Been Scammed by a buyer and eBay do not care?

[dj9928]

OK here is my story, I have been on eBay for a couple of years, almost 200 positive feedback and never had a problem until now and wondering how I should proceed.

I sold a guy a new mobile phone, obviously I check all was work before I sent it out to him. The guy contacts me a week later saying the following.

Hi, I received the phone many thanks, it was working fine with the supplied pay and go sim card, I wanted however to use my own sim card which is the old type big sim card, I cut my sim card down to fit, the phone however will now not detect my sim card, I tried the supplied sim card it also now does not work either.

So this guy admits the phone was working fine until he took to cutting down his old sim card to fit the micro sim card slot and now it will not read any sim cards and is looking a refund.

He opens a case saying the above, I pointed out it was him who broke the phone not using the correct sim card, he does not reply, I contacted eBay several times to make sure they got the message, he then escalates it and in less than 24 hours eBay find in his favour and tell me to refund him.

I send eBay several more emails regarding this and eventually get the following reply.

I have read your email and I understand that the item is defective. Let me explain what you can do here.
we appreciate that you want to do business here with us in eBay and we value sellers like you. in regard to this matter, I strongly suggest that you work things out with the buyer by providing him a return shipping label in returning the item back. I know this may sound unfair to you since you have listed the item appropriately. However, we are doing this for both seller and buyers sake. We are protecting buyers from short term loss so that they have a good experience. Every time we make the return or refund process smooth and painless we make it more likely that buyers come back. By helping buyers feel confident we are in turn protecting the sellers in the long run by encouraging buyers to come back again and again.
Please also keep in mind that this process will benefit you as a seller, if you work things out with the buyer they can give you good seller rating and a positive feedback and will help you increase your seller's performance. I hope that this case will be resolve as soon as possible.
Your understanding is highly appreciated.
Thank you for choosing eBay.
Sincerely,
Maria N.
eBay Customer Support

The above just proves they really do not care at all about sellers, its all about the buyers, doesn't matter a damn.

So I have told them I will not be refunding this scam artist, I have accepted my eBay account is now gone, I have cancelled all my Paypal cards and reimbursement method on eBay.

Is there anything I can do to get them change their minds? Or anything else I can do to stop myself being at a loss?

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by dj9928

OK here is my story, I have been on eBay for a couple of years, almost 200 positive feedback and never had a problem until now and wondering how I should proceed.

I sold a guy a new mobile phone, obviously I check all was work before I sent it out to him. The guy contacts me a week later saying the following.



So this guy admits the phone was working fine until he took to cutting down his old sim card to fit the micro sim card slot and now it will not read any sim cards and is looking a refund.

He opens a case saying the above, I pointed out it was him who broke the phone not using the correct sim card, he does not reply, I contacted eBay several times to make sure they got the message, he then escalates it and in less than 24 hours eBay find in his favour and tell me to refund him.

I send eBay several more emails regarding this and eventually get the following reply.



The above just proves they really do not care at all about sellers, its all about the buyers, doesn't matter a damn.

So I have told them I will not be refunding this scam artist, I have accepted my eBay account is now gone, I have cancelled all my Paypal cards and reimbursement method on eBay.

Is there anything I can do to get them change their minds? Or anything else I can do to stop myself being at a loss?

Give them a ring. Try using the "Request Increased Selling Limits" option, usually you'll get a local rep doing that.

[revenge]

That sounds like a minor loss of profit which is part of any business practice. Worst thing that can happen is losing a profit, getting a defect and a negative feedback all together. If you can manage disputing the defect (not the refund) which shouldn't be hard, and keeping the customer happy you can reduce the damages this customer has caused to your business. Eat the loss and protect your business reputation (defect & feedback).

Make sure to block him. Also you may want to update your return policy to include restocking fees and non refundable shipping fees.

You should appeal the defect because in your email your buyer admits that it was working until he made unauthorized repairs and modifications.

[dj9928]

OK it gets better, they refunded him, he also gets to keep the phone. This is theft. I am not a business I am an individual. I have phoned them 4 times today, case closed, nothing more can be done

[revenge]

You can still appeal the case because ebay has a return policy as well. The buyer needs to return the item before receiving a refund. You should ask eBay for the tracking if they refunded him/her. I had eBay refund both the seller and the buyer in many cases. The only way eBay would refund the buyer and not the seller is if they felt the seller had no intention of receiving the return (seller refuse to honor the return policy). So appeal the case because the buyer did not return the item and request your money back. Ebay may ask you if you sent the buyer a return label to see if you had any intentions of honoring the 30 day eBay return policy which is different from the listing policy.

You can recover at least 30% of the loss selling the phone for parts if you receive it back. If you look at it from an accounting pov.

Try to appeal it.

