HELP - Being Scammed by a Buyer

[murdog1711]

Good Morning,

I have tried over a dozen times with Ebay to resolve this issue. Even though I have done everything right as the seller, and followed their every direction and rule, an error was made by Ebay and the scamming buyer refunded. Their appeals department is not listening to the escalation team nor their supervisors. Everyone at Ebay agrees that I should have my money back but they are powerless since Appeals is an offline team. At the end of the day I've been frauded out of 1212.48 by both the scamming buyer and now Ebay themselves because of their corporate incompetence.

Facts (I have proof of these items I have provided to Ebay and not to PayPal through their messenger - which I hope gets to the right people).

I sold the item, an AMD 6800 graphics card on Ebay to Tianyu* *** (Changed slightly).

1. He fraudulently claims that he did not receive the item and opens a refund request. This is denied as the item was sent and the tracking number proved it was sent to a secure lockbox

2. As soon as that claim is denied he "magically" finds the item and he now claims I have sent him a $100 graphics card. This is false. Fraud number 2 by the buyer. I have included the purchase receipt for the card from AMD as well as a picture of it in it's shipping box geotagged to the post office I sent it from in all my dealings.

3. I contact Ebay customer service on December 9th, 1:21 ET and they advise me that they are closing the case as the buyer is clearly fraudulent and that his appeal would be denied. In this phone call Ebay advises me to NOT send him a return label and again, assures me the buyer's second claim is closed in my favor and his appeal would be denied and I have nothing further to do.

4. Fast Forward to December 16th and Ebay erroneously refunds the buyer

5. Despite the over 15 calls and many hours wasted, every seller agent, seller supervisor, escalation team member, escalation supervisor is unable to get appeals to even look properly at my case or review the phone call. EVERY agent agrees I've done everything right and they are shocked that a refund was given to a buyer who lost his claims twice on the item and is clearly abusing the buyers policy

I still have several tickets in with them and requests from supervisors but they have proven completely ineffective. I have over 15 replies from Appeals stating I did not supply the buyer with a means to return the item so my case won't be overturned.

HOWEVER as I've pointed out I was told many times by Ebay, including directly in the call with their customer service on December 9th, at 1:28 PM eastern to NOT supply the buyer with a ticket, and that his second fraudulent claim was closed and his appeal would be denied.

It's an unbelievably frustrating waste of time, a source of enormous stress as I'm out $1212.48 dollars to a clear scammer.

I need your help on how to proceed - what's my best recourse. I keep trying Ebay, on of their Escalation supervisors yesterday put a request for my refund directly to the manual payments team so maybe that's got a chance. What do you recommend with your experience?

[pjcdn2005]

I’m sorry but I don’t have any helpful suggestions.  I have no idea why an eBay rep would advise you as they did as for some time ebays policy has been that they want the seller to accept the return and to appeal after they get the item back.  

Even then, appeals rarely go in the sellers favor as it is usually a he said/she said situation.  They have no idea if the receipt  that you are showing is for the item that you sent to the buyer, even if there is a picture of it in the box at the post office.  That item could be taken out of the box and replaced before it is actually shipped.  I know that’s not what you did but eBay generally gives the buyer the benefit of the doubt as they do not know for sure what was received.

The best thing to do with a not as described return is to accept the return and send a label. If the item is different and you appeal,  ebay is more likely to take it seriously if you can also show that you’ve filed a police report.  But eBay will refund the buyer 2 or 3 days after you’ve received the item back if you haven’t refunded on your own and once the buyer is refunded, they can’t take that money back. That means if you win, eBay pays you back, not the buyer.   

It sounds like you got some bad advice from customer service as eBay seemed to handle the situation as they say they will.  However, I don’t know if it would have turned out any better had you accepted the return and sent a label.  The system is definitely more on the buyers side.

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

Perhaps when tyler@ebay gets back on Monday he may be able to give you more insight.

[murdog1711]

Thank you very much for your detailed response.  I just need someone at Ebay to listen to that phone call on December 9th at 1:28 PM. I legitimately didn't know how to handle the situation and they advised me that they closed his second return attempt and his appeal would be denied and that I didn't have to do anything. And it was the agent and their supervisor. How can I be at fault? What a waste of time and stress. 

I did sell one more video card. I videotaped the cards box seals up close, me loading the card into the box at the post office and them taking it and sealing it all in one uninterrupted video. Uploaded it to Youtube and sent it to the buyer. I think that's pretty much the only way to protect yourself nowadays. Sad. I probably won't ever sell again on Ebay, this was supposed to be a fun way to make a bit of money on the side, but the headache, stress and this has caused has not been worth it at all. 

[sunraycity_store]

Many years ago I had some significant issues with eBay where I needed to escalate the matter beyond client services.
There is a little known area called the office of the president.
I recommend that you lay out the case in a timeline fashion and include your documented evidence. If this email is still working I recommend that people only use it egregious situations like yours. Good luck.

[femmefan1946]

If you carry business or even personal insurance, this is where you can use it.

Report the theft/fraud to https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm and get a Report number if at all possible.

If he is in Canada, file a police report and ask that it be forwarded to his community force in case there are other reports on file against him there.

And of course, postal inspectors. Canada Post has them, but the USPS postal inspectors are feared.

Again, videotaping and photography are not useful defenses since they would have to include every step of the way from your packing table to the PO counter, hours and hours of tape , to confirm there was no switching. Sorry.

[tyler@ebay]

Thanks for the tag on this @pjcdn2005!

Hi @murdog1711 - this is definitely a troubling situation. I'm not able to provide account specific support via the boards, so the extent of what I can do is echo PJ's information: in general, in situations where a seller is asked to provide a means of return shipping failure to do so can result in a refund being given with no requirement for the buyer to return the item. 

It sounds like there has been a large amount of back and forth with customer support. As frustrating as it is to hear, working with support on this is probably the best course of action. I prefer the social media team (Twitter or Facebook specifically). I like not having to wait on hold, I trust the caliber of teammate that works there and I find them to be very helpful.

[regs43]

Maybe try "Ebay for Business" on Facebook. They are better then ebay customer service I hear. I see people in the USA talk about them all the time, not sure if it applies to Canada, worth a shot!

[Anonymous]

This is a very convincing story. All my activities on eBay are over. I'm completely done with this **bleep**.

Here's how it works.

You need to borrow a tool or something. Go to eBay, buy the tool or what you need, use it, do what you have to do, and simply file a return claiming it's defective. Voila!

Meanwhile, the buyer has your item, eBay has your money, and you're sitting there empty with the feeling of getting scammed like an idiot.

That's something I will not submit to twice. I will share my experience all over.

People seeking to sell on eBay need to know

the risk of losing money while selling on eBay is very high.

[38e_avenue]

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@regs43 wrote:
Maybe try "Ebay for Business" on Facebook. They are better then ebay customer service I hear. I see people in the USA talk about them all the time, not sure if it applies to Canada, worth a shot!

---

It applies to Canada, too. I had a problem, the "regular" CS was not able to resolve it, so I contacted  FB "Ebay for Business". They were really caring, professional, and understanding - and resolved the issue within a few hours. 

An advice to OP: the sector you are operating in (highend electronics) is very often targeted by all kind of scammers. Use all possible tracking, signatures, delivery confirmation and insurance you can get. Choose the best carrier, even if more expensive. 

[flipistics]

I'll also add that you should make sure you record the serial number of any electronics device you sell.

[reallynicestamps]

When I have suggested to US sellers that they use Signature Confirmation on sales with values less than $750,  which is eBay's requirement for Proof of Delivery on high value shipments, I often get attacked for the mere suggestion.

Apparently, although some USPS offices are open on Saturdays, hours can be erratic. And pickup at the post office can be difficult.

And the cost is higher ($3.80 USD compared to$1.75CDN).

That being said, using Signature Confirmation, letting the buyer know, and selling it as a 'security measure' for the benefit of the buyer, could be a useful strategy.

[brettjet38]

Zombie Thread from  12-19-2020

[kh-phdan]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue discussing this topic.

Thanks for your understanding!