eBay

brett_the_tech · ‎02-16-2015

Ok so Im going to give the point form of my month long issue with eBay.....

- Sold a macbook January 16th

-Shipped macbook to the verified address, with tracking number, signature - everything so i was protected for seller protection

- 1 week after shipping the macbook is back at my front door with a sticker that says the address doesnt exist

- I double check I have the address correct, I google the address and discover it really doesnt exist...fake address that still got verified by paypal....

- The day after I recieve the package PayPal does a charge back .."Unauthorized Use"

So my guess is it was some kind of scammer, fraud payment as I havent heard from the buyer since selling the item

Ok, so I now have the item, but owed eBay $140 in Final Value Fees

Because the buyer had already payment I couldnt file a claim and because paypal had their investigation going on for the unauthorized charge ebay would not allow me to submit a cancelation request

I call paypal, paypal is very helpfull and they give me a credit for me shipping fees.

I call ebay. Ebay tells me "you have to wait till paypal is finished with their claim, then we can cancel the order and credit you"

I say to the ebay rep "What if paypals claim isnt finished till Im past 30days, can I still cancel??"

The rep seemed helpfull, they tell me not too worry, they left a note on my account , gave me a reference number and made me feel as if all would be ok.

- On friday paypal closes their claim, the funds are reversed, which is fine with me as I have the item thankfully

- Sunday I finally have time to call eBay.. What a HEADACHE....1st rep puts me on hold, next thing I know Im on the line with PayPal. PayPal transfers me back to eBay, and eBay some how brings up the buyers account instead of mine.

Finally I get the eBay rep to understand whats going on. The rep tells me "file a cancelation request" I tell the rep I cant. The item was sold January 16th and Yesterday (sunday) was 30 days and I couldnt file. I even tried with the rep on the phone....I also told the rep I cant afford to pay $140 as my bill was coming out today and I dont have the money to give them....

Im also not liable for the money Ive done EVERYTHING properly and what I was told to do.

Finally after talking to the ebay rep for a hour I get the rep to apply the credit for $140...the rep puts my on hold. 10mins later they say "my system gave me an error and I need to file a request form to billing" it will take 24-48hrs

GUESS WHAT?????? I Log into my eBay account and there is a message from the ebay rep. The ebay rep says "Billing denied your request for the charges you are disputing...."

So I call eBay again tonight, explain the entire story again. Just for the rep to say "I can process a request to the billing department:

I argue with the rep explaining this was already done and the denied my request,,,,billing department denies my refund for doing everything I was told do ????

So finally the rep says "I will have to call you back, i need to address this with my supervisor"

SO far there hasnt been a call back.

I am not responsible for this $140 at all....Ive sold over $15,000 in items this month. I planned on becoming a full time seller, trying to get my power seller status. But after this experience I am ready to pack it up. I know Im just the little guy and eBay doesnt care.

But how can they just legally take $140 from me???

How do I escalate this issue? or how would I take legal action?? If I was in the wrong Id pay the money, but I honored my sale , I followed eBays instructions. Ive spoke to 5 reps in total regarding this issue over the last month and i have gotten nowhere

art-in-the-making · ‎02-16-2015

Total guess - if it's the "billing dept" that's denying your request then maybe that's who you might try to address.

another option - there is a "weekly board hour" every Wednesday at 1 pm (I think, I always miss it!) where eBay reps come on and try to answer questions.

Sometimes some of the longtime sellers will come on here and suggest people write to certain ebay emails with some problems. Maybe they will do so in this case.

Or you might go to the US boards and see if there are any suggestions.

That sounds like quite the scam someone tried to pull. Don't quite see how they hoped it was going to work but anyway. Sorry it's putting you off what you thought was going good.

brett_the_tech · ‎02-16-2015

Im just frustrated.....thats cool to know about Wednesdays. I didnt know about that....I ended up calling eBay again, and found out it was denied because "the item was shipable" I asked them to verify the tracking number that shows the package was returned or verify the chargeback with paypal and I was told "i cant help you..:

It was quite the scam...after some reading I found out Buyers will try and stop the mailman on the street and say "i bought an item on ebay but the seller got the house number ..." and convince the mail person to give them the package..

Luckily my item was returned to me once it hit the sorting facility in the state it was going..they picked up on it being an invalid address.

.....well guess Ill see what happens in the morning when I call

thanks for the input. Still good to know info 🙂

prarie_nerd · ‎02-17-2015

This does suck & I'm sorry I can't offer any advice but I have to ask- does anyone know what this scam is?
I've had it happen to me 3 times before, each time I think the shipping address was real but belonged to the actual account holder who appears to have had thier account hijacked. So the scammer doesn't get the item, all they get is thier money back. I don't understand what the point is 😕

katlover1952 · ‎02-17-2015

I am really curious as to what would have happened if the parcel had NOT come back. Would the Post Office have to pay out under their insurance. If the Postman had given it to the scammer buyer on the street & got his signature would they still have to come good for it?
I am currently selling a rather expensive game system & wondering how in the heck you cover your butt these days.
I would surely think that eBay will return your FVF. If they do not I really wonder if they are a company we want to do business with!
This. Is so obviously unfair!!

maximus7001 · ‎02-18-2015

The last time ebay tried something stupid like this I just called them every day until they payed.

brett_the_tech · ‎02-18-2015

Well maximus7001 you are correct. Persistence is the Key.

Finally I got through to a supervisor and the first thing the supervisor said to me is "Your credit was denied because you could have shipped the item" ...It would be nice if these ebay reps actually LISTENED or researched the account. After another long conversation of going in circles the supervisor called PayPal and verified that a Chargeback had taken place and finally I was refunded my money.

After 1/2 a dozen or so phone calls and 6 hrs total on the phone, I got my money. But was it really needed for me to go through this much work???

One thing I will say is I personally do NOT like how the cancellation request is set up. Ebay & PayPal also need way better synchronization of their systems. Bottom line every eBay rep I spoke to was to lazy to verify the tracking number showed the package was returned or too lazy to call Paypal.

Oddly enough after all this was taken care of I had an eBay rep call my house at 11 pm to discuss the issue with me. That in itself was very unprofessional, if they looked at my account they would have seen the issue was resolved and I also thought businesses were not allowed to call customers after 9 pm??