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by revenge

You can still appeal the case because ebay has a return policy as well. The buyer needs to return the item before receiving a refund. You should ask eBay for the tracking if they refunded him/her. I had eBay refund both the seller and the buyer in many cases. The only way eBay would refund the buyer and not the seller is if they felt the seller had no intention of receiving the return (seller refuse to honor the return policy). So appeal the case because the buyer did not return the item and request your money back. Ebay may ask you if you sent the buyer a return label to see if you had any intentions of honoring the 30 day eBay return policy which is different from the listing policy.

You can recover at least 30% of the loss selling the phone for parts if you receive it back. If you look at it from an accounting pov.

Try to appeal it.

EXCELLENT advice! Couldn't have said it better.

[dallis]

I'm sorry this happened to you.

EB refunded the buyer themselves because you wouldn't. When that happens you loose the right to have the item returned.

It isn't theft, (sadly) you agreed to this when you opened an EB account.

And EB now allows returns for up to 180 days. For any reason.

If you can't accept you could lose both your money and your product, don't sell on EB.

[H4ck]

Originally Posted by dj9928

OK here is my story, I have been on eBay for a couple of years, almost 200 positive feedback and never had a problem until now and wondering how I should proceed.

I sold a guy a new mobile phone, obviously I check all was work before I sent it out to him. The guy contacts me a week later saying the following.



So this guy admits the phone was working fine until he took to cutting down his old sim card to fit the micro sim card slot and now it will not read any sim cards and is looking a refund.

He opens a case saying the above, I pointed out it was him who broke the phone not using the correct sim card, he does not reply, I contacted eBay several times to make sure they got the message, he then escalates it and in less than 24 hours eBay find in his favour and tell me to refund him.

I send eBay several more emails regarding this and eventually get the following reply.



The above just proves they really do not care at all about sellers, its all about the buyers, doesn't matter a damn.

So I have told them I will not be refunding this scam artist, I have accepted my eBay account is now gone, I have cancelled all my Paypal cards and reimbursement method on eBay.

Is there anything I can do to get them change their minds? Or anything else I can do to stop myself being at a loss?

part of business, i got scammed multiple times on ebay. its all a part of business. best thing to do is block the buyer, report him, and move on. if you sell high risk expensive items 100 bucks and more......reconsider selling in another category that is less risky.

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by jarsky541

part of business, i got scammed multiple times on ebay. its all a part of business. best thing to do is block the buyer, report him, and move on. if you sell high risk expensive items 100 bucks and more......reconsider selling in another category that is less risky.

If an item is more than 75 dollars, it get's signature confirmation. That's MY personal rule. Your margins may vary, but you should decide what dollar amount is worth 2 dollars and some change of "insurance".

[revenge]

I had a buyer who wanted a refund first before shipping item out. I sent them a label and told them to send it back for a refund. Buyer escalated the return and guess what eBay did? They sent him another label. Now the buyer knows we can't fool eBay so they shipped the item back. EBay never let our buyers keep our products and money because we honor our return policy.

Now if you don't like accepting returns then sell your items as is but tested. Make it clear to the buyer that the item works and the there is a no return policy on your listing. You should also update your listing return policy as no returns accepted. You should also add a restocking fee as a backup plan.

[isitworththestress]

Originally Posted by dj9928

OK it gets better, they refunded him, he also gets to keep the phone. This is theft. I am not a business I am an individual. I have phoned them 4 times today, case closed, nothing more can be done

Go to the citizens advice and ask them if there is anything you can do, you never know you may be able to use one of the consumer rights orgs to do the kicking for you.

[gamerguy]

Originally Posted by dallis

And EB now allows returns for up to 180 days. For any reason.

since when? if this is true, if anyone is selling used, refurbished electronics, you're screwed!!!!!! You're best off selling clothes. If there is a chance that what you sell can break, don't do it. People don't know how to take care of their ****. i can't imagine selling a flat screen tv on ebay, to have some kid throw his toy at it, and the dad says, it's broke, i want a refund, knowing ebay will never ask or verify proof from the buyer. 180 days is a 100% guaranteed way for any buyer to rip off a seller

[isitworththestress]

When Dontknow took over he said he was embarissed of being in charge of a giant flee market if they continue down this path then they will be looking at flee markets with envy, when people will only sell what they are happy to throw away.

[H4ck]

Originally Posted by dj9928

OK it gets better, they refunded him, he also gets to keep the phone. This is theft. I am not a business I am an individual. I have phoned them 4 times today, case closed, nothing more can be done

this guy could have filed a chargeback claim and made up a lie and kept the item anyways....


I had people send me back stuff that was not the item I sent them.

I had people send me back my item but didn't package it well and it came back damaged and better yet broken

when i used to sell on Amazon, people who deliberately say i never received it, when the tracking number says delivered.......a-z automatic refund i lose item plus money.

you also need to understand, your selling something that is $150 bucks people can get really picky, or perhaps something came up and they decide well i am just going to make up a bs excuse to return this item because i can't afford it now some random bill just came up......thats how its like high risk high rewards.....