Customer trying to blackmail me!!!help!!!

[ffstyle]

Hello guys, i just received a msg from a customer saying that if i don't refund him the money, which he paid to return the item to me, he will leave me a neg, even that i have written in the lsiting that this costs are not refundable. I am afraid there is nothing to stop him do that and ruin my 100% feedback.

[GTB]

report him to eb

simple,they frown pon blackmailers

too right aswell

[ffstyle]

Do you think they will pay attention to my complaint? Have you been in similar situation?

[GTB]

no but it says clearly in eb help section that blackmailers should be reported!

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by ffstyle

Hello guys, i just received a msg from a customer saying that if i don't refund him the money, which he paid to return the item to me, he will leave me a neg, even that i have written in the lsiting that this costs are not refundable. I am afraid there is nothing to stop him do that and ruin my 100% feedback.

Wonder why the buyer needed to return an item?
Hope it was not those dogy perfumes many Bulgarian ebay sellers are flooding the market with. ...

You now have several things to consider, and consider quickly.

Your stated refund policy is worth nothing to a disgruntled buyer.
If the transaction went to refund stage, you should have worked out with the buyer the specific terms. You have to allow for a couple of refunds INCLUDING postage. ALL sellers need to pay attention to that.

Ask why the item is coming back? Is there are chance of other items coming back from your stock? If so, find a better supplier quickly. Reduce risk, reduce risk.

Buyer should be reported for blackmail attempt BUT you need to appreciate you are exposing your account to damage.
Analyse this carefully. Proceed from there.

[ffstyle]

No, item is not a perfume, it's a t-shirt, which apparently don't likes or doesn't fit. I don't know the reason as he opened a dipsute straight away asking for refund. I accept to refund him without any trouble, but a week later he send me that msg.

[GTB]

tell him to leave the positive feedback 1st

then you will refund the p&p fee

its better than getting a negative

trust me,i have gone much further to secure a positive

[ffstyle]

Great idea!Thank you Mr GTB!!!

[GTB]

its no guarantee he will play ball

but in you sound sincere enough & ask for that trust you mite be surprised

good luck

[rsot]

All the best in your endeavour - does not sound so complicated but talk it out.

[Road-Kill]

Originally Posted by ffstyle

Great idea!Thank you Mr GTB!!!

Mr. GTB has some good diplomatic advice, but get the buyers contact info and make the offer on the phone.

If you put it in writing you can get busted for feedback manipulation.

[GTB]

diplomatic...i like it

[SweetPea]

I've read in the Ebay news that they are really cracking down on this. If they used the words I will give you a negative if...and it is in the Ebay thread you can report it and if he is "caught" and leaves you negative they will remove it. You have to be sure it is in there. If they sent you a private email, you can forward it to Ebay with the header so they know where it originated. You must be sure. I agree with the other forum members, they have good advice for you. I too have sold clothing and it is best to try to resolve it. You need to be very clear with the item details in your listings and you will have fewer disgruntled customers!

[SweetPea]

Another thought...it is best to work it out like MR GTB said. If we could all trust Ebay to do the RIGHT thing, we wouldn't all be here on this forum

[Hercules]

Everything on EB has a return policy. So entering a no return policy won't help. EB/PP will always give the buyer their money back. This includes everything sold on the internet using credit cards for payment.
Even at brick and mortar stores they want that signature nowadays for a reason.

[SweetPea]

Good point...I remember reading that in their announcements.

[Road-Kill]

What sellers put in their return policies is a lot like E-Bay and PP's TOS policies. Most people don't read them, and if they do they find a way around them anyway.

[ffstyle]

I will try the diplomatic way Otherwise, yes , the msg he sent is in my inbox and i will report him. To be honest even if i receive a neg i won't let him to blackmail me this way.

[GTB]

POINTLESS telling a buyer they can not return an item,if they don`t want it they will ask you,but if you say no they will just tell pp anyway and we all know what happens then

even if its something like underwear that should not be returned for hygiene reasons

they would still get a refund if they know how to go about it

[SweetPea]

True and also Ebay might retract the negative but I don't think they do that to a LOW (1 or 2) DSR so proceed with caution!

[ffstyle]

Guys after contacting Ebay representative and keeping the good manors, he left me the negative feedback. I aws told by the rep that he sent him email with official warning that he is about to breach Ebay policy. I reported him to Customer support and i hope that they will take appropriate action. Not to mention that he returned my t-shirt in awfull condition with dirty stain, probably worn. :(((

[gorky]

Hi Just read this, I have extensive experience with these situations. There's two sides two this story.

1) You can report them to ebay and gamble if ebay will side with you that the buyer is black mailing your or not. Unless it's point blank and black and white that they are and you can prove it to anyone who reads it - you won't win.

2) You can just refund them - however, before you do that, I would HIGHLY suggest you make things good by emailing them first and make sure you can have them say they won't leave a negative feedback after you refund them. The tricky part is to make your email not sound like a "blackmail" you can phrase it like this.

Dear buyer, I understand you are having troubles with your tshirt, as I truly do appreciate your business I will make an exception this time and send you a refund. Also, I would appreciate a positive feedback also if at all possible. What do you think?

Try that approach. You'll come out ahead 9/10 times.