EBay arghh!! ##$&&

[Guppy]

It's important you appear as the rightful and reasonable towards eBay.

Point out zippers on vtg and repro jackets need to be treated gently and with due diligence always and that he may have been too rough on it by these standards. I see no way you don't win that.

Reasonable and friendly, for sure.

But I would not point out that vintage and repro zippers are delicate. That gives him an angle of "you KNEW the zipper was delicate but said nothing before the sale?!"

Stick to the item description and return policy and the communications previously sent only.

 

[Monitor]

@Thuggee , listen to what everyone else suggested - Absolutely do NOT issue a refund of ANY kind, even if he's just asking for a single cent. Stick to the process, hold your ground and wait for the eBay to close the case in your favor because there's absolutely no way they can decide otherwise. What Lean'n'mean said, try to keep the whole deal out of your mind for the time being.

Don't respond to the buyer anymore, cut all communication with him, forget he exists.
You've done your end of the deal. He's the one who broke the zipper and he's the one trying to scam both you and eBay. That's the only thing that matters in this whole unfortunate saga. eBay will see this. I think they're slowly beginning to realize how their buyer protection program opened up a pandoras box worse than anyone could've imagined.

 

[bn1966]

I second Monitor & everyone else..cut communication & follow process.

Good luck Thuggee..hopefully 'right' will prevail..

 

[ton312]

I think they're slowly beginning to realize how their buyer protection program opened up a pandoras box worse than anyone could've imagined.

Absolutely true. Buyer protection quickly became seller extortion, and something like positive feedback being left ought to be the lock guard against the kind of crap going on with Thuggee.

 

[willyto]

If sellers don't want to sell on Ebay then Ebay don't get any money, by siding all the time with buyers they're pushing sellers away and they're basically losing money but I guess it doesn't matter anymore to them since Ebay is turning into a shitshow of crap merchandise being sold. It's no longer about used and second hand goods.

 

[Big J]

I agree with other posters;
Ebay has a system and policy for resolving these issues, so you should use it and have no other communication with the buyer.

The problem is that we use eBay as reasonable people looking to henestly buy or sell something, but there are 'smart' petty criminals out there who have worked out how to game eBay for a profit, however small, for the sake of a few clicks.

I have discovered (for instance) that if eBay's shipping center decides to destroy an item instead of sending it on, both the buyer and the seller get refunded the BIN price even if a lower 'make an offer' price was accepted by the seller and paid.

EBay's business model is allowing businesses to sell boatloads of cheap rubbish made in sweatshops without the need for a bricks-and-mortar stores nor safe and secure websites and payment systems of their own.

It used to be about buying from genuine individuals and one off sellers with something interesting and second hand to sell. That's all pretty much gone now. It's all dodgy third world goods and small time businessmen avoiding tax on their businesses via PayPal.

 

[robrinay]

Stand your ground and let eBay sort it out. When it’s over let us know the trolls eBay id so we can block him. If it goes pear shaped appeal.

 

[Saxman]

You can tell PayPal to shove your negative balance and abandon the account if it comes to it. Might hurt your credit score.

But mostly ebay customer service is reasonable, and if you can show photos showing the item in good condition when you sent it, you'll probably be fine.

Wrong. Ebay always sides with the buyer.
I sold a designer bag on Ebay with several pics and true description.
The buyer even left a glowing positive feedback when she received it.
Three days later, she changed her mind and gave some bullshit excuse about the zip sticking !
I was automatically put into arrears on my PayPal account, I objected to no avail, they found in the buyers favour...I had to put the money back into the account once I knew it was being returned.
When I got the bag back, guess what ? Nothing wrong with it !
Always proceed with caution when selling anything on Ebay !

