Advice please - re return of counterfeit items

[manchester_shoppe]

I have received an order for 10 x 3kg express post satchels. They are definitely 100% counterfeit.

I didn't think that such an item could be counterfeited but after researching on google, I am surprised at how easy it is to do. Even found my seller's name mentioned in a whirlpool forum about fake satchels for sale on ebay.

The seller pops up every so often on ebay. There are a couple of mentions in his feedback about his satchels being dodgy.

I have opened a case with Ebay "Doesn't seem authentic". Have until 13/7 to return. Seller has accepted my return but Ebay has advised that he can't supply a return label and I need to contact him to arrange a return.  I refuse to pay for the return.   I would prefer to destroy them.

I lodged an enquiry online with Auspost last night.  Would I be wasting my time taking them to the local P.O. to have them authenticated?

Anyone have any ideas?

T.I.A.

Susan

[lyndal1838]

If you are going to claim they are counterfeit you will need to have them authenticated (or not) by a third party...written on letterhead paper.  Australia Post would the the logical people to issue the letter.

If you upload this to the dispute you should not have to return them but should get a full refund.

[papermoon.lady]

In general (even if it doesn't apply to your case) if you are worried about returns opening a PayPal dispute might be better than opening an eBay dispute, as PayPal pays for returns (you do have to activate it though: https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/returns). You might need to really return something in the future.

[manchester_shoppe]

Thanks for the info.

I will open a paypal dispute if I can't get the satchels authenticated before 13/7

[papermoon.lady]

Unfortunately I don't think that if you have already opened an eBay case you can also open a PayPal case, even after the eBay case is closed. 😞

[padi*0409]

mariq. you can open a Paypal case after closing an eBay dispute, but you can't open an eBay case if you've already tried a Paypal case.

[papermoon.lady]

Good to know!

[countessalmirena]

manchester_shoppe, I'd not previously heard of counterfeit express post satchels.

You have two options as you are claiming that these are not authentic:

1. have these authenticated by a third party (in this case, Australia Post representative) as not genuine, OR
2. provide a statutory declaration by yourself.

The third-party authentication is the preferred method. You can alternatively provide a stat dec, but buyers should not resort to a stat dec as an "easy" way of going about this, because making a stat dec is a serious thing. (Making a false statement is punishable by imprisonment.)

Spoiler

Notes in relation to a Commonwealth statutory declaration:

• Note 1: A person who intentionally makes a false statement in a statutory declaration is guilty of an offence, the punishment for which is imprisonment for a term of 4 years—see section 11 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959
• Note 2: Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code applies to all offences against the Statutory Declarations Act 1959—see section 5A of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959.

As per eBay's Money Back Guarantee:

When an item isn't significantly as described

Counterfeit items

If a buyer suspects that an item is counterfeit and there are strong indicators that this is true (for example: third-party authentication, or a statutory declaration by the buyer), we don't require the buyer to return the item to the seller. The buyer agrees to ensure the proper disposal of the item and may not sell it on eBay or elsewhere. We refund the buyer for the full cost of the item and original postage, and the seller reimburses us for the refund.

As soon as you have the authentication or the stat dec, upload these and provide in your claim. Also you may want to contact eBay personally to ensure that a human becomes involved in the dispute process and sights the documentation. eBay's "Have us call you" option is by far the best way to get in touch with eBay. (Emails are useless, for a number of reasons, but primarily because the responses, when they are finally sent, are bot-generated.)

eBay say: We'll call you at the phone number registered to your account, or you can enter a different number.

We’re available from 8am to 10pm AET, 7 days a week.

[gympiegold]

Hello  Countessalmirena,

Thankyou for taking the time to answer my query.

I hadn't heard of counterfeit satchels either (have bought 100's on ebay over the years without a problem) but after researching google, found out how easy it is to do and be almost undetectable by Auspost.

Susan