Nightmare with ebay buyer!

Chris18181 · #1 06-23-2017

Hi Everyone, need your help here

I sold a coleman 22x52 swimming pool to a buyer on ebay back on March 6th Price was $679.99, wa suppose to receive 3 boxes and only received 2 as the other one never even shipped out, just a label was created, (Walmart's Mistake) i asked her to purchase from my website and she agreed and i gave her the link. I then processed the order to Walmart for them to ship out the pool, 3 months later around June 15th buyer contacts me saying she never received all the parts and wants me to either send them or refund her money, I tried to get Walmart to send a replacement but they would not do it because it is past there 90 day return policy, I told the buyer she shouldn't have waited 3 months to contact me when my policy on my website is 30 days.

now she is threatening me calling me a scammer and saying she contacted PayPal, Ebay, her bank and the police, she wants me to refund her money through PayPal.me but i am not doing so as she did not pay with PayPal she used her bank card to pay.

I am not sure what to do now, she has all my info and said she is getting the FBI and police involved, I went ahead and refunded her money but i feel like i shouldn't have done so and i am the one being scammed, now my business checking is going to be negative $679 and overdrawn.

I am not sure what to do at the moment its got me scared but i think she is just trying to scare me so i will issue a refund, I am thinking about cancelling the refund i sent her, if she really wanted a refund you think she would just have contacted FedEx or her bank and filed a chargeback instead waiting 3 months later???

rsot · #2 06-23-2017

Just to clarify - you refunded the buyer and now you are asking for forum guidance? I am just wondering why you wouldn't ask the question when the case first opened on 15th of June?

Clarify: she used her bank card to pay = ?

dallis · #3 06-23-2017

Drop shipping. This is one of the many reasons why it's risky.

Follow this reasoning carefully, it has two parts:

1. She bought from YOU and paid YOU.

2. She didn't get what YOU sold HER.

3. What Walmart did or didn't do is irrelevant to her. Walmart didn't take her money. YOU took her money. Her deal was with YOU. YOU must either give her the product in usable condition or refund her money.

If you gave her the money back, the part with her is over. What is she going to tell the FBI - "this guy gave me my money back"? Not going to happen.

Read this next part carefully: it's harsh, but true. I'm not saying you're a bad person, I don't know you, but you need to understand what I'm going to say, accept it, and learn from it.

This woman isn't a scammer. She put her trust in you. She wants what she paid for. That's fair and reasonable.

If this happened to you, you would want your money back too.

You want to blame Walmart, keep the money, tell her "too bad so sad, this is YOUR fault somehow, hasta la vista", and walk away with no obligation or responsibility.

She called you on that because it's BS. Morally and legally, in every way, YOU are the bad guy here. She made you keep your end of the bargain. Good for her.

YOU'RE the scammer in this situation, not her.

What made you a scammer is you sold her something and didn't stand behind it and tried to weasel your way out of it.

Now for Part Two:

1. Walmart took money from YOU.

2. Walmart didn't provide what you paid for.

3. YOU had a deal with Walmart: I pay you, you give me a usable product. They didn't give you a usable product.

4. When you purchased from Walmart your deal with them MIGHT say "I can't get my money back after 90 days". That may or may not be enforceable.

In a practical sense, she needs to give you the pool parts. She didn't pay for them, (she was refunded).

If you purchased from Walmart with a credit card you are in the same position she was, meaning, you bought something and it was not usable.

You can open a credit card dispute with Walmart and the credit card company will probably give you your money back. You may or may not have to return the pool parts.

If not, you have to understand this is the risk of drop shipping. The customer can charge you back for a period of 12-18 months with most credit cards, and your supplier's warranty is only for 90 days. That's a lot of exposure.

What if the pool pump died and the manufacturer won't warranty it? You'd be in this position again. What if the liner sprung a leak and the manufacturer wouldn't warranty it? Same thing. The list of possible costly issues is endless.

I'm guessing these potential problems never once crossed your mind. Doing this was a bad idea.

Most importantly LEARN from this. Don't make these mistakes again.

james13v · #4 06-23-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallis

Drop shipping. This is one of the many reasons why it's risky.

lol is it just me, or are your posts getting very detailed and in depth lately? I swear, it's like your a different person! In case that came off like an insult, it wasn't. I actually read your stuff ( tho they are long).

Just wanted to say that.

That aside, the woman DID wait 3 months to tell him there was a problem. That's also on her. I've had buyers wait so long to tell me there is a problem, that you're not actually able to help them anymore! How's that fair for anyone involved? The buyer could have gone direct to walmart, and had the SAME problem, and if she would have waited 3 months to return it, she would have had THE SAME PROBLEM. At some point, it's the buyers fault, no matter how ****ty the seller was.

**SaiJin** · #5 06-23-2017

Chris, she just threatened you with FBI and police and you became scared...

and you acted on that fear.

