topic Re: Another SCAM in Selling

Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:19:12 GMT

This one is new to me, although I am sure it would have happened to others. I am hoping for same advise.

I sold two records to a person in Singapore last week.

I got them packed and posted immediately.

I got a message this morning, saying how I advertised two records, but they only got one. And how disappointed they were.

I replied and said that I packed the records my self, and I 100% know that I put both in. And how disappointed I was to hear this.

I have not heard back yet, but boy am I annoyed.

I am honest, and I definitely , no doubt sent the buyer both records.

I believe this is a scam, they want want half their money back. A great way to get cheap records.

Can anyone tell me if they have had a similar experience and what the out come was please?

Thanks in advance

Re: Another SCAM

foxette-in-sox — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:33:36 GMT

Do you have the receipt that has the weight on it ?

Was the package sealed when they received it ?

Re: Another SCAM

shoppingbag* — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:33:13 GMT

Very sorry to hear of your bad experience. It definitely sounds like a scam to me. I will keep my eye out for this one. I think the only way in the future is to film yourself putting both in the parcel and sealing it, as well as take plenty of photos. That is what I will be doing if I am sending more than one item, so thank you for the warning. Sorry I can't be of help as to what to do in this case. Your word against theirs and the buyers always seem to win unfortunately. I would definitely put them on your blocked list and immediately at that before they buy something else from you.

Re: Another SCAM

foxette-in-sox — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:36:21 GMT

Was also going to ask you to look at their feedback left for other sellers to see if they have a habit of

claiming items not received.

Re: Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:38:00 GMT

Do you have the receipt that has the weight on it ?

Was the package sealed when they received it ?

Hi Foxette, yes, I do have the receipt with weight and tracking number.
I asked the buyer if it looked like it had been opened, but there has been no reply so far...

Re: Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:42:57 GMT

Was also going to ask you to look at their feedback left for other sellers to see if they have a habit of
claiming items not received

I just had a look, they only have a FB of 23, it all looks good.
But in FB left, it shows they love to leave negatives!

Re: Another SCAM

foxette-in-sox — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:59:17 GMT

Just my opinion as never had this happen when I was selling, if they open a Paypal or ebay

dispute/claim for item not received, make sure you upload a copy of the receipt with the weight

circled. If you have another receipt handy with the weight on it for 2 records, upload that also so

ebay/Paypal can compare.

Not sure what else to suggest if they wont respond to your message re was parcel tampered with.

Strange question but is there any possibility that the alleged missing record is banned in Singapore ?

Re: Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 22:02:52 GMT

foxette-in-sox , thanks for the advise.
The records were children's nursery rhymes of all things.
I will share the item number, …….am I allowed?

Re: Another SCAM

digital*ghost — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 22:13:49 GMT

@gramophonerecord wrote:

I asked the buyer if it looked like it had been opened, but there has been no reply so far...

There often isn't when you call buyers like this out on their BS. Many buyers (or at least the ones who try it with me) seem to bank on the seller not knowing or remembering for sure what was packed and therefore getting the benefit of the doubt for a refund or replacement. I even had one buyer try it 6 months after they purchased, I was able to shut them down immediately, though, because I get messages like this frequently enough that I ended up photographing every single package with their contents, showing the address as well, and I keep them for up to a year.

My items are small though, so it's easy enough for me to send through the photo and just say it's so they can verify it was definitely packed, and maybe they missed it, to check the packaging again or maybe the area where they opened it, but that's pretty much impossible with something the size of a record, in that if there's two, it'd be pretty hard to miss one (out of curiosity, did they even say which one was supposedly missing? It's not clear if they specified which, and it'd be pretty odd if they didn't). I also advise that everything is weight-checked, and that my remaining stock-count is correct, in that I don't have more left than I should (or would if I hadn't sent them the item(s)).

Most times I never hear back, sometimes I hear back weeks later when the buyer tries to purchase again and finds they're blocked (too bad, I don't deal with people who think it's ok to lie and try to steal from me), and occasionally I hear back shortly after saying they found it after all.

Of course, sometimes things can happen to packages in transit, damage can occur, items may be lost from it, or customs can open them and maybe not re-pack everything correctly, so I usually ask a few questions to determine the liklihood of that before hitting them with the above, just to make as sure as possible whether or not the buyer is on the level, or just another would-be theif - however, of all the messages I've received claiming missing items where my records indicate otherwise, none of them had any credibility whatsoever. I only ever had one buyer push it to a PayPal dispute, and while that didn't quite go as I would have liked, I didn't lose any money owing to the proof I had to show PP. I understand for some sellers, photographing or filming packages and their contents adds an unwanted step, but for me it takes maybe an extra 10 minutes a day, and has saved me quite a lot of money, not to mention angst over whether or not the buyer is telling the truth if I can't remember for sure what I packed (sometimes I do make an error, and my photos will show that too).

