Buyer who opens cases systematically

[martinw819]

Hi,

Is there way to know if a buyer opens cases systematically or for the wrong reasons (instead of contacting sellers to resolve a problem) ?

Thanks

[mr.elmwood]

If you can see their FB, there may be a hint in there, otherwise, no.

[pjcdn2005]

As Mr Elmwood mentioned, there really is no way to know for sure but keep in mind that ebay has it set up so that buyers don't always realize that they are opening a case..they think that they are simply asking a question.

[mdf_jersey]

That is certainly a pet peeve with me. TOO often buyers open cases thinking that they are communicating with me.

[ricarmic]

I have so far identified two "organizations" overseas that each year purchase a variety of "cheap" things en-masse (which they know won't have tracking), put in INRs on the bunch, get kicked off eBay, show up again the next year and repeat the process. Between the two, this has been going on over 4 years. I can't share specifically how I have identified them because then they'd be on to me, but in all cases the variety of ids/addresses etc have been reported to ebay. What I suggest you do is keep track of any "lost" packages and correlate any that are from the same city to see if you are affected. There really isn't much eBay can do to catch these folks as they very much know how to work the system but if you are careful, they'll only catch you two times....looking at what you are selling, I suspect you are at very low risk of this happening......

[martinw819]

There should be a review by ebay of buyers who open too many cases.

I think when I solves a case without the intervention of ebay, these buyers are never identified by ebay and pass under the radar.

I have three questions: 

1) Is in this situation it would be better to reported this buyer to ebay on the page used to leave feedback ?  

2) Is ebay penalizes seller who report a suspicious buyer for item not received when the seller already solved the case by making a full refund ?

3) If I report a buyer, is that I could later still leave feedback ?

[ricarmic]

Here are my thoughts:

I do think eBay has practices/algorithms that do identify problem buyers, however that takes time and is imprecise. The reporting buyers process has the potential to be "quicker" and more specific, one would presume that is why eBay created the process.

1) If you have a suspicious buyer yes you should report them.

2) I do not think eBay penalizes sellers for reporting suspicious buyers, that wouldn't make sense as technically the sellers are helping eBay find/avoid problem buyers. It the seller is excessive about reporting buyers that may be different.

3) You can only leave positive feedbacks for buyers anyway. Do not leave a positive feedback with negative wording, the buyer can get that removed and that activity can count against you as a seller as it is against eBay policies

[Anonymous]

The problem with the eBay system when any buyer click "Item not received" or "Item not as Described", it automatically open the disputes against the sellers. 

With that insane unfair process will automatically give sellers the defect for each item!!

eBay needs to stop and change that insane system.

I had one insane buyer opening disputes against me for 3 items "just because" even she has seen the tracking information that it has arrived in USA and is on the way to her!!  Finally she told me that she has received them and closed only one case.  No matter how many times I asked her to please close the other 2 cases and but no luck.  So I escalate it to eBay and told eBay that she told me she has received them and according to the tracking number it had arrived.  3 items were shipped together, so eBay cannot be fooled thinking that she didn't get the 2 other items.  Finally eBay closed them in my favor.

Honestly some buyers can be so inanse, or evil cruel for the purpose.  Of course she is on the block list immediately after she opened this insane unwarranted disputes for "just because".

I just wish that eBay NEVER invented this insane new policy for defect at any time, it is going to hurt us as sellers in a big hard way.  Thanks to eBay for wanting to continuing to hurt us in any way!! 

[pjcdn2005]

Actually you don't want the buyer to close the case because the defect for the case being opened will remain. If tracking shows that the item has been delivered then you can phone customer service and ask them to close the case. Since it is then considered as being closed in your favour, there will be no defect.

You must have very bad luck as I've never had an insane, cruel or evil buyer.

[ricarmic]

I agree with PJ I suspect more often these "bizarre" behaviors are more a result of the buyers really having no idea how eBay works. I had occasion to call a buyer that was confusing the heck out of me (several new id's on the same day, paying for some, not paying for others, buying one item from a multiple item listing, not paying for it, then buying another and paying for it). When I talked with them, it was a very long call but it was amazing how non-technology conversant the buyer was - they just kept trying till they could buy/pay for something, they had no idea why it wouldn't work sometimes, they had no idea which ones had worked, why they kept getting new ebay ids etc. It was a very big eye opener for me. The fellow was a very nice, polite fellow but he had no idea how technology and/or ebay worked.... at least in my demographic, I think there are a fair number of buyers like this..... not evil or cruel, just really unclear how things work and especially what effects their actions have on us....