FAKE product received, want to destroy it instead of return

[sk_121]

Bought a fake Logitech mouse from a dodgy seller, initiated the refund process.

I understand that currently I'll have to return the item to the seller in order to get my refund.

However I don't want to send the item back to the seller for someone to fall victim to it again.

Will ebay be alright with me destroying the item (cutting the mouse cord), and issue the refund upon evidence of that destroyed mouse?

[gutterpunkz05]

Woe, wonders will never cease,  CS are good at dribling in ears, but they will not tell you of any action taken or pending as they hide behind privacy legislation for a reason.

Yes you got a goodwill payment, yes the sale is still valid, yes the seller has been paid, and they  do not have to pay for a refund, and have a deliberately destroyed item returned.

How much time have you wasted, when you could have simply contacted logitech for assistance and or  certification if the item was fake.  Or simply returned the item undamaged for a full refund as seller offers  30 day returns no questions asked,

And I stand by my original assessment of you as a buyer

[sk_121]

hey, you are the person who watched a youtube video I did not expect anyone else to watch