Re: Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 05:24:27 GMT

I have an update on this situation.
I got a reply from the buyer.
I will copy and paste the exact message:

"James it does not seem opened but it was taped alot

so investigate and get back to me please. If not I have to feedback to ebay. I hope you understand"

I am thinking that the buyer is saying, do something about it, or I am going to leave feedback.

One thing is for sure, I don't understand!

I have not replied to the buyer as yet. To be honest, I don't know what to put yet.

It's not like me to be stuck for words. But at the moment I am speach less 😞

Re: Another SCAM

digital*ghost — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 05:57:38 GMT

I always like to undermine threats of negs by telling the buyer they can leave whatever feedback they like, as I'm only interested in finding out what happened. It's not guaranteed to work, but it does for me 99% of the time.

Ask for a photo of the packaging with all the tape because if the postal service or customs did that, it's usually apparent.

Re: Another SCAM

melbourneclearance — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 07:04:52 GMT

In cases like this, I usually reply with:

1. I have proof of the weight on Australia Post receipt.

2. Get them to take a photo of the customs declaration you filled in, showing 2 records and weight. This form is still on the package.

3. If the parcel has been damaged by the postal carrier, there will be a tape/note/bag from the postal carrier showing this. Get them to take a photo of this. If they can't prove this then it did not happen.

No. 2 is indisputable, they won't reply to that. They can argue with No.1, but I have great success with No.3 even with international buyers.

Re: Another SCAM

melbourneclearance — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 07:08:35 GMT

And look at it this way, the buyer is a neg giver. You're going to get a neg and you sure won't get your goods back, so you may as well defend your money with all gloves off.

Re: Another SCAM

brerrabbit585 — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 10:27:27 GMT

Feedback extortion isn't allowed so if you have to eventually ring ebay, make sure you get them to read their message. I can't remember but I'm pretty sure they'd remove any neg if they've used it to threaten you. I'd also point out to ebay the buyer's track record. You probably will have to ring them in the end but try the things others have suggested first.

Re: Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 23:20:54 GMT

Thank you to every ones suggestions, I am certainly ready to fight this one out.
I sent the buyer a reply yesterday, asking which record did not arrive. Still no reply yet.
In my next reply I am going to ask for pictures of the packaging and for him to give me the weight.

This might be nothing, but I think this is strange. I got my first message from this guy at 12.52 am on the 24th of Oct. Which makes me think the parcel must have been delivered the day before. Ironically, ebay and the Aust post website shows that it was delivered on Wed, the 24th, which would have been after he messaged with a complaint. This seems fishy to me??

Re: Another SCAM

melbourneclearance — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:58:19 GMT

Time and date on ebay are always a little fishy. Ebay is sometimes using a US timezone, then if you add Singapore and Oz timezones, it may all go crazy. Then sometimes ebay delivers messages hours and days after they were actually sent.

Re: Another SCAM

shoppingbag* — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 02:34:46 GMT

Excellent reply, thank you for all the tips.

Re: Another SCAM

springyzone — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 03:59:48 GMT

I agree with DG on this, I think the buyer is trying it on.

Any taping by a post office usually says that clearly.

It strikes me as odd that the buyer has threatened you with... feedback.

I suspect what they are hoping is that you will be so worried that you'll refund 50% no further questions asked and...flying under the radar because they won't have had to open an official ebay claim of not as described.

I wonder how many times they have tried that before.

I'd go very formal. Not rude, but all the same making it clear you know what you packed and have proof of weight etc and do as melbourne clearance suggests so they know they won't be getting any easy refund.

Re: Another SCAM

clarry100 — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 06:32:25 GMT

When we get these bluffs of a short packed order (which is rare by the way) we counter-bluff when we are 100% certain no error was made.

We say we have a dashcam mounted over our packing table (which we don't) and that records exactly what was packed into which order.

Then say it will take me a day or so to locate the video of that day so I can check to make sure we did not make any errors. That just gives the time to back pedal.

Then give them a few options of where to look... relative opened it, fell out and you didnt notice etc etc. Just feed them anything they could use as an excuse to find it.

If they say send me a copy of the video we just say that will be provided to any authority upon request. But nobody has ever asked this tho.

After this we either never hear any more from them, or they suddnely find it somehow.

Re: Another SCAM

gramophonerecord — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 23:11:22 GMT

It gets interesting.... I sent the buyer a response on Wednesday the 24th at about 3 pm asking for him to tell me the name of the one record that is supposed to have arrived. It is now 10am on the Friday the 26th and there has been no response from the buyer.

I was thinking about his previous response, where he said that the parcel had a lot of tape on it. I am thinking that this is not the parcel I sent him. I only put the needed tape on, nothing over board .

I am only speculating here, but i wonder if the buyer bought more that one lot of records, he opened an order, found only one record and instantly assumed it was what i had sent him. Then the next day, my parcel arrived....

Maybe he isn't replying because he feels silly and is trying to save face.

In any case, I hope that i don't here from him again!