I wouldn't refund it at this point if I were you and actually try to figure out that source of problem like Dallis say.

phaz0rz · #6 06-23-2017

If I were you I would keep more than $600 in your business checking account. Especially if you've got it linked to a merchant account where your processor can draft chargebacks from you at any time.

Sorry to hear about your situation but I've got to agree with dallis. Having almost zero control over your own business is what makes dropshipping so dangerous. :(

MM78 · #7 06-23-2017

Didn't know the FBI investigated Pool deliveries.

Chris18181 · #8 06-23-2017

I don't think she will get the police or FBI involved, would cost her more than $679

Chris18181 · #9 06-23-2017

She just emailed me back and said glad to see I got this resolved now I'm out of $679 with a bank accounts that's overdrawn $1,400

dallis · #10 06-24-2017

Sorry this happened to you, Chris18181.

james13v - Pet peeve... sorry.

It's the whole 'usps lost your package, too bad for you, sucker, hahahaha' logic.

Yeah, it's been three months, and that was stupid on her part. Still, he admits she didn't get all her parts.

Everybody wants to be a big hotshot businessman and make oodles of profit and then pass the buck when things go south.

It's bad for all of us who struggle to do the right thing.

**SaiJin** · #11 06-28-2017

Chris, if I were you, I'd do my best in keeping the communication going with her, specially she responded.

Just try your best to bite your lips and be patient when talking to her and get her to help you fix your situation

oompaloompa · #12 06-29-2017

She may not have known how many boxes were expected, and since it is a pool, only found out there were missing parts when she went to set it up. It could be a weather thing, or a lazy husband thang....

you should have had her return the goods to walmart or you. You then should then have returned it all to walmart. They are the scammers for refusing your return, their returns period is not valid under these circumstances, as they did not ship the full kit and your assumption as a consumer that they would - you would have got a chargeback at the very least....

or you could have had a return to yourself and get walmart to ship the missing box to you, and then you could have resold the whole thing

anyway, one thing I would not sell is a pool, air mattresses or anything that will spring a leak and result in returns.....
__________________

newjerseymax · #13 06-29-2017

Now open a case against Walmart to get your money back. This is now your advantage as the buyer. paypal or Credit Card dispute 6 months so you need to resolve where the issue started in first place.

rsot · #14 06-29-2017

Walmart is the way to go - they will deal with you well

**SaiJin** · #15 06-29-2017

I forgot about the Walmart part.

I agree with Jersey and sot... Walmart is now how you'll get your money back.

dallis · #16 06-29-2017

As I said, once you get the pool back you go back to walmart in turn.

oompaloompa · #17 06-29-2017

OP refunded already, doubt this buyer will cooperate to return the goods now - she might though...should have done return first then refund...

strategy now would be to tell walmart, it was sent as a gift and a box was missing, that walmart refused a return unfairly/wrongly, which you would have been happy to do, but now the goods have been disposed of as useless, so cannot be returned...walmart is a big store, it should be ok with it, in fact do not get why they refused in the first place...

james13v · #18 06-29-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by oompaloompa

OP refunded already, doubt this buyer will cooperate to return the goods now - she might though...should have done return first then refund...

strategy now would be to tell walmart, it was sent as a gift and a box was missing, that walmart refused a return unfairly/wrongly, which you would have been happy to do, but now the goods have been disposed of as useless, so cannot be returned...walmart is a big store, it should be ok with it, in fact do not get why they refused in the first place...

I've returned a 10lb open package of meat. No questions asked... I'm amazed walmart didn't accept his return.

dallis · #19 06-29-2017

If he used a credit card he can put in a charge dispute, walmart might not even contest it for that amount of money.

dachilla · #20 07-01-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallis

This woman isn't a scammer. She put her trust in you. She wants what she paid for. That's fair and reasonable.

she's being a b*tch and not reasonable at all, especially after she got her money back. That happened to me I'd take a crap in a plastic bag and send it to her - free shipping ofc.

If you have just any reasonable feedback on the account, I would guess that the FBI is gonna laugh at her. Apart from this she's just threatening you with the FBI. I guess most buyers would consult a lawyer first and any reasonable lawyer would contact the seller on his clients behalf, before going to the police and risking to make a false accusation. So no need to worry, you're good.

Also, you might threaten her to go to the police yourself as keeping the items after being refunded might well be an act of embezzlement.

Cheers D.C.

dallis · #21 07-01-2017

The threat was before she got her money back.

Once she got her money back she was happy and it was over.

She's not being a bitch for wanting her complete product as advertised or her money back.

oompaloompa · #22 07-03-2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by james13v

I've returned a 10lb open package of meat. No questions asked... I'm amazed walmart didn't accept his return.

I am amazed too, this story stinks worse than your 10lb meat when it got returned...

You expect your items to be complete, these are seasonal goods and get set up when your lazy-assed husband gets out of his hammock and does it......

the fbi thing is silly, nobody is scared of that, but she could have threathened a chargeback for SNAD...