eBay Incompetence at Its Finest
Sonnys88
Posts: 178 ✭✭✭
Little story about how incompetent eBay and its reps are. Be aware that eBay will not stand by what an eBay rep tells you to do as a seller when dealing with any return case or other issue.
We sold an unopened 1995 Bowman Baseball box on eBay for $250 and the buyer received it - opened over half of the packs inside - then opened a return case for it because they thought it was "searched".
This was 100% a fraudulent return as the box was not tampered with in anyway (I don't even know how anyone could search 1995 Bowman as the packs are tightly sealed foil or cello depending on the type of pack), so we contacted eBay right away and the agent agreed that the case was fraudulent and that the return would not be allowed. The agent told us to let the case expire without taking action and the return would be denied.
Well of course the opposite occurs, and once the case expired, the buyer was able to get a prepaid label and allowed to return the opened box.
So, we contacted eBay again and explained the situation. This agent read the case files and said we were given misinformation by the first agent and that we should have responded to the return case. But, since we were given misinformation, that the case would be closed in our favor. She closed the case, and it was resolved in our favor...or at least we thought.
The buyer was able to appeal the case and since the return showed as being delivered back to us, eBay reversed the decision and refunded the buyer out of our account. We didn't even get the eBay fees back.
So, we contacted eBay yet again, and were told to appeal the case and we should be given our money back. So, we filed the appeal and provided great detail on what the previous eBay agents had instructed us to do and what was supposed to happen with the case.
The appeal was of course denied. Even with whoever reviewed the case agreeing that we were given misinformation by eBay and that we only followed exactly what eBay told us to do.
They said they cannot overturn the decision due to the buyer sending the item back to us. Even when the first agent said that the buyer would not be able to return it. We didn't send the return label to them - eBay did.
So, we contact eBay yet again and are told that we are basically out of luck. We were literally told that we should not have listened to the other eBay reps.
The last rep said "well, we sent you an automated email about the case and you should have responded to the initial return case". I said, the first agent said to take no action - literally said "do not respond to the return case - let it expire". The rep said well they were wrong. Basically, saying we messed up by listening to an eBay rep.
We have been on eBay since 1998, have a perfect feedback rating of over 18,000, are a "Top Rated Seller", and average around $150k per year in sales on eBay. The last rep couldn't care less that we paid over $5k in eBay fees in the last 30 days. They could not care less that we did exactly as we were told by eBay.
I asked how a seller is protected from a scam buyer if this is how eBay handles the situation, and the agent said to offer "Free Returns" and you can deduct a fee from the refund. That is their solution. What???
I said, so you're saying I can buy any factory sealed trading card box on eBay - open it and take out the cards I want - then return it without issue. She said, yes, you can do that. But, if the seller reports you for a fraudulent return, you "might" lose your money back guarantee.
Lesson Learned - There is ZERO protection for eBay sellers - no matter how established you are on there.
Comments
that sucks. i have generally had good luck with ebay. But I will not try to sell unopened boxes on there, I guess after hearing this.
It might seem like overkill but it’s quite straightforward and you can do it yourself.
Review eBay’s terms and conditions which include an address for notice and send them a demand letter articulating the dispute, denote the harm/ loss including all time you’ve spent and reasonable costs, and your demand / what you want. Be sure to include documentation to include communications with eBay agents or representatives.
Keep it concise and without opinion or unnecessary detail and set a date by which you expect a response (10 days).
And don’t forget to have fun!
when ebay did away with a seller's ability to protect themselves via feedback of the red variety, that signaled the beginning of the end as it pertains to leverage equality. it's been skewed for many years. when it became apparent that the playing field was no longer level, i transitioned to smooching the living daylights out of a buyer's behind by virtue of the little things. it's not exactly fun, but i'm confident that it has saved me (and my t-r seller status). if you simply go through the motions in hopes that every individual who makes a purchase from you will do the right thing, that line of thinking is fool's gold. ebay sets the ball on a tee for an unscrupulous type to wreak havoc, therefore your head has to be on a swivel at all times and it's incumbent upon you to differentiate yourself from everyone else who sells on there.
thank them profusely prior to sending the package off. include a note doing the same. package the item(s) up like a champ. fire said package off ASAP to reach them sooner rather than later. upgrade the expedition on your own dime if need be. leave sparkling feedback before they do (if they do). toss in a freebie or two that won't break the bank. do those things and more and it'll be exceedingly difficult for even the sorriest sack of shit to turn your world upside down.
.02, and i'm sorry that happened to you
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
IMO it would be worth the time and money to go to this clown's house and do what's necessary to get your money back.
What happened to you sucks and it would be awesome to see the buyer face the consequences he deserves.
While reading this, without knowing the outcome of the story yet, my spidey senses were tingling when I got to this part.
Taking no action just didn't sound right to me.
Having dealt with quite a few support agents (and Ai support bots) giving wrong information, I would have contacted another support agent questioning the advice of the first agent.
Even then I would have specifically denied, so that my decision was at least on the record.
On the bright side, eBay is now keeping seller’s funds until several days AFTER THE ITEM IS DELIVERED.
Not necessarily. I hear this all the time, even from ebay itself, but it's not the case. It may be the case for new sellers, I'm not sure, but I get paid from ebay a day or two after the sale even if I haven't shipped the item yet. If I'm on vacation, and I can get monies deposited before I even ship the item.
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So are you saying that when you got the return request/Case opened notice from eBay, you didn't even respond back through the case to the buyer with a message or rebuttal to whatever he/she put as the reason for the return/case? So you in a sense just ghosted the buyer?
For someone who's been a top seller over 25 years, I'd think you would have enough experience with open cases that you don't need to run to an eBay rep about it right away....
Still sucks what the rep told you and eBay won't stand behind it, but I'm gonna put 25% on you
The only options on the case were to either refund the buyer without receiving the item back or to accept the return and refund once the item was marked "delivered" back to us. There was no other option to respond to the buyer or offer another resolution.
That is why we reached out to eBay to find out how to handle a fraudulent return request.
The return system should have a "fraudulent return" or "problem return" option for sellers to select that escalates it to an actual person to review the case details.
Been on ebay since 1999 and only had a very few negative transactions. overall, it is the safest platform for buying/selling in my opinion.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I'd be fit to be tied if some jacka$$ tried to pull that shit on me...there are just way too many idiots and thieves out in the world these days that makes it hard to deal with people, especially when money is involved
None of it really matters. Buyer gets 3rd party involved (bank card charge back), ebay folds and won't deal with 3rd party disputes but still charges a final value fee since it was a legit sale. Bank always sides with their customer. If you fight long enough ebay will eventually credit back the seller account the final value fee. Sucks......
Hmm. By chance to do you allow returns on your listings? I've never seen a open case, which of course will have those options, but doesn't then have an option or separate button to "respond" with a message, which is tied to the case.
Can you out the buyer so we can all block them?
Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports
I have bought numerous items from you on eBay over the years with only great experiences and can attest that you are an excellent seller.
Having said that, If I'm averaging $150,000 annually in sales, then I would not raise my blood pressure and publicly complain about how a $250 transaction was handled -- seemingly your only one like this in 27 years on eBay. I suggest moving on.
I posted as a cautionary tale for other sellers on eBay to know that eBay will not stand by what their own representatives instruct you to do when handling an issue with a "problem" transaction. This is by far not the first issue we have had on eBay in 27 years, but the first where eBay specifically instructed us to do something then told us we were in the wrong for doing exactly what they said to do.
I added in the item value and personal seller details so readers can have some context (pet peeve of mine when people post issues with companies / people but give little context).
The dollar amount is not the issue - the issue is the way eBay handled the situation. Maybe others will be a little more cautious or aware when dealing with an issue on eBay and listening to what a rep tells them to do. And the more people share information on handling issues on eBay or other platforms - the better for everyone.
100% disagree. All buyers that pull this garbage need to be outed. This helps protect our community and could prevent future scams. Crooks that pull this want sellers to move on and not report it.