complaining to ebay
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Blown2CV

Original Poster:

30,978 posts

227 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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Does anyone know how to file a formal complaint with ebay... not via their damn support chat gimps.

thanks

Blown2CV

Original Poster:

30,978 posts

227 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
quotequote all
if anybody is interested, here is the reason...

i sell things on ebay - not as a shop or anything but just like clothes i no longer want or household items etc.

I sold a couple of pairs of trousers listed separately to a guy. They were used but new barely worn and excellent condition. I put them down as returns not accepted as i knew the condition of them, and I am not a shop as I say so if someone doesn't like what they buy they can just go and re-sell them.

He then complains when he receives them that both pairs were not as described. He used my own photos from the listing as proof. Surely whatever is in the photo would comprise part of the description, but anyway... what he was saying was ste as the problem he was trying to call out did not exist. He was a total dhead on messages, whereas I was perfectly polite and professional (venting on here but that's different).

I kicked off to ebay as I felt he was telling fibs in order to unlock the ability to return them. Ebay basically said I would need to accept the return as they cannot disprove his claims. I was forced to pay for return labels for both items. When they arrived back with me, I took photos proving he was a liar. I sent them to ebay and they said OK no problem just give a partial refund then, but tell him that's what you're going to do, and wait a few days.

I did that, and got no response. So when a few days had passed I went to issue the partial refund and the option was not there. I contacted ebay yet again (3rd or 4th time now) and they said yea you can only do partial refund if he agrees. I'm like well what happens if he doesn't. They say ah you'll just given him a full refund. Well who would ever fking agree to that if they knew they didn't have to?

Stupidest thing ever, plus they were giving me contradicting info. Yes it's a platform for connecting buyers and sellers but by having rules for engagement such as you cannot do this or that, they are taking more of a role than just a matchmaker.

I am likely pissing into the wind but maybe there is a means to raise this?

JulianHJ

8,861 posts

286 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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Blown2CV said:
I am likely pissing into the wind but maybe there is a means to raise this?
As far as I know, no. It's for this reason I no longer sell anything on eBay; there's virtually no seller protection against scammers.

Blown2CV

Original Poster:

30,978 posts

227 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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there are no other platforms that are better though are there? I've tried vinted and unless things are listed for £1 on there nothing sells. Any others?

zedx19

3,022 posts

164 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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You won't get anywhere, take it on the chin, it's part of ebay, you get good and bad buyers, list them for more than you previously sold them for and see if you get any takers. What were the specific mis-described claims?

Vinted might be worth a look at for clothes, or FB marketplace.

Deranged Rover

4,426 posts

98 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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Suck it up, swear a bit, add the buyer to your blocked bidder list and move on.

eBay won't even give the square root of a st, unfortunately.

InitialDave

14,375 posts

143 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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I find I do OK for selling the odd thing on Ebay, but yes, there are a huge number of extremely stupid people and chancers etc, and ebay will side with them 9 times out of 10.

For example, a friend had changed the wheels on his car, and the seat was different, so he sold his old set of wheel nuts, as they're a specific design and can be pricey, plus we'd machined off the closed end to allow longer studs to be fitted and pass all the way through - useful for anyone doing the same, getting open nuts with this seat is a bit awkward.

Return requested by the buyer because
"They're used" - yes, of course they're fking used, if someone says they took them off their car, why do you think they were on there?
"They're not genuine" - they absolutely fking are, he's owned the car from new, and I'm the one who took them off and machined them.
"They should be black chrome not bright chrome" - no. See above. Maybe your specific variant or year came with dark chrome, but these are as per how they should be for this one.

Edited by InitialDave on Wednesday 15th May 11:37

Spare tyre

12,079 posts

154 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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I sold some rare car badges as spares or repair

Basically the locating pins were snapped

I mentioned this about 15 times included pictures then mentioned it a few more times for good measure

Matey boy receives the rare badges, complains the pins are not there and eBay take his side

I was so cross, because I was 101% clear, was holding onto the badges for daft sentimental reasons, but decided to let them go as it’d help keep a car looking smart etc

I gave up with eBay that day

My wife sells everything clothes related on vented now, not had issues so far

addey

1,274 posts

191 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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You've got the trousers back and you've still got your money so winner-winner?! What's the worst that could happen if you don't refund him? Sounds like you don't want to use the platform any more so it doesn't matter if your account gets locked etc.

Blown2CV

Original Poster:

30,978 posts

227 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
quotequote all
addey said:
You've got the trousers back and you've still got your money so winner-winner?! What's the worst that could happen if you don't refund him? Sounds like you don't want to use the platform any more so it doesn't matter if your account gets locked etc.
i got them back yes and actually all i want back in addition is the cost of return postage for him, which i had to pay for, and a punishment for him for being a . I quantified punishment i mean admin fee as £5 an item. Otherwise why would every buyer on there not lie. It's basically just reliant on not everyone being a , rather than actually having some fair rules in place.

I am more pissed off that they made a big deal saying they couldn't or wouldn't get involved in the decision, and then went on to do exactly that. Hiding the 'partial refund' button is getting involved, surely.

Fastdruid

9,292 posts

176 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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JulianHJ said:
Blown2CV said:
I am likely pissing into the wind but maybe there is a means to raise this?
As far as I know, no. It's for this reason I no longer sell anything on eBay; there's virtually no seller protection against scammers.
^This. All it needs is them to open a "not as described" and you're fked. They get to send the item back at your expense and you're out on shipping both ways.

Like you, I'm not a fking shop, there is *no* legal requirement to offer returns.

I don't sell on ebay anymore, just not worth it.

Blown2CV

Original Poster:

30,978 posts

227 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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fair enough people saying they no longer sell on ebay, but where do you sell now?

dundarach

6,005 posts

252 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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Unless you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY!!!! need the cash, throw whatever it is in the bin.

It just isn't worth it any longer, facebook is terrible, ebay don't care and is massively abused too.

Chuck it out!

Rough101

2,999 posts

99 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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If I can’t sell on Gumtree, I don’t sell at all, EBay is useless these days for anything other than brand new stuff because of experiences like yours.

Wotzname

174 posts

218 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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If that was me (and I'm no Del Boy when comes to buying and selling on eBay), I'd do the following:

  • Do what is asked to keep everybody happy ie. pay for postage label etc
  • Check sold listings for same / similar items, and if possible increase price to recoup some of your loss
  • Wait for / take advantage of eBay discount voucher
  • At the end of your listing spiel, include the following line - 'Re-advertised due to time-waster' - that in itself should put a 'little' smile back on your face. And, if the original buyer still has the item in his watch list, that should hopefully make him feel like a bit of a dick
Good luck and hope it works for you smile



slight edit as incomplete - my bad frown


Edited by Wotzname on Wednesday 15th May 21:09

anonymous-user

78 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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I’ve sold a few things recently, zero problems.
Had a zero fees offer.

Only had one sale problem in 20+ years.

Plus some weirdo hassling me when selling some boots for my daughter, a complete crank!

Keep the trousers & the money, wind him up as much as you can!

Timothy Bucktu

16,688 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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Blown2CV said:
fair enough people saying they no longer sell on ebay, but where do you sell now?
FB Marketplace for general rubbish, and Vinted for clothes.

Rufus Stone

12,152 posts

80 months

Wednesday 15th May 2024
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Fastdruid said:
^This. All it needs is them to open a "not as described" and you're fked. They get to send the item back at your expense and you're out on shipping both ways.
Awww, wish I knew this. I've just had to pay to return a leather jacket because it didn't fit. biggrin

Seller claimed to be private to avoid legal obligations but was clearly a retailer. Why do Ebay allow this? Jacket came direct from Pakistan, but return is to Birmingham.