At my wits' end with this buyer

[everard6920]

This is more me letting off steam than anything else.

Had a buyer purchase 4 items from me back in July using account #1. Paid with e-cheques (always pays for each item separately). E-cheques cleared. No problems.

The same buyer bought 2 more items from me a month later, in August, using a different account (account #2). Paid with e-cheques. E-cheques bounced. I opened UIDs. No response from buyer - so I closed the UIDs and blocked accounts #1 and #2.

Same buyer buys 4 more items in November with account #3 - 4 more e-cheques. All four e-cheques bounce. I open and close UIDs, block account #3, and contact eBay. eBay say that they can't stop the buyer making new accounts, but that if she does it again, I can cancel the transactions and have any defects/feedback removed.

So . . . last night. Same buyer on account #4 (!) buys two more items, pays by e-cheques again. I call eBay, and cancel the transactions. The buyer hasn't left any feedback, but eBay assures me that if she does, I can appeal it.

eBay CS says that they can't stop this buyer making new accounts. Seriously? She uses the same name, address, and Paypal email each time. I could understand that it'd be more difficult to flag/prevent if those details weren't the same, but they are.

I want to send the buyer a message but I am too angry right now and I don't want to give eBay any reason not to remove any feedback she leaves. I've found her on social media, and she looks really young (which makes sense given the items I sell). Would you contact her? I'm so frustrated.

It's just an absolute joke that a buyer can have an account rendered useless by unpaid item strikes, and simply open a new account. And then do that 3 times in a row.

I'm furious right now.

[padi*0409]

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@everard6920 wrote:

eBay CS says that they can't stop this buyer making new accounts. Seriously? She uses the same name, address, and Paypal email each time. I could understand that it'd be more difficult to flag/prevent if those details weren't the same, but they are.

 . Would you contact her? I'm so frustrated.

It's just an absolute joke that a buyer can have an account rendered useless by unpaid item strikes, and simply open a new account. And then do that 3 times in a row.

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That's BS, eBay can close accounts using the same IP address and same Paypal email - but then when do T & S ever do the job they're supposed to ????

No I wouldn't be contacting her, just keep plugging eBay for action on the accounts. (use the "call me" option, and ask for a supervisor).

[digital*ghost]

This is precisely why I lament no longer having the ability to block unverified accounts (which most new ones are - I lost a bit of business from it, but it prevented members from pulling these kinds of shenanigans). 

At this stage you'd have to wonder exactly what their game is, as in they would know by now that they actually have to pay for items in order to get them, and that funds need to be available for payment to clear, so why keep trying to buy and not pay? 

You used to be able to use an email address to block members rather than just their ID, not sure if it still works but you can always try, if they are using the same details each time (i.e. the PayPal email address). 

The only other option would be having immediate payment required. 

[enigmabear]

Don't give up, as mentioned us the have us call you option and ask to speak to a supervisor

It is not unusual for CS staff to just say whatever is easiest and means they don't have to do anything

[everard6920]

@padi Yes - I was assured this morning that T & S are "reviewing" the case, but if she isn't NARU'd within a day or so, I will have to be much more insistent, because nobody should have to put up with this.

@digi Oooh, I had never noticed you could block emails! Thank you, Digi. I've done that (as well as blocking her 4 usernames . . . ). As for immediate payment, it doesn't really suit as I rely on combined purchases, and it would prevent others from requesting combined invoices. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

@enigma Yes, I've dealt with their nonsense before. Will give them a day or so, and that's it.

Thanks for your replies.

[collect247]

I find that this sort of thing happens when either the same disgruntled seller or buyer have an agenda against you.

They stop at nothing to try and get back at you,I've had a few in the past and there's one that has blocked me from buying from them but I'm not too sure as to why because I can't recall **bleep** anyone off lol.

[brerrabbit585]

I think you can block their emails in pp too but I'm not sure whether that'll help or not.

Even if you had immediate payment ticked I think they could still use an e-cheque. Just because the payment doesn't go straight through doesn't mean they haven't paid.

I used to sell to someone on another site who was notorious for buying more than they could pay for. A friend and I both sold quite a bit to her. Other sellers did unpaid disputes pretty fast but we waited and we always got paid as ours were the only items left that hadn't been cancelled. She even paid into my bank account by mistake once and she chose one of my items rather than have me refund it.

This is why I love selling on facebook - once I block a person they can no longer see ANY trace of me - not my posts, my listings, not even my timeline.  I simply don't exist any more as far as they're concerned, nor can I see them.

[everard6920]

I don't know what to think any more.

When she sent the e-cheques the other night for the two items, she had zero feedback on account #4. Now, she has 7 glowing positives . . . given that the majority of sellers leave feedback when payment is received, I can only assume she's purchased 7 other items in the last 24 hours and paid for them instantly. Clearly, she's capable of paying, and just chooses to repeatedly not pay ME.

I have no connection with the buyer; I've never had a run-in with anyone on eBay other than two overseas buyers a long time ago (and even then, those run-ins weren't serious). So I doubt very much that it's any sort of personal vendetta.

Furthermore, I was wrong about the emails all being the same. She's actually used 3 different Paypal emails over the 4 different accounts. I've blocked all four accounts and all three emails, but clearly, when she is blocked on one she just makes a new one.

Now that she has 7 glowing positives on her latest account, I doubt very much that eBay will NARU her.

[brerrabbit585]

The other sellers may be leaving feedback as soon as she pays with an e-cheque, not realising it may bounce later.

[digital*ghost]

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@everard6920 wrote:

Furthermore, I was wrong about the emails all being the same. She's actually used 3 different Paypal emails over the 4 different accounts. I've blocked all four accounts and all three emails, but clearly, when she is blocked on one she just makes a new one.

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This would suggest she's using PayPal (and possibly even eBay) as a guest, which makes preventing future purchases from them that much more difficult, and may mean she's not deliberately attempting to circumvent blocks - it might also be that the payments were processed as eCheques for some other reason, eg subject to clearance based on some unverifiable details, which can happen if something like the cardholder's name doesn't match the billing address name or similar. Sometimes such payments will clear instantly, and then PayPal will put a hold on it while they review it, but days later (with sellers already having sent items, most of the time). 

She may be purchasing multiple items at once but not having enough money to cover all of them. Or she might just be trying her luck and seeing how many sellers will post without getting cleared funds (it happens - I had one cheeky bugger cancel their echeque within 24 hours and message me that the echeque cleared and told me to post their item, musta thought I was born yesterday  ).