eBay

bargainbookscanada · ‎01-25-2014

new day, new problem on the new "ebay".

I mailed an item a few weeks ago. The customer is claiming that it arrived damaged. It was pretty well packaged and I shipped out a lot of those items, no problem. But I agreed to refund. I asked the seller to ship it back to me and I'd issue a refund. He refuses to do that. He says that return shipping costs too much.

I'm afraid of getting hit with a neg. But at the same time, I really have no evidence that the buyer isn't just keeping a perfectly good item.

reallynicestamps · ‎01-25-2014

We all get these bullies from time to time.

Ask the buyer for photographs of the damaged item and of the packaging. He may be telling the truth. If so, refund with no further fuss. It happens and it is a business expense.

If he can't/won't , tell him to return the item for a full refund.

Now.

He may send the item back. Make sure he understands that he will not be getting any refund until he returns the "damaged" item. Be firm but polite.

Scammers don't want to draw the attention of eBay and Paypal.

He may leave a neg (and worse bad DSRs) but refuse the return. You can then contact eBay with a request for the neg and more importantly the DSRs to be removed on the basis that the customer was not cooperative. It might work.

If he leave bad feedback, you can add a Response. Responses should be calm and factual. "Refused refund on return of item" pretty well covers it. Responses are not required to be postive.

He may open a PP dispute. Good!! Now he must return the item with Delivery Confirmation to get a refund of his original payment. If he won't, he loses the Dispute and cannot leave feedback.

Keep in mind that he might be right, and always be polite. You have to be the Good Guy at all times. Which doesn't mean roll over and take whatever he wants.

recped · ‎01-25-2014

Did you ask for a picture of the damage?

Not sure why you want it returned, it would probably invalidate any insurance claim you might make.

Why would you make the buyer pay to return an item that was damaged in transit?

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

bargainbookscanada · ‎01-25-2014

Well for one thing I don't really have any proof that the item was damaged. It is more realistic that the item has a few slight dings and the buyer is exaggerating and the item can be resold. So if any buyer says "I want a refund", I need to refund, no questions asked? it just doesn't seem fair.

cumos55 · ‎01-25-2014

All communication should be through eBay messages.

eBay has a record of all communication... A scammer may not like that.

If buyer communicates outside of eBay...

Copy the email and send him a response through eBay messaging... all in the same message.....

If buyer questions what you are doing, state that you would like to respond to his email, and this is strictly for your records

bargainbookscanada · ‎01-25-2014

I think this will be the last straw, end to my selling on Ebay.

I would have quit weeks ago, but 2 factors changed that made my selling life easier. First, I live near Markham and I found Chitchatsexpress which is a really amazing company. If I had to send items via Canada post to the USA, it would have been unbearable. Second, the US dollar has appreciated so it does add a little extra value.

But now, the past 6 weeks I have encountered more problems than I have selling in the past 10 years.

1) First buyer, from Australia, claims item got lost, asks for refund. I sent it out, no tracking, My fault on the no tracking. But I have sent out many packages to Australia with absolutely no problems. No tracking, no refund.

2) Second buyer buys an old video game from me. He can't get it to work. He asks me numerous times for help and I do the best I can. Then after 2 weeks he says "your discs are scratched, that's the problem". Discs were not scratched. They played perfectly fine. He send it back and I refund.

3) 3rd Buyer buys a lot of items with a US address. He then moves and tells me he lives in Russia but he does not have a confirmed address. So no seller protection. He offers to change his address "soon". So far, nothing has been changed.

4) Fourth buyer, as stated in a nother post, is a re-seller. Ok no problem with reselling as we all have to make a living. But he tells me he wants to refund because *his* customer changed his mind. Just not nice.

5) And now this issue with the damaged item and the refusal to ship back.

i*m-still-here · ‎01-25-2014

If the buyer returns an item, it negates the insurance claim.

Why would you want to force a buyer to pay return shipping for a damaged item?

If you file the claim / The buyer keeps the item.

Anything else is insurance fraud.

bargainbookscanada · ‎01-25-2014

Looks like issue has been resolved. I am going to give him a partial refund.

I wasn't going to file a claim if he returned the item. If he refused to do anything, I was going to go the insurance claim route.

vickyg* · ‎01-25-2014

Hey Adam. How goes it?. I just decided to check out the boards and saw you. Nice to see you're still around.

Vicky

toff3 · ‎01-26-2014

buyer, from Australia, claims item got lost, asks for refund. I sent it out, no tracking, My fault on the no tracking. But I have sent out many packages to Australia with absolutely no problems. No tracking, no refund.

Bargainbooks,

After >1000 feedbacks, you still don't get it, do you? You send out an item without proof of delivery and your customer claims INR. You have no choice but to refund. No ifs or buts, no matter how deep your suspicions run that your customer is dishonest. You have to refund. You - and only you - are responsible for the safe delivery of the item into the hands of your buyer. Them's the rules. If you don't like them, don't trade on ebay.

Tom

asyahijab · ‎01-26-2014

Damage package do happened sometimes.

My buyer just sending me a picture a damage package i sent.

i*m-still-here · ‎01-26-2014

I've received 4 damaged packages during the past 2 weeks.

By some miracle 3 items survived the beatings. They should not have.

One item was smashed and it was clearly due to poor packaging. (A very rare problem on eBay.)

The seller insisted that I return it prior to refunding.

I had no choice.

I spend about $15 to send the bits and pieces back, and then the seller claimed that it never arrived.

I was forced to escalate the case before I could get a refund.

All that............ AND THE SELLER IS ANGRY WITH ME!

EBay has taught me a lot about the way people are unable to empathize with others.

rose-dee · ‎01-26-2014

@bargainbookscanada wrote:
Looks like issue has been resolved. I am going to give him a partial refund.

I wasn't going to file a claim if he returned the item. If he refused to do anything, I was going to go the insurance claim route.

I wonder if you can still make a claim through Canada Post for the damage (assuming there was insurance coverage)? You're now out both the item and part of the payment. It might be worth asking.

bargainbookscanada · ‎01-26-2014

You ever heard of something called trust? Like I said, I bit the bullet and refunded. The extra, added cost of sending by tracking overseas using Canada Post for some items can add up to be more expensive than having to eat the odd INR claim. I was not doing anything foolish, business wise. It was simple cost benefit analysis of using Tracking. But now I see times have changed and tracking is a necessity.