I immediately phoned Ebay and spoke to someone in the Ebay Buyer Protection department and I explained everything to the rep and also that I packed it in front of the UPS agent who helped me and that the buyer would not send me any pictures, and I expressed to the rep that I think what the buyer did was buy a different server locally because I noticed on his account that a few days after he bought my server, he was buying Tape drives for a completely different server, and after speaking with him on the phone he had said that he was in need of a server badly because they did not have one.

So here is what the Ebay rep did during the phone call I had with him. He ruled in the buyers favor and now the buyer can take 7 - 14 days to ship it to me and he can send it anyway he wants, so I will be waiting for 4- 6 weeks at the very least to get back a BROKEN server that has now cost me 280.00$ in shipping and is probably now worth nothing because here is what I believe happenned the buyer found a server locally and then read the buyer protection policy and then damaged the server ON PURPOSE then filed the claim. I know I cannot prove it 100% but I know that is what happenned.

So now I am out over $550.00 and apparently there is nothing I can do about it. I am sooo tired of getting ripped off on Ebay by buyers that LIE and Ebay rules in there favor all the time. I have 2 kids and this is christmas time and this extra money is for gifts for them, I am so UPSET right now with Ebay that I am about ready to quit selling on here completely.

I go out of my way to ENSURE that items are packed EXTRA well so that damage does not happen, and now I get ripped off by some goon that uses the policy to get away with it.

BEWARE SELLERS this can happen to you.

I think Ebay needs to wake up and change some of this NON-SENSE policy loop holes that these scammers use to scam you out of money. Oh and get this that buyer can now leave me NEGATIVE feedback but I cannot do the same to him, I can either leave positive or no feedback!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

Has anyone else had this happen to them?

[oz_in_ohio]

If buyers dont like paying the shipping costs then they can always buy a plane fare and personally go and pick the items up all over the world...

[oz_in_ohio]

Stay away from bonanza.....It is a total waste of time..... Ebay is much better than bonanza ever will be..Ebay may be tougher but they have a better reputation...However you will do as you wish....

[oz_in_ohio]

IF THE BUYER IS SO CHEAP...TELL THEM TO BUY A PLANE FARE AND COME OUT TO YOU AND PERSONALLY PICK IT UP....MEET AT A POLICE STATION CAR PARK AND HAVE THE BUYER SIGN A DOCKET..GET SOMEONE TO RAKE A PIC OF THE BUYER ACCEPTING FROM YOU....If the buyer does not want this then do as i do and take a picture of the package prior to shipping it and send it as an attachment via ebay messages to the buyer . This is not becasuse you are a nice person!!. it is only so ebay has it on record what was sent and the adress it was sent to...Buyers want to play it rough, then so can sellers. Due to a handfull of nasty buyers in my early years in ebay, i spend a little more time to have all the proof i can the pkg was sent....Dont delete any messages etc in your message folder inside ebay until 91 days has slipped by as that is when they will not be able to be seen. Of course if they pay and feedback has been left for you, then all can be deleted regarding that buyer and specific transaction....Keep a folder in your email with all communication...EG oz_in_ohio POSTCARDS 21.Feb ..That even shows you the date the auction sale closure for reference to give to ebay if it has to go that far........ This is a bit of extra work on the sellers behalf but i have been doing it over 9 years and have won most cases that came up. Dont avoid tracking as ebay will not cover you if no tracking is in the shipping cost. Another thing is make sure when you contact the buyer letting them know the package is to be sent, add in the paypal transaction number.... That is for ebays reference only.... However you will do as you wish....O personally have a 1 terrabyte extended hard drive i keep all my ebay related pictures and messages on. best 59.00 i ever spent.   OIO

[sdhafele]

The last 10 things I have ordered off of eBay 9 were nothing but a hassle. There is no end to the scams sellers run on ebay. The problem is ebay, not the buyers and sellers. Bad apples on both sides but the entity in the middle doesn't care as they make money either way. I used to sell lots of items with only one issue that was my fault. I refunded cash and still sent item since it was my bad. Never once encountered a scam selling. Only buying. In my view I'd say 80% of sellers on ebay are scammers. Not worth buying on ebay when there are so many quality alternatives. After this issue is failed to be resolved I'm deleting all things ebay forever. Not worth the daily hassle

[lonewanderer1553]

No, buyers do not win all cases. I have in the past been grossly misled about the condition of items I've purchased, and when I tried to negotiate a return, eBay would agree with the seller that I should pay my own return shipping, or pay return shipping + a restocking fee, for which I might otherwise receive only a partial refund. This is including non-functional items for which I've provided photo evidence, and items that the seller claimed to have tested prior to listing.

