what would you do advice sought

[dcds2014dcds2014]

Hi people.

Have one of those buyers that bought an item (large letter) about the time it would be delivered, 3 or 4 days after purchase I get a email saying the item has not turned up and is now late so please refund me my money. When asked to wait a couple of days they said no its now late so i dont want it. If it turns up I will send it back to you.

So reluctantly I had to refund the buyer. I also informed them they have a number of items go missing according to their feed back and that it appeared someone in there building or even the delivery guy was likely stealin items so i would be reporting to ACORN.

I followed up 2 weeks later and asked if it had turned up yet to which I got a no. So I let the buyer know last time I reported it ACORN actually foud the person thieving the item and they were charged. 😉  The following day I get a message asking for the return address "in case it turns up."

On the next follow up when I said I had to submit the report to ACORN they told me it had arrived just today. (about 4 weeks later than sent)

and that they needed return address.

It has now been 2 weeks and the item has not returned. I asked and they said they sent it back 2 weeks ago.

Now my question is how do i get my funds back? They have admitted they have received the item in an email. And have sent it back so how do I get my item or funds back??

Cheers for your advice

[kopenhagen5]

Now you have a real reason to contact ACORN. 

You shouldn't have refunded.

Send your items with tracking, you leave yourself too open to these guys. In fact I'm sure they look for sellers like you.

Genuine buyers are going to pay the extra if you have the product they are looking for.

Dear buyer,

As I haven't received the returned item and you have not been able to provide a tracking number, unless I receive payment of the item within 48 hours, I will be required to report you to ACORN and subsequently your accounts may be shut down.

I don't normally suggest such advice but sounds like you are dealing with a right ol tosser. 

[justkidzbiz]

i would also contact eBay and direct them to your My Messages and let them know the buyer received the item, has been refunded, claims they returned the item but with no tracking. Whether they do anything is a guess but it's worth a try.

[clarry100]

Unlike the previous iteration of the ebay defect system, where the seller was awarded a defect the minute the buyer opened a case regardless of the eventual outcome, I now encourage the buyer to open a formal INR case and then issue the refund thru the case. If they do not open the case they get no refund.

Doing it this way you are none the worse off as you have still refunded, but it forces the buyer to place the case formally on their buying account. And because you refunded voluntarily before the case was escalated you do not get a defect. If they are a serial scammer they are unlikely to want to go the formal route.

Of course they could still leave you a NEG if they don't get their refund but if ebay view the messages you may stand a chance of having it removed. But for the same reason as above they may not want to leave NEG FB either.

If you do end up refunding you can leave a follow-up comment on the feedback you left them (if indeed you did) that says something like:

"<UID>: Refund given for item reported lost in post <date>."

Put their UID in so others can see it otherwise its hidden. This at least lets other sellers see in future they could be a serial scammer.

[the_p_nut1975]

Just a scammer geting free stuff... there is more & more of these guys out there.. There are even videos on Youtube to teach people how to scam free stuff on ebay... Forget the honesty system, register or get parcel tracking on your items.

Good Luck geting support from ebay itself... its just not how they roll. 99% of the time they rule in favour of the buyer, regardless of the situation...... Im pretty sure they dont even look at dispute details, just hit the "buyer wins" button and go back to sleep......