So, I bought something from a guy because when I asked him questions through ebay messaging, he gave me wrong information. When I received the item, it was clearly not up to his description. So I file a claim and after much dispute he agrees to total refund (cost, and shipping costs both ways). Now it was a total headache to make him agree to this.
Usually sellers who are in the wrong provide a shipping label for you to you return, but this guy insisted I pay up front. So I did anyways, and returned it to him. So now after a couple of weeks, I’m doing my feedbacks and I give him a NEUTRAL because it was like a scenario from Dell CS.
Then all of a sudden, he retracts payment for the return shipping claiming “Item not received.” Keep in mind that I have all kinds of tracking on this and plenty of evidence, which is now already sent to PayPal and eBay.
Now my question is… are seller allowed to pull this kind of crap on buyers? That they provide a refund, only if you don’t leave ANY feedback? I feel like its some kind of extortion; they should be giving me a refund because they made a mistake.
Now this guy has given me a positive feedback with this message:
“OP” is a SCAMMMMMM… All Ebayers “BEWARE!!!!!!! BEWARE!!!!
Additionally…
There’s another seller who shipped something relatively small and cheap (less than $5) from within the contiguous US that had no tracking. After 2 weeks of not getting the item, I asked him/her where it was, and he/she replied to just wait. So I wait until the final shipping date which was provided by eBay, now about a month, and still I receive no item so I open a case. I opt for still wanting the item, but the guy gives me a refund w/o any communication with me. So I’m pretty displeased now, as I’ve been waiting a MONTH for something that I can get faster from China.
So after a while, I also leave some neutral feedback on this guy and I receive this message today:
3) we give you 100% refund on one condition: you will never leave any feedback.
4) now we need leave feedback for you, please choose one: = “OP” is a SCAMMMMMM… All Ebayers “BEWARE!!!!!!! BEWARE!!!!
^ that is what the other guy above left me.
or = If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house ( Proverbs 17:13 )
Is this legit/valid practice for sellers? I see this is terrible business practice.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1emfc7/im_being_harassed_by_a_sellers_are_they_allowed/
For anyone trying to sell anything on eBay know this:
PayPal/eBay will always side with the Buyer and screw over the seller.
I got scammed by some guy last month, he bought something new and working, then returned it claiming it was faulty. Knowing how biased eBay was, I took loads of photos and even a Video of me packaging the item… When the item was returned i made an unboxing video in which it was fairly clear that he had tampered with (replaced components) and used the item then factory reset it and sent it back. When I received it, it clearly didn’t have the fault he described.
In total I had 3.5Gb worth of Photos and Videos. And even made a PDF showing clearly the difference between what I sent and what I received returned, with clear references to the photos/videos. In the messages I received from the buyer, he even contradicted himself about the fault. He first said one issue as a fault, then changed the issue into a completely different one in the next message, an issue that is paradoxical… Unintentionally saying he managed to use a feature of this item that is physically impossible to even access with that fault he described..
What does PayPal do? They don’t even look at the photos or videos… They request an Unbiased 3rd Party Document confirming the buyer is at fault. They also said that even if I am found to be correct, they would not reimburse me for the cost of getting such document…
In the end, I was lucky because I contacted the manufacturer who was nice enough to spend their time and money helping me and eventually made this said document… You’re guessing now that the Buyer is proven of fraud or what not, he would be the one to pay for it.
NOPE. PayPal still refunds him, then simply reimburses me 99% for the damages caused to the item sold… Even though I got to keep the item that was returned it has no value since components in it were swapped, it is used, and totally bricked because only the Buyer has the Activation code to it, which even the manufacturer is not able to disclose to me given that I now have it.
If there is one thing that you take away from this. DON’T EVER SELL ANYTHING ON eBay IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO GET SCAMMED!!!!
Source:www.hotukdeals.com/deals/paypal-free-returns-back-paypal-up-15-2535204
Last November Clive Rose* sold two handmade Japanese swords on eBay, worth a total of £1,940. The buyer, once he had received them, demanded that the cost of the more expensive sword be slashed. Rose refused to haggle and asked for the items to be returned and a refund issued.
Eventually a box arrived. “We couldn’t open it until we had signed for it,” says Rose. “On the label it said two items were inside. When we had signed and opened it up we found the cheaper £540 sword badly damaged because of poor packaging, and a brick. The other £1,400 sword, for which he had been trying to barter, was not there.”
