Being defrauded by eBay buyer, nothing I can do it seems
Discussion
I sold a digital watch on eBay, nothing fancy, just £60. It is as new. The buyer is asking to return it and sent photos of the watch with loads of dust behind the screen. It is quite clearly a different watch.
Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
Ebay seem to think they're a law onto themselves these days, but you don't have to just sit there and take it. You can absolutely instruct your bank (or credit card company) to not authorize the refund, if you have adequate proof that the other party is acting dishonestly. Speak to their customer services and they should be able to tell you what to do (process will vary depending on the bank, but with mine I simply needed to file a claim online - in my case, to cancel a payment for an item I never received).
nickfrog said:
I sold a digital watch on eBay, nothing fancy, just £60. It is as new. The buyer is asking to return it and sent photos of the watch with loads of dust behind the screen. It is quite clearly a different watch.
Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
Phone Ebay and say the watch being returned is clearly not your watch, say to them to look at the pictures if you can see a difference as you imply.Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
I recently had a buyer return something that i thought was not mine, explained this to Ebay and they let me keep the money from the sale, but also refunded the buyer from their own funds (£170). So it's possible you can fight this OP.
Went through similar myself a few years ago with an iphone, I listed it as 'not working spares/repair only' buyer wanted a return and a refund as....yes you guessed it 'the phone doesn't work!'
ebay sided with the buyer even though I sent them copies of the listing stating not working, I refused to refund the £50 (I had removed my card details from paypal) so ebay handed it over to their debt department which put it up straight away to me owing them £75, they threatened me with court so I sent them a very nicely worded letter stating I was happy to attend court with proof of my listing and details of how ebay had sided with the buyer with no investigation, I received a 'no further action' letter from them along with them closing my ebay account and paypal account
ebay sided with the buyer even though I sent them copies of the listing stating not working, I refused to refund the £50 (I had removed my card details from paypal) so ebay handed it over to their debt department which put it up straight away to me owing them £75, they threatened me with court so I sent them a very nicely worded letter stating I was happy to attend court with proof of my listing and details of how ebay had sided with the buyer with no investigation, I received a 'no further action' letter from them along with them closing my ebay account and paypal account
I recently sold a Shorrocks supercharger, thru EBay - needing a full rebuild.
Buyer rejected it , citing “ it needed a full rebuild”- to which EBay agreed.
I requested a return ( at my expense, postageof 16kg to from Belfast!) which EBay enforced.
Buyer waited the full fortnight permitted, then posted me a breeze block!
Thankfully, he made a host of minor mistakes, all provable so I returned to EBay.
They asked me to list it with Action Fraud & send Buyer photos of the packaged ( unopened, with 1/2 weight) & videos opening with neighbour ( a Policewoman). You can hear her exclamation clearly when she realises it’s a brick!
I then received a partial refund.
I am now pursuing the Buyer through the NI claims process, delayed by a series of alias’ & false address’. Thankfully he’s done it elsewhere, several times, each time with Shorrocks parts but we’re all getting together to nail him.
EBays rules seem to favour organised, professional thieves who seem to supplement their work income accordingly. Until EBay find a way to level the playing field ( because there will always be ‘ scrotes’) their market share will continue to fall.
Buyer rejected it , citing “ it needed a full rebuild”- to which EBay agreed.
I requested a return ( at my expense, postageof 16kg to from Belfast!) which EBay enforced.
Buyer waited the full fortnight permitted, then posted me a breeze block!
Thankfully, he made a host of minor mistakes, all provable so I returned to EBay.
They asked me to list it with Action Fraud & send Buyer photos of the packaged ( unopened, with 1/2 weight) & videos opening with neighbour ( a Policewoman). You can hear her exclamation clearly when she realises it’s a brick!
I then received a partial refund.
I am now pursuing the Buyer through the NI claims process, delayed by a series of alias’ & false address’. Thankfully he’s done it elsewhere, several times, each time with Shorrocks parts but we’re all getting together to nail him.
EBays rules seem to favour organised, professional thieves who seem to supplement their work income accordingly. Until EBay find a way to level the playing field ( because there will always be ‘ scrotes’) their market share will continue to fall.