 

[Guppy]

Wrong. Ebay always sides with the buyer.
I sold a designer bag on Ebay with several pics and true description.
The buyer even left a glowing positive feedback when she received it.
Three days later, she changed her mind and gave some bullshit excuse about the zip sticking !
I was automatically put into arrears on my PayPal account, I objected to no avail, they found in the buyers favour...I had to put the money back into the account once I knew it was being returned.
When I got the bag back, guess what ? Nothing wrong with it !
Always proceed with caution when selling anything on Ebay !

When this happens, you can appeal the case to eBay.

I've had a few buyers try to screw me after a sale, and I've never lost a case. The one time eBay sided with a buyer, I prevailed on appeal. I pointed out in the communications where the buyer admitted that damage occurred in their possession, and was not my fault. They broke a snap on a jacket and demanded a return. I had a no returns policy, and the item was as described, they had no legitimate case. I offered to give them $10 and get the snap fixed, but they refused and mailed the jacket back to me, unauthorized. I refused to pick up the package at the post office until ebay resolved the case in the buyer's favor. At that point, I picked it up and found that the buyer had crammed the jacket into the smallest box they could find, wrinkling and creasing the leather, and failed to include the original hanger that was included in the sale. I reported to ebay that the buyer had damaged the item and then returned it, and I got the refunded money back, and was allowed to keep the jacket.

I then relisted the jacket, disclosing the flaw, and it eventually sold on an as-is, no returns basis, for less money, but I'd gotten paid twice for it, and there was no harm to my feedback reputation.

You have to be careful to document your stuff carefully, and communicate politely, but firmly with the buyer, sticking to the facts in the listing at the time the sale was made, and introduce no additional information that could be used against you. It's a pain, but if you do these things, you can prevail.

 

[robrinay]

I beginning to think that Thuggees troll has done this kind of thing before and is actually looking for a discount after the act. You might take a look at his feedback to see if you can find any evidence of this before presenting it to eBay
Rob

 

[Thuggee]

I beginning to think that Thuggees troll has done this kind of thing before and is actually looking for a discount after the act. You might take a look at his feedback to see if you can find any evidence of this before presenting it to eBay
Rob

His feed back looks fine to me

From day one this guy was asking for discounts, complained about the VAT/Customs Duty he had to pay and it went on, he’s a real low baller I believe his communications show that he damaged the jacket while in his possession I just have to hope EBay see through his lies where he claims it was received like this and he never noticed or mentioned anything for 20 days

I’ll be contacting EBay customer support today to see where I stand.


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[Thuggee]

I have now reported/lodged a complaint against this buyer with eBay for making a false claim against me, I’ve stated all the facts I will keep this thread updated as to the outcome.


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[Thuggee]

Strange 4 days after lodging my complaint against the buyer for abuse of process I’m yet to hear a peep from eBay.

Yet today the buyer has now escalated his claim asking ebay to step in.

Are there actual people at the other end of all these auto responders?


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[zebedee]

I phoned Ebay when worried about a transaction. They were very helpful.

 

[Thuggee]

I phoned Ebay when worried about a transaction. They were very helpful.

I lodged a detailed complaint through a online form dedicated to buyer abuse of the returns process, if eBay can’t be bother contacting me I’m not sure what a phone call will achieve, I suspect they don’t step in until both parties can’t work things out between themselves, the buyer in this instance can go pound sand, he’s doesn’t want to return the jacket he just wants a partial refund and that’s never going to happen


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[zebedee]

Even though they were helpful, I rarely sell things through eBay- you are right not to issue any form of refund and I suspect that enough time had passed between his initial positive feedback and spurious subsequent claim that you'll be in the right. I do know that you must keep all communication visible on eBay's messaging system, as that's what they'll primarily refer to.

 

[JMax]

On three occasions that I recall a quick phone call resulted in the case being immediately closed in my favor. Twice during the actual call, the third within a few hours. The buyers BS was so egregious, like here.

With all the daily calls eBay receives, my bet is that waiting for them to call you would at best take too much time.

