Buyer claiming faulty RAM when its incompatible with his motherboard
Summary: fantastic1666 experienced a dispute with a buyer who claimed the RAM sold to them was faulty, but it was actually incompatible with the buyer's motherboard. fantastic1666 initially issued a refund but later sought advice on how to contact eBay support, expressing frustration with the lack of support accessibility and the refund process. Other participants advised that seller protection should be considered before issuing refunds and emphasized the importance of acting within eBay's guidelines. fantastic1666 is waiting for the return of the item and remains concerned about the process and the potential loss incurred.
I have an issue with a refund I had to provide. The buyer claims the RAM I sold them is faulty. But its not even compatible with his motherboard. Here is the QVL list https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B760M-DS3H-AX-rev-1x/support#Support-Memory-Support.
He bought incompatible RAM. Which tells me he didn't even check before purchasing. So its not my fault.
This was his response when I asked him questions.
"I'm not looking at clutching straws. The item is faulty. I want a refund, not spurious advice."
Spurious? He doesn't know what he's talking about. This is his proof that its compatible:
That doesn't prove that the kit I sold him is usable. It just shows that DDR4 can be used. But the kit he bought from me IS NOT COMPATIBLE with his board.
I want to contact ebay customer support but there doesn't seem to be a way to do it. Its like they don't want you to contact them. There is no support agent chat or no phone number either. Searching on google came up with nothing substantial. No matter which link I click it just takes me back to the main help support page and a big blue Contact us button. When I've done that it presents a menu with options. I click through to the selling area and when I click contact in there it takes me back to the main help support page again. Going round and round in circles.
Where is the actual contact page?!?!?!?
I had to give a refund when its not my fault, but the buyer's for not checking the compatibility with his board.
How do I escalate this so that I can talk to an ebay support agent in chat or on the phone?
sandypebbles
·2 weeks agoI am confused what you want to contact eBay about
You have refunded the buyer
As far as eBay is concerned, that is the end of the story and there is nothing to escalate
Contact is at the top of every page (eBay Help) and typing speak to an agent in the chat bot
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks ago · EditedThat is not acceptable. The buyer bought something that isn't compatible with his motherboard. He is incompetent. Therefore why should I have to suffer the loss for his incompetence? I'm very anxious and stressed right now. All caused by that buyer.
ashtodd
·1 week agoLike all businesses that deal with the public there will be a proportion of customers who are dishonest/ignorant/arrogant etc. It's a cost of doing business, and if it stresses you that much it would be better to walk away from it. Life is too short.
springyzone
·2 weeks agoYou're probably right in that it is a case of a buyer purchasing the incorrect product, but did you manage to get your item back again?
Usually from what I have read, sellers can issue a postage label for it to be returned.
I hope you did get it back as that at least would cut down your losses a bit.
Apart from that, e-purchasing's link might help.
In the help link, you used to be able to get onto chat, which was basically typing back and forth. It was with AI, so not ideal I know, but you could escalate it to a human by eventually saying no, it has not solved my problem, something like that. I haven't used it in a while but from what I have read, that option is still there. Good luck.
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoI'm waiting for the item to be returned.
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoAbout the AI. I specifically asked to talk to real person. But I still think it was AI. Lots of words were misspelled and grammatical errors too. So I don't think it was a real person. Because the AI star icon was still there instead of the person's name.
e_purchasing
·2 weeks agoYou can report the buyer
https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/report-issue-buyer?id=4084&st=3&pos=2&query=Report%20an%20issue%20with%20a%20buyer&intent=report%20buyer&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1263
Choosing option Misused Returns > Disagree with reason
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoThere is no such option. These are the only two options:
The buyer demanded something that wasn't offered in the original listing
and
The buyer messaged me or retracted their bid with no intention of buying the item
gutterpunkz05
·2 weeks agoThe time to dispute liability, was before accepting a return or issuing a refund. As you state you have allready issued a refund, there is no further action available to you.
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoSo what is the point of seller protection if they won't do anything after a refund is issued? Then the entire system is flawed.
sandypebbles
·2 weeks agoNot aware of seller protection on eBay (not in the 'real world' anyway)
Even if there were, as said, you needed to act on that prior to issuing the refund
Yes, it is mighty flawed , flawed to hell
I doubt you would get much argument at all from most members here
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks ago · EditedThere is seller protection. Support mentioned it when I talked to them last night.
And if there isn't and the seller be damned with no recourse at all then the entirety of eBay is a scam.
hustlenbustleau
·2 weeks agoWhat are you talking about?
You don't have to issue the refund until the item is return which is proven with the tracked label the buyer sends back. If you issue the refund before receiving it backs that completely on you.
Buyers get things wrong and Australian Consumer Law protects them, regardless of what Ebay think, if the buyer wants to take the ram stick and kick it across their yard then say its faulty and send it back they can do so. Its down to you as the seller to ensure your product was advertised how it was and fully working before sending it and giving it the same courtesy after recieving it back. Unfortunately this is the name of the game. Although these kinds of buyers come around once every 6 months for most sellers (Niche Specific). I'd say 9/10 I see sellers gripe about buyers its more out of incompetence then genuine malicious intent.
You can hate Ebay all you like, at the end of the day if you dont want to sell here. Dont. Theres plenty of other platforms to fleece your goods.
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoHow do I stop the refund?
gutterpunkz05
·2 weeks agoyou can't stop a refund, once you authorize a refund that is it. Yes seller protection exists, but I don't know if it stil applies after you have allready issued a refund, that is normally the end of it.
Have you issued the refund before the item is returned, normally you wait until you have the item back.
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoWell I didn't know how it works. I've never had to return an item before. It said on my selling page that I must provide a refund for good customer service. So I did. Only after did I realise what you are supposed to do.
Guess all I can do now is wait for the item to come back.
What happens if it takes longer for the item to come back before providing a refund? Will ebay just take it out of my bank account?
gutterpunkz05
·2 weeks agoHi there, was the buyer issued with a return post label, with a requirement to post the item by a specified date, or have you refunded the buyer without a need for the item to be returned.
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoI don't use ebay shipping labels. I set a flat rate.
I refunded the buyer. The item has to be returned. He told me he sent it today by express post. I asked him for a tracking number which I'm yet to receive from him.
gutterpunkz05
·2 weeks agoYou should be responsible for the return postage.
You should have been given a set timeframe to supply the buyer with a shipping label, including tracking, how you obtained that label would be up to you, but failing to supply the label on time means there is no longer a requirement for the item to be returned.
Hopefully your buyer is genuine and returns the item to you.
gutterpunkz05
·2 weeks agojust to add, I did notice last night, that chat was displaying a notice that technical difficulties were being experienced. Live agents are only available during certain hours, just can't recall what knock off time is, I think about 8.00pm
fantastic1666
OP2 weeks agoI can tell when its a bot. Because they use rigid language and make spelling and grammatical errors.
gutterpunkz05
·2 weeks agoSo do ebay CS reps based in India.
*casey*
·2 weeks ago · Edited"I can tell when its a bot. Because they use rigid language and make spelling and grammatical errors"
eBay customer support is based in an overseas call centre.
When the conversation changes from a bot to an agent, the agent will introduce him/her self , give you their name , so you know if you're speaking to an agent.
Since the new recent changes to selling, eBay customer help is now available 24/7
lezned-toycollector
·2 weeks agoAgents are available 24/7. I was actually chatting with an agent around 1:30am yesterday.
Instead of closing down overnight and having to wait until the next day, the wait time to connect to an agent is just longer than during business hours. For example, wait time 1 minute @ 3pm... 7 minutes @ 10:30pm... 17 minutes @ 1:30am