For instance, one seller shipped a defective CD that had been run through a cosmetic resurfacing device to hide the extent of the damage to the disc's surface layer. Of course, the CD didn't function at all. I was more than happy to send it back to the seller, but they insisted I pay return shipping, and they would only offer a partial refund of a few cents - the price of the item minus its inflated shipping cost. I pressed for a full refund, but to no avail. When I slapped the seller with a negative, they began an extensive harassment campaign in which they called my cell phone day and night to leave threatening messages, and they submitted my eBay email to several spam lists. Although I reported the seller for harassment, I have no idea what - if any - action eBay took against their account. The seller's account is still active, and judging by their recent feedback, they've defrauded a number of other buyers since that incident.

There are two sides to every story. Buyers vs. sellers shouldn't be regarded as such a partisan issue. Both parties have shown an equal propensity for defrauding each other.

[brentwickliffe]

I am tired of Buyers returning items just because they don't want them anymore and claiming they don't work. I am on my last straw. I pay to much in fees to have to deal with this. There are alternative to eBay and I will use them. 

[tonyt134]

 I  had a buyer say that the men's tie they bought from me was  defective (an issue)  smudge or something. I also asked for them to send me a picture of the problem tie, they never did. Next day I was alerted by eBay that there was a claim against my defective tie, I'm new at selling but I'm very conscientious about what I sell and how perfect that I was that I sold. eBay sent them a return label to my address for a refund I can't wait to see the Thai they claim was so bad

[mattpg2013]

It is rampent. More and more "buyers" are finding this system and using the hell out of it. If I break my >>>insert product here<<< I will just buy one on ebay and send my busted pos in its place ... or buy something, use it for the weekend and file a complaint.  Ebay only decides ONE direction... there is no sellers protection, and sellers pay to use the service, its a scam, but as long as people sell, other people will screw them over.  Ebay sucks.

[roy8765]

This just happened to me. It's time for a class action lawsuit.

[tenthindimes]

I just had a buyer say a camera was damaged in shipping and wanted 30.00 dollars for thier trouble.

They had pictures ...sooo I put a claim into USPS and had 35.00 dolllar check in five days .Then refunded

them the 35.00.No sweat of my back if they want to go to jail for a false claim.

[intoeden]

Ugh!

[1mountainmover]

I get ripped off every day only thing winning is EBAY...going to quit selling.

[pettijohnjeff1]

All the time!!! I sell used appliance parts they will send me back there broken parts or not know what they need and get it and claim its defective or they order the wrong part and say there is something wrong with it that way I eat the shipping both ways. and they are just getting worse. All the items that dont cost much I toss in the trash now, its not worth the hastle of putting up with the lies I lost over $450 last month

[sogeki00]

in the horror is alive(the-horror.com), admin dot50cal (usa) faces same situation, he also sent to buyer with usps register mail tracking code and buyer in france claim v2ets nothing and ebay pay back full money to buyer

EBay ignore seller and only pay back to buyer unless u have very strong mail evidence, mostly if buyer said no they give back to buyer

[dodso_iqeolrhg]

I am in the middle of a rip off myself.

i sold an $1199.00 Oven, shipped it to the client 

he responded that there was shipping damage to a minor light cover in the unit. I then ordered and shipped a replacement part to the client..

I notified the client, all through eBay that the part was on its way..

note that the customer hit the “refund” button and left a note that said “ light cover broken, send replacement”

i sent everything out, but because the part came from the manufacturer I had no tracking number. This was also over the Thanksgiving week and I thought all was well. I had no idea that eBay would refund the customer because there was no tracking number... I thought they would read the notes.. now they say there is nothing they can do because I didn’t put the tracking number in the file... I have the tracking number  now, I got it from the manufacturer today. The $20 part is arriving this Friday.. but when I call the customer there is no answer.. I call and call, send notes but no reply... he has my brand new $1199 item plus all his money refunded and eBay says sorry, can’t do anything for you... unbelievable and totally dishonest.. a travistry and they a compliment in the fraud.. it’s Called aiding and abetting... anyone got any ideas.. can you sue ebay?