Does Ebay have a limit on claims of "Not As Described"?

[*bmw_rider*]

I'm worried I may be upsetting Ebay with my claoms of Not As Described purchases.  I set out to buy a number of digital cameras to give as gifts for Christmas. I purchased 17 in total and of those 17 there were 4 faulty cameras. I've already claimed and been reimbursed for 2 of them and the other 2 are waiting in the wings.

I litarally hate having to ask Ebay to help with problems which originated with the sellers and then handed to myself. OK the first 3 aren't that expensive, but this last one was over $100 and I'm thinking there must be a limit Ebay has for such things. I feel kije a little boy who goes crying to Mummy whenever there's a problem. I know if Ebay was my Mother, my Father would have stepped in and told me to stand on my own two feet by now.

I also get the feeling that Ebay is being used by some sellers to dispose of their faulty items. It's broken but I can get something for it. This last one I sent an email to yesterday and explained the flash wasn't working in a digital camera I purchased from him. He's denied it was faulty and blamed me for dropping it or pouring water on it. I've had cameras for the past 56 years and never dropped one. In fact as soon as it arrived I checked it and then placed it in a nicely padded camera bag. The one thing I didn't check was the flash, but even if I had I'd still be in the same boat.

What's worrying me is I've also purchased another 4 cameras for family and friends who know what I paid for the others. I think I cleaned Ebay out of High Megapixel / low cost cameras. Now I'm worried one or more of those may be NAD.

So am I likelu to overstep the mark and make too many claims? Or am I simply learning not to buy from Ebay?

[digital*ghost]

If eBay thinks you are opening a high number of claims, they will send you a warning notice - I have seen the contents of such an email, but I don't really want to say anything more than this, as otherwise it could be used as a guide on how to fly under the radar for those who do, in fact, abuse the system.

[lyndal1838]

I have no idea about the ebay claim system....it is too new for a definite pattern to have emerged.

I do know that paypal keeps an eye on claims and will put the brakes on if they think a member is making too many claims.

Personally I would not be buying cameras on ebay....I would be going to a real store and getting a guarantee.

[*bmw_rider*]

Going to a store and getting a guarantee obviously means a lot more money, I din't have enough to buy a dozen cameras from a store, nowhere near enough. I have a bank account which I try to enlarge once a fortnight, if I can. At the end of the year I see how muchg I have a purchase accordingly. This year, thanks to my wife's luck on Poker machines I had enough to buy some used cameras. What I buy from this money are Christmas treats for a dmall group of needy kids I met whilst volunteering at a local school. For some reason the majority of them come from very low income families and it upset me that those kiddies werem't expecting any presents at Christmas.

Anyway, the point is, I have no control over people who set out to deceive buyers by saying their cameras are fully working. Gumtree is even worse, probably the reason the majority refuse to use Paypal. After far too many bad experiences on Gumtree I came back to Ebay and got caught again, and again. It's very nice to be able to choose between Ebay and a Camera Store, but I really wasn't able to choose.

I'm not angry, from long experience in this world I understand not everyone is honest,but my main concern is making too many demands on Ebay to put things right. My wife, Grandson and I have had a chat and if Ebay was to tell me to "back off", they'd actually be telling me to stop buying altogether. Can I really be blamed because I had the bad luck to choose the wrong sellers.  How should I go about choosing only those who are going to be honest? I can't and there's no way of knowing except when the goods arrive. Actually I just remembered one of those sellers immediately gave me a refund because his camera gave a lens error and wouldn't work. 

It wasn't that long ago buying from Ebay was a great experience, sometimes a good deal and others a great bargain. I guess I should be happy that I ended up with a good mixture, but why should I "back Off" simply because some of them took advantage of me. At least I learned why someone decided to sell his camera at half the price of fully working, same model. 

[digital*ghost]

I will just repeat something I have said elsewhere.

eBay don't view you as an individual person or regard your individual circumstances - they will approach this using general data and statistics, and any such warning (if you do get one) will be based as objectively on that as possible. 

People are often upset about that, but this is actually ok - this means it's not a subjective judgement on you personally, and means that eBay is doing....something of a job at looking out for sellers. 

The only way it wouldn't be ok is if or when ebay warn you, you decide to provide eBay with  individual, personal information of extenutating circumstances, and they failed to provide any means for that to be considered or taken into account. 

[gutterpunkz05]

Bought a new camera, a while back, and the flash was faulty  (or so I thought)    Who needs instructions to operate a camera?

After much fiddling, I found that the auto flash setting had to be activated in settings.  Has worked great ever since.  Still have not got around to reading the instruction manual.

[*bmw_rider*]

I hope you're not intimating that I'm abusing the system. 🙂 Why is it you always appear to have a secret you can't tell anyone? Assuming you're the same person who said almost the same thing in my post a few weeks back. I'm sure this is the second occasion you've told me I wasn't worthy of a full answer. And how is it you know so much about these illegal sales. Forgive me for being blunt, but wouldn't you be better off not even mentioning these secrets and keeping them a secret? If these people are abusing the system, wouldn't they, by definition, already be using this secret system? It's a shame you can't send me an email about it.

How anyone could possibly "fly under the radar" has me beat. And isn't hiding this fact rather unfair, because if I knew this secret wouldn't it tell me how to avoid it?

[digital*ghost]

---

@*bmw_rider* wrote:
I hope you're not intimating that I'm abusing the system. 

---

No, I'm trying to point out that the information you are asking for is dangerous to post on a public forum, because that leaves it open for abuse. It's got nothing to do with you, in any way at all, and everything to do with the potential consequence of providing that info to all and sundry.

And yes, I am quite often selective with the information I choose to post publicly because the last thing I want to do is tell people (or give them ideas on) how to game the system  (people in general, not you, since these forums are accessible to everyone, all over the world). Unfortunately, at times it does put me in a position of being less helpful than I would like to be, but I have helped people privately with information that I won't post publicly.  I posted here because I felt it was something of an answer to the question you were asking (in that yes, I can confirm that eBay does have a limit), and to make the point above.                  

And I don't know any secrets, not in real terms, I don't know what eBay base their decisions on in their entirety, I don't know how much of someone's history eBay use, whether there is monetary value involved, whether there's a specific number or a frequency percentage, I just know what triggered the email I saw, which was sent to someone I have a loose acquaintance with (and this someone was definitely not abusing the systm, just caught out in similar circumstances to yourself). 

[*bmw_rider*]

So in other words, YES Ebay does have a limit. Bugger, that means I should stop buying altogether or continue buying and put up with being scammed, grin and bare it.

I don't want to stop buying, but if people wish to continue to scam me then I'll have to keep running to Ebay. Sort of a Catch 22 isn't it? I've sold a faulty item on Ebay. Quite a few years back. It was a communications receiver which didn't work and I must have mentioned it 5 times in the listing and another 10 times via emails from buyers. I originally didn't want to put it on Ebay, but it belonged to my wife's Uncle. I put a $10 start on it and it did nothing until the last hour when it shot up to over $200. I then messaged the buyer and asked if he knew it wasn't working. "Oh yes" he said "I would have gone to $300" It seems bizarre to pay so much, but the owner didn't complain. I didn't even get a tip.

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

Myself like DG and others here have been here for long enough to know how a lot of the eBay system works even some background stuff based on past experiences of many members.

But there are certain things best not publicised on forums, that's just responsible posting.

Don't feel guilty or worried just because you run into many sellers not describing goods properly.

As said you will get a warning first and even then it would take a lot for eBay to refuse their MBG to a member.

At the same time, hopefully you will have learnt from experience to be more vigilant when purchasing certain items on eBay reducing the number of claims.