Niglebick said:
I am now pursuing the Buyer through the NI claims process, delayed by a series of alias’ & false address’. Thankfully he’s done it elsewhere, several times, each time with Shorrocks parts but we’re all getting together to nail him.
Well done you, hope you get the right outcome.Saleen836 said:
Went through similar myself a few years ago with an iphone, I listed it as 'not working spares/repair only' buyer wanted a return and a refund as....yes you guessed it 'the phone doesn't work!'
ebay sided with the buyer even though I sent them copies of the listing stating not working, I refused to refund the £50 (I had removed my card details from paypal) so ebay handed it over to their debt department which put it up straight away to me owing them £75, they threatened me with court so I sent them a very nicely worded letter stating I was happy to attend court with proof of my listing and details of how ebay had sided with the buyer with no investigation, I received a 'no further action' letter from them along with them closing my ebay account and paypal account
If you are willing to trash your eBay and PayPal (if that's the payment method you use) then do as Saleen says and delete your linked cards and accounts before they try to take any money. eBay and PayPal use debt collection agencies (one of them is DRS) and they are toothless. Put their letters in the recycling bin, block their emails and numbers if they try and contact you.ebay sided with the buyer even though I sent them copies of the listing stating not working, I refused to refund the £50 (I had removed my card details from paypal) so ebay handed it over to their debt department which put it up straight away to me owing them £75, they threatened me with court so I sent them a very nicely worded letter stating I was happy to attend court with proof of my listing and details of how ebay had sided with the buyer with no investigation, I received a 'no further action' letter from them along with them closing my ebay account and paypal account
So why don't they take you to Court? Well years ago I helped on financial advice forums and volunteered for CAB. eBay/PayPal NEVER took anyone to Court because they would lose to even the most drunk judge. Can you imagine you as the defendant explaining to the Judge: "I sold a widget on eBay for £100, the buyer wanted a refund because it was the wrong shade of blue despite there being 10 pictures of the item on the listing, they contacted eBay who said they could have a refund and didn't need to return the item to me".
I only use eBay as a buyer and even then will happily trash my 20 year old account if necessary.
Essentially when selling on eBay you're giving the item away at your expense for postage.
IF you're fortunate you'll get paid, if not you've lost the postage, so long as you appreciate this and sell low value things which people wouldn't otherwise steal, you're okay.
For the same reasons I'll NEVER sell ANYTHING from my house, I'll give it away, but otherwise it's just not worth the hassle!
I'd just move on, for £60 you've learnt just to throw things away in the future!
(I accept people may need the cash etc.)
IF you're fortunate you'll get paid, if not you've lost the postage, so long as you appreciate this and sell low value things which people wouldn't otherwise steal, you're okay.
For the same reasons I'll NEVER sell ANYTHING from my house, I'll give it away, but otherwise it's just not worth the hassle!
I'd just move on, for £60 you've learnt just to throw things away in the future!
(I accept people may need the cash etc.)
JulianHJ said:
This kind of thing is the reason I stopped selling on Ebay a few years ago. I'd rather receive a potentially lower amount and deal with the FB Marketplace crowd.
Yep. I closed my ebay account several years ago because of this kind of s
te. I'd rather just eat it/set fire to it then sell on ebay. It's pity a because when it first started it was really good, both for buying and selling. But like everything else, the
s find it and destroy it.hunt123 said:
nickfrog said:
I sold a digital watch on eBay, nothing fancy, just £60. It is as new. The buyer is asking to return it and sent photos of the watch with loads of dust behind the screen. It is quite clearly a different watch.
Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
Phone Ebay and say the watch being returned is clearly not your watch, say to them to look at the pictures if you can see a difference as you imply.Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
I recently had a buyer return something that i thought was not mine, explained this to Ebay and they let me keep the money from the sale, but also refunded the buyer from their own funds (£170). So it's possible you can fight this OP.
When I upgrade something (mostly my old Mac computers, Nespresso machines, TVs, monitors, etc.), I either give the old stuff away to family, or if they don't want it it goes to either the local charity shop or skip.
