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Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Hi guys,

Quick question...I had a buyer open a case for "item not as described." This is a legit item that I sold for $62. The buyer left the following message within the case:

"the product was scratched in the middle, it seems that is not new. refund me 12 us please and i close the case."

I mean, it is only $12, and this is a top rated power seller stealth account that generates me close to 100k a year, so I don't want to lose it. At the same time, I wanna choke the life outta this guy! How should I go about dealing with this? Should I ask him to leave me positive feedback first, then issue the refund and add him to my block list? The guy is clearly trying to scam me, as I personally inspect each item before shipping, and can guarantee it was NOT scratched at all. Anyone have experience dealing with idiots like this? Thanks in advance!

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

hmmm about to sleep but heres my two cents. if he ll close the case and you still made a lil profit after refunding him 12 bucks then do it n roll on

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Personally i'd say send back for a refund. You have a defect now anyway, feedback means nothing once that case is open.

Scammers get away with it because people bow to their demands. If you just refund, you are perpetuating that idea, so are part of the problem.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

@OP, do you still make a profit if you refund 12$? Or...at the worse incur a small loss? I would refund if it saves the hassle

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

That's a pro buyer sounds like.

Whenever I get something like that, I report them to eBay, let them send the item back to me for a refund. And I'll resell, some times even for more.

That's one way of doing things.

Another way is if you have much better things to do and you don't think it's worth it, just refund him the $12.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

agreed as well

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

I have gotten some scammers trying to do the same in the past.

I asked them to return the item for a refund. The case closed out after 30 days because they never shipped it back. No negative either.

eBay has made it very hard on sellers. These days, I would rather not have a feedback than have a defect due to low rating in some categories.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Isn't this some type of extortion?

Since the account is so profitable I would just close out the case and block the guys address and name/account.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

I had a great one last month. She messaged me saying the item was not what she expected and not as good quality as she hoped for. Bear in mind the item cost £3 and I had 100% feedback saying how great value it was.

This is where it gets funny. I asked her to return it and I would be happy to refund. I even offered to pay 50p postage to call her bluff. She said she couldnt get out of the house and that I should just refund it. You just want to bang your head against the desk. I refunded her as a gesture.

I mean really, would you buy a TV from amazon and contact them to say you was disappointed and to refund, but you couldnt be arsed to send it back??

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Why refund before she returns it? EBay requires that the buyer returns the item before you issue a refund. I would've offered a partial refund if she couldn't return it but thats as far as it would go or she gets nothing.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

For 3 quid I just took the hit in assurance for a positive feedback. We all know how hard it is to get negative feedbacks overturned as a seller, plus i wanted to stay under the radar.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Hi Kiroshi, I did a very similar thing that you did. I messaged the seller informing him what he is doing is illegal per eBay terms and policies, but I would offer him a $12 refund as a gesture in good faith. Before issuing the partial refund, I required him to leave me positive feedback. Once the feedback was left, I offered the partial refund in the case, but left the following message as well:

By accepting this refund, you are acknowledging that you are committing fraud and are going against eBay's terms and conditions of use. You are also aware that, as such, I will be reporting you to eBay Trust and Safety department. After reviewing feedback you have left for other sellers, it is clear this is a pattern in your behavior, and can result in your account being suspended or terminated. Also be advised that I have permanently blocked you from purchasing any items from my store. Thank you, and have a great day."

Wouldn't you know, the buyer closed the case without even taking the refund?! So in the end, I didn't have to issue him money, got positive feedback, and I reported his ass anyway :) Score one for the good guys!!!

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

I would report the issue to eBay. Personally I would just eat the cost. Its not worth it. Add to your block list. Sucks dealing with people like this.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

I don't know what's going on but I have had a whole lot of that stuff the past few weeks along with more unpaid items than I had all year. For me no choice but to give the refund as I don't care for the alternative. I have to look at the sales and not the loss.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

You are lucky the buyer didn't report you for feedback extortion. Requesting postive feedback in return for anything is seen as Extortion in the bays eyes and will get your account looked at heavily.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

I should have been more clear with my wording. I simply ASKED if he would be willing to leave positive feedback for the way I handled the issue, and I would issue a $12 credit. Otherwise, I mentioned if he were unwilling to to this, then he could send back the item for inspection and a refund or repair/replacement. Obviously, he wouldn't want to do that because he would waste money on shipping a perfectly good item back to me!! He thought he was gonna get away with his scam if he just left me positive feedback. Two can play that game!!

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Thats feedback extortion...
Requesting/Asking/Requiring positve feedback in return for anything is seen as extortion by Ebay

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

All of this stuff does no good. Just move on to the next sale and let it go.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Let me get this straight...

You have an account that generates $100,000 per year in sales.
On ONE sale, a buyer wanted a $12 refund on a $62 sale because he saw a scratch.
And there is EVEN A QUESTION ABOUT HOW TO HANDLE IT???

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

Give him the $12 and move on. If you think you will feel bad because you MAY have been cheated out of $12, imagine how bad you will feel when you lose $100,000 per year in sales because you chose to fight this guy tooth and nail. And for WHAT??? For all you know, the item could have been damaged in transit.

I'm sorry if I offended you, but this is Business 101.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

I also agree with jeffweico. If this item sold for $62 and they only wanted $12 back. Just refund, block them and move on.

The long dialogue that you were having with the buyer could've got you into a lot more trouble. For ex: Feedback extortion, negative feedback, etc.

Remember a buyer can change feedback for a number of reasons. And according to your post in the eyes of EBay the buyer never violated any policies. This is only based on your opinion because they want a refund and you FEEL scammed. Remember Buyer's Protection protects the buyer not the seller and EBay requires you refund if something is wrong with the item, even if nothing is physically wrong.

Re: Dealing with a Scammer...
 

Dont forget to block this bidder