The buyer claimed Rose had forfeited his rights by signing for the parcel, while eBay’s response was similar. Although Rose sent photographs and message threads to support his case, eBay took the money from his PayPal account and refunded the buyer for both swords. Rose, who has a 100% satisfaction rating from other buyers, had his account suspended for withholding eBay’s seller fees and is now threatened with debt collectors because his PayPal account is overdrawn.
The tale will be familiar to many eBay sellers who have experienced difficulties with problem buyers.
It was only after The Observer intervened that the auction site examined the history of Rose’s buyer – what the company found was a pattern of suspect behaviour. “The buyer’s account has been suspended and we are happy to issue the seller with a courtesy refund to ensure he is not left out of pocket,” eBay says.
It is a year since The Observer reported that eBay had introduced a pilot programme to address issues around similar problems. At the time, critics claimed its measures to protect buyers from dodgy transactions left sellers at the mercy of fraudsters who can manipulate the system to effectively steal goods.
Readers related instances where a buyer falsely claimed to have been sent beetroot instead of a mobile phone, while another buyer stuffed an envelope with a used T-shirt instead of a £258 pair of trainers he claimed to be returning. Both were refunded under eBay’s “money back guarantee”.
“There is something wrong,” eBay admitted last April. “The system was built on the premise that most people are honest. It needs to be more intuitive.”
Under the experimental scheme, a seller can ask eBay to intervene before issuing a refund if a buyer returns a damaged or substitute item. Ordinarily, they have a week to resolve the dispute before having to part with their money, but an unscrupulous buyer can ignore contact and open a claim directly with eBay. In many cases it issues an automatic refund without any evidence from the seller being considered.
The seller has no recourse under PayPal’s seller protection scheme since this is invalidated when a buyer claims directly through eBay. And although eBay’s own rules require buyers to send disputed items back, refunds are sometimes released before this happens – or after damaged or substitute goods have been returned. Even eBay can see the flaw, and in a brainwave that would seem obvious to anyone else the pilot scheme requests photographic evidence when buyers or sellers allege damage or duplicity.
Twelve months on, has the trial made a difference? Not according to Londoner Catherine Lewis who sold a coat via the website. The buyer claimed that it never arrived and, because Lewis could only provide proof of postage and not of delivery, eBay forced a refund. “When I looked at the buyers’ feedback other sellers all told the same story,” she says. “The buyer claimed the item didn’t arrive but eBay gave a refund, even on items that were signed for. Worse, the buyer has been reported to eBay three times before for this and no action has been taken. They are free to keep buying items and claiming back the money – essentially stealing – and eBay is not doing anything about it.”
Ebay may have been duped by its own rules which only allow sellers to leave positive ratings for buyers in case, as it admits, criticism puts the latter off future spending.
The score of warning reviews that Lewis found were all spelled out beneath the obligatory heading of “positive”. Buyers, on the other hand, can damage a seller’s status with negative feedback, posted anonymously, and every case opened against a seller results in a defect against the buyer.
It’s a policy that appears to protect eBay’s profits at the expense of sellers’ reputations, as eBay’s own website explains: “We’re counting any activities we’ve found that decrease a buyer’s likelihood to come back and shop with us again, as defects”.
It only occurred to eBay to read the reviews of Lewis’s buyer on its own website after The Observer alerted it to them. It then discovered that the individual was a serial fraudster and suspended their account. “This is not good enough on our part,” it says. “We have a buyer abuse team that uses software to scan the site to spot this behaviour. In this case, this buyer clearly has been abusing the system and it wasn’t picked up.”
So anxious is the company to keep buyers spending that it turned a blind eye to a stream of violent threats sent by one to a seller in Australia. The victim made 10 complaints about the abusive messages to eBay which responded by restricting the messages to three a day to each of her three accounts. After her fifth complaint she was advised by customer service to ignore the abuse, which included rape threats. The sender’s accounts were eventually terminated whenThe Observer got involved. “This behaviour will not be tolerated,” says eBay, which had tolerated it for days until a headline loomed.
According to eBay, it will announce permanent policy changes in the autumn. “Learning from the experiences of the 50,000 UK and US sellers in the pilot, we have created a different returns experience, including putting obstacles in the way of suspected fraudsters to prevent refunds, or even blocking a buyer entirely when we suspect fraud before they’ve been refunded,” it says. “We’re also giving the sellers who offer free or 30-day returns the ability to allow partial refunds on faulty, damaged and lost item claims so that they can recover costs.”
The extraordinary fact that eBay has only recently “put obstacles in the way” of fraudsters is no surprise to Dean Marchant* whose business was threatened by the knee-jerk refund policies.
He sold a £400 turntable to a buyer who requested a return and sent back a different damaged device. Marchant sent photographs of the smashed item to eBay which, nonetheless, refunded the buyer. Because the buyer had contacted eBay’s dispute resolution service, a defect was recorded against Marchant.
“I had erroneously been issued with two previous defects and this third one put me ‘below standard’, excluding me from money-saving promotions,” he says. “It is crushing my ability to do business.”
Ebay decided to refund him as a goodwill gesture after an Observer investigation, but claimed that since it never gets sight of items it could not judge whether the correct item was returned. Marchant plans to start a lobby group of disaffected sellers to challenge what he sees as bias against sellers. “My experience, and that of other sellers I have spoken to, is that buyer-fraud of this kind is rife,” he says. “Every single seller I spoke to had a tale to tell of at least two incidents in the past year. The simple fact is the eBay policy allows this fraud.”
* Names have been changed
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/may/21/ebay-accused-failing-sellers-buyers-manipulate-system-protection
Sold a gold chain to a customer two days later had a message ( very badly spelt ) from this buyer claiming he was sending it back to exchange for a heavier version, ok so far, no problems. Friday morning got a second message saying he now wanted a refund as they had bought one in a local shop, again, no problem, the chain arrives two hours later in three different pieces. I immediately took a photo of the chain, his note inside and the packaging, I then sent it back to him explaining that he did not state the chain was in three parts and as it was now not in a condition to sell I was returning it to him.
Then spoke to CS and informed them of my actions, very sympathetic and was told that goods have to be returned in the same condition they were sent in, so I have done the right thing and if he opens a case to ring CS back, he duly opens a case and sends this
“I should have taken pictures before I sent it back but thought you was a genuine company and thought you wouldn’t brake it your self just so you wouldn’t have to pay the returns all over £20 if you need the money that bad you shouldn’t be selling things as I own my own bissnes and it doesn’t work like that so I’ve told eBay all about it”
So accusing me of damaging my own stock, I contact CS and they say not to worry we will review the case and get back to you. Half an hour ago WE HAVE CLOSED THE CASE IN THE BUYERS FAVOUR AND REFUNDED HIM FROM YOUR ACCOUNT, so he now has the chain and his money back.
I am informed by CS that they will appeal the decision and get back to me on Monday ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING
That is what ebay call protecting our accounts, sorry but every time I am e mailed now to sell off ebay I will, having refused it for over four years.
Source: http://whyebaysucks.info/typical-ebay-seller-story-broken-item-returned-scam/
I sold my brand new GoPro on eBay 2 weeks ago, nothing happened in the last 2 weeks, however, after 2 weeks, today, I received a return request from buyer, he opened a "Doesn't work or is defective" case against me and describe that he found the water go through the screen and he lost his footage. And what he want is FULL REFUND. I was totally shocked, since its a nearly 200 quids deal.
My point is what I sold is SEALED and New item.
And he already USED 2 weeks. and full refund is unacceptable.
This is my 5th time sell on eBay. I'm so upset right now, and I heard eBay always on buyer's side. : (
What can I do right now? Appreciate for any comments and suggestions.
Source: https://www.hotukdeals.com/discussions/buyer-want-to-return-my-new-gopro-after-2-weeks-use-tt-2975371
Buyer purchased brand new vintage $300 item from me. Receives it and claims it was different than listed. I pay for him to send it back. I receive it and of course it’s not the same item, it’s completely different and destroyed. He gets no refund. Today he leaves me a sarcastic neutral feedback, bordering on harassment. Ebay won’t remove it, even though he’s taunting me, even though it will effect my business. I check his feedback. He’s done this to three other sellers in 6 months, same item line, same neutral feedback to the people he’s ripped off. There’s scammers taking advantage of Ebay, and then there’s Ebay’s callous disregard for sellers. It’s become a joke.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ebaysucks/comments/ceqqcx/got_scammed_turns_out_scammer_is_a_repeat_offender/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x