Had too many 'freecycle' types pissing around saying they'll definitely have it and will be here on their way back from work. 10pm get a call and they forgot and can they come over now - FRO!!! In the bin it goes.
iPads or iPhones either go to CEX or as trade-in direct with Apple - depends who has the best price at the time.
The only thing I've sold on ebay recently...and I really didn't want to, but CEX offers were rubbish...was my RTX3080Ti. But I weighed it, weighed it in it's retail packaging, and weighed it in the finished outer packaging. Took photos from all angles of the GPU before packing, recorded the serial number, and used a UV marker to write my ebay name all over it. Sale went without a hitch though!
Had too many 'freecycle' types pissing around saying they'll definitely have it and will be here on their way back from work. 10pm get a call and they forgot and can they come over now - FRO!!! In the bin it goes.
iPads or iPhones either go to CEX or as trade-in direct with Apple - depends who has the best price at the time.
The only thing I've sold on ebay recently...and I really didn't want to, but CEX offers were rubbish...was my RTX3080Ti. But I weighed it, weighed it in it's retail packaging, and weighed it in the finished outer packaging. Took photos from all angles of the GPU before packing, recorded the serial number, and used a UV marker to write my ebay name all over it. Sale went without a hitch though!
A friend of mine had a similar scenario with an old telephone. The buyer received it and then said they'd made a mistake and it wasn't what she wanted. Friend agreed to give a refund and take it back. Received back a telephone of the same make/model but in poor condition, clearly not the same one she'd sold.
In the OP's case I don't really see that EBay can do that much. Even if the OP shows pictures of the item they sent, the buyer will deny that it's the item they received.
I would still register it with Ebay though as it will help others going forward.
In the OP's case I don't really see that EBay can do that much. Even if the OP shows pictures of the item they sent, the buyer will deny that it's the item they received.
I would still register it with Ebay though as it will help others going forward.
I think all selling platforms have bad points. I use different ones for specific things. Anything expensive then it’s cash on collection. I too have had a couple of issues selling on eBay but of the amount of things I’ve sold it’s not unexpected. Think it depends a lot on what your actually selling.
Sold a 5yr old phone, bent over backwards for the buyer and when he got it he wasn’t happy that the battery showed it was near needing a new one. Wanted me to pay for a new battery. Other than the battery there wasn’t a mark on it at all. It was the cheapest phone on eBay as I’d let him have it cheap for a very quick sale. Luckily he did return the correct phone. Although it took him nearly 2 weeks to return it and left bad feedback saying how bad a seller I am even though I had 100% feedback.
Sold a 5yr old phone, bent over backwards for the buyer and when he got it he wasn’t happy that the battery showed it was near needing a new one. Wanted me to pay for a new battery. Other than the battery there wasn’t a mark on it at all. It was the cheapest phone on eBay as I’d let him have it cheap for a very quick sale. Luckily he did return the correct phone. Although it took him nearly 2 weeks to return it and left bad feedback saying how bad a seller I am even though I had 100% feedback.
I've bought misdescribed items on ebay and had a full refund/kept the item. Sellers do try it on.
Saying that having experienced a dodgy buyer and ebays firewall- they just accept the buyers evidence as gospel I'll never sell on there again.
If I was you, out of principle I'd ask for the watch back. Pay his postage then leave ebay.
Saying that having experienced a dodgy buyer and ebays firewall- they just accept the buyers evidence as gospel I'll never sell on there again.
If I was you, out of principle I'd ask for the watch back. Pay his postage then leave ebay.
nickfrog said:
I sold a digital watch on eBay, nothing fancy, just £60. It is as new. The buyer is asking to return it and sent photos of the watch with loads of dust behind the screen. It is quite clearly a different watch.
Posting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
What was or is feedback of buyer? Should be sPosting on the eBay forum, they said there is nothing I can do and the very best solution is to accept the return otherwise they will claw the money back and I won't get the (other) watch back, which I don't want as it's not mine and it's in a poor condition.
Is that correct? Can't I instruct my bank to not comply with PayPal or eBay's request?
Any ideas? I have the name and address of the "buyer"
t if they have a habit of defrauding people.TX.
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