Buyer in France claims package was tampered with and contents stolen.

[youngtroy1]

Hello.

A buyer has requested a refund. They say the package was empty and that it was because someone had stolen the contents and re sealed the box.
The contents were r/c toy parts. About $200 in value.
The item was tracked and weighed obviously at the P.O.

EBay informed me that they will side with the buyer.
Also that they will refund the fees as a sign of "GOODWILL".

Can anybody offer any help. I am tired of being scammed on ebay.

[jellybirddesigns]

One of the reasons I stopped posting anywhere in southern Europe to countries such as France, Italy etc was due to the higher than normal rate of "postal theft" and "missing items" compared to other countries.

That aside, any item sent with tracking with Aus Post is automatically insured for $100 and usually I take additional insurance if the value is higher.

I find that sending Aus Post a friendly, private message through their Facebook page has been very helpful in the past when things have gone awry. Tell them you need to make a claim for contents stolen in transit and ask how they can assist. They have often resolved things for me within a few messages, which has been great.

[youngtroy1]

Jeez thanks. Some good advice there. Still not thinking clearly. Recently had some cases that I just don't have the time to address.

Especially how difficult it is to communicate with ebay.

Cannot just roll over all the time.

[youngtroy1]

Honestly. It is not the money that has upset me. Thanks though.

[youngtroy1]

Wow. Seriously. This place is creepy.

The poster basically said that I deliberately encourage scammers to attack other people. Go read the message. I won't stand for that. A

And you ask me to be grateful!? Seriously?

NO. Sorry. I won't.

And threats? Or retribution for telling the truth. Albeit in a misguided way.

Do you mean a form punishment for my privilege or for leaving a negative comment? (Rhetorical)

I think you will find eBay has a obligation to shareholders. Not to peoples feelings because I am not "grateful" or make a mistake.

I am not beholden to EBay like some people here clearly are. I do not work for eBay and see being here as a privilege. Sorry. They can cancel my account or whatever they like. This is just a hobby and not the only show in town.

Better than being stolen from!

My privilege. Goodness me.

[sandypebbles]

Wow. I said no such thing

You have twisted everything I said and you know it

I think you will find eBay will treat you the same way as everyone else

Go ahead and get yourself suspended then

I certainly  will no be responding to you again

Just wow

[digital*ghost]

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@sandypebbles wrote:

Wow. I said no such thing

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Um. You kinda did.

The first line of your response stated that the OP left false positives, which encourages scammers - effectively blaming them for the actions of others (I don't even understand the correlation myself, NPBs aren't scammers, so are you suggesting that if a scammer sees that a seller has left false positives for other buyers, it's some kind of indication the seller is a prime target?)

I don't really like getting involved in this stuff, but sometimes I can't help it.... Can you really expect an OP to be grateful the first reply to their plea for help was no help, advice, or even any comment on what they were asking for help with, but criticism for something completely unrelated that went as far as to imply they brought it on themselves by leaving false positives? 

I'm not saying you can't bring this stuff up, but can't it at least be as an aside? The baptism of fire newbies get here sometimes just seems so unnecessary to me. 

[gewens]

Hello,everyone. To be respectful is very important in your interaction with other members here. I'd like to remind you that content that is harmful, hostile, threatening, abusive, baiting, vulgar, defamatory, harassing, or includes hate or racist speech, name calling, or profanity will be edited or removed. Please read about our policy here: https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Feedback/Updates-coming-to-eBay-com-au-Discussion-Boards/... Thanks very much. 🙂

[tazzieterror]

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@youngtroy1 wrote:

Thankyou for your response.

As for those who want to upset at me for my mistakes....there are many I am sure.

However,  I maintain that flouting rules and stealing are 2 very different topics.

Also ignoring the topic of the forum, looking into my history and having a rant about something negative that they have found is frankly rediculous.

It also does not assist in those who come to look for answers and other experiences and have to read a load of irrelevant material.

• Or even worse be too afraid to speak out because someone may want to be honest about your failings.

Does a poster have to be perfect and know every little rule to post here...

SMH.. 

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Yes, definitely, I wasn't meaning to equate the two, just pointing out that sometimes that's what happens.

Most of the frequent forum contributors here (myself included) will have a peek at the feedback page of someone posting about a problem here for the first time. It can sometimes be more revealing than the post itself! More than anything it's useful to gauge someone's experience—a relatively new account with no selling history might indicate they're completely unaware of any of the dispute procedures, for example. Occasionally it will reveal a bad eBay "citizen", though, and then people won't waste their time helping them.

So don't take people checking up on you as anything malicious, even if some want to nitpick a bit!

My thoughts on what you could do next basically echo what digital*ghost has written here — get your buyer talking and replying as much as you can, and see if you can get them to incriminate themselves somehow. It's a bit of a long shot, and if the buyer is simply working the system they probably won't reply because they know they've more or less "won" already, but you never know.

Also, maybe have a look at the buyer's feedback page to see if there's anything there that could hint at similar behaviour with other buyers—check the feedback they've left for others, too. Google translate might come in handy.

[youngtroy1]

Hello and thanks to those who helped previously.

I should have updated the situation a long time ago.

Ebay stated that they had sided with me in this case.
I was not given a reason as to why.
I suspect it was because I wrote to the buyer many times asking for them to provide a report number from the police or a claim from the local postal service.

The buyer only ignored me.

I told Ebay there must be accountability somewhere and that they must honour their pledge of seller protection if the item is successfully delivered with a tracking number.

That the item had been weighed in Australia, but the buyer needed to contact the French carrier.

I must say that in another case eBay paid the refund to the buyer, covering the cost itself. I don't think they should have, but at least they did not charge me.

They are 2 positive examples of ebay doing the right thing.

However...at the moment live chat won't work. They are over charging me and their customer service is nearly non existent.

The reason my fees went up is -

I cancelled orders only upon buyers REQUEST to do so, due to legitimate mistakes or the like.

I did use the item not in stock option to cancel the sale as this was the easiest way.

But ebay only want to look after their own needs with there persistent slimey ways. Like making the postage free unless you reversed that. They seem to have removed that trick.

Itbwas definitely ignorant. I was not aware of the repercussions. I believed that because the customer requested the cancellation, that I was doing the right thing.

But I was 'punished' without warning.

For eBay to take 50% more in fees without informing me is poor and a slap in the face.

And before some start getting righteous, my eBay use is via mobile....99% of the time.

If eBay are going to take money from you they should inform you clearly via message or the like.

So I cancelled the useless ebay plus subscription and have not posted any new items to sell. Works both ways.

Does eBay forget that we are customers also?? Strange. Stopped purchasing to from ebay. They said that I could appeal. I said that I would not apply the effort. That there performance is sub standard and that I will penalise them. They just said we are sorry you feel that way.

This is just entertaining and a hobby. It is not my job or anywhere near an income.

If it is not enjoyable and underhanded then there is no point.

I have enjoyed the people who write to me and have appreciated my items. There is much good will in the community.

Hopefully eBay can improve and find some of the community spirit.

Just my rant for anyone interested.

[jellybirddesigns]

The only way to cancel an item without getting a defect is to use the reason "Problem with Buyers Address".

No matter the actual reason for cancellation, that is the only one to use without a penalty to the seller.