 

[Guppy]

I lodged a detailed complaint through a online form dedicated to buyer abuse of the returns process, if eBay can’t be bother contacting me I’m not sure what a phone call will achieve, I suspect they don’t step in until both parties can’t work things out between themselves, the buyer in this instance can go pound sand, he’s doesn’t want to return the jacket he just wants a partial refund and that’s never going to happen


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Getting to a CSR used to be next to impossible, but now it's much better than it was. They used to bury the fact that you could talk to a human at all, the wait times for hold were upwards of an hour, the CSRs were generally unhelpful and difficult to understand. It's so much better now. You can go to Help, Contact Us, and they will call you in a minute or two, and you can explain what is going on. They will take action and resolve things very quickly, as well as explain policies and map out your options. In short, it is the way to go.

You sound like you have bad attitude about it though. It's really easy to be angry about being put in this situation by the buyer, and to assume that eBay doesn't care, and to hear all the stories about Buyer Protection screwing sellers, and that will mean you're going to get screwed. But when you talk to their CSR, you need to lose that attitude, and come across as friendly, happy, willing to do everything the right way as best you can, etc., and then lay out the facts of the case, that the buyer's concerns are unreasonable and not your problem, that the jacket was sold under the terms of the listing, as is, no returns, or whatever your options were, and that you cannot be held responsible for them doing something to the zipper 20 days after they received it. You can put out a friendly vibe to eBay, who are there to help you and make things right, while explaining cheerfully to them that the buyer has no legitimate case against you. eBay will listen, and I will be very surprised if the case is found in the buyer's favor. I expect that you will have it all resolved in less than 10 minutes of phone time, plus perhaps a day or so of waiting for formal resolution, if that.

 

[bn1966]

Good advice from Guppy,

On a slightly different tack but in the same spirit: Wife (a Nurse) was on 'call' the other day & had to attend a hospital emergency. Parking was pressured & she ended up with a ticket. Parking company rejected an appeal. I suggested contacting a 'human' at company HQ.
Wife very angry with them..but made a friendly contact outlining the issues, result:..ticket cancelled pronto..someone made things right

 

[Thuggee]

Getting to a CSR used to be next to impossible, but now it's much better than it was. They used to bury the fact that you could talk to a human at all, the wait times for hold were upwards of an hour, the CSRs were generally unhelpful and difficult to understand. It's so much better now. You can go to Help, Contact Us, and they will call you in a minute or two, and you can explain what is going on. They will take action and resolve things very quickly, as well as explain policies and map out your options. In short, it is the way to go.

You sound like you have bad attitude about it though. It's really easy to be angry about being put in this situation by the buyer, and to assume that eBay doesn't care, and to hear all the stories about Buyer Protection screwing sellers, and that will mean you're going to get screwed. But when you talk to their CSR, you need to lose that attitude, and come across as friendly, happy, willing to do everything the right way as best you can, etc., and then lay out the facts of the case, that the buyer's concerns are unreasonable and not your problem, that the jacket was sold under the terms of the listing, as is, no returns, or whatever your options were, and that you cannot be held responsible for them doing something to the zipper 20 days after they received it. You can put out a friendly vibe to eBay, who are there to help you and make things right, while explaining cheerfully to them that the buyer has no legitimate case against you. eBay will listen, and I will be very surprised if the case is found in the buyer's favor. I expect that you will have it all resolved in less than 10 minutes of phone time, plus perhaps a day or so of waiting for formal resolution, if that.

I’ll give them a call today I know how CS calls work, having attitude getting angry won’t help my case at all, venting here at least allows me to blow off some steam, I don’t like thieves or scammers and my buyer falls into that category, it will be a sad day if eBay sides with the buyer after checking my notes he actually had/wore the jacket 23 days broke the zipper then claimed it was received not as described ( arrived with a faulty zipper) I’ve already lodged a very detailed claim against the buyer so will use that as the basis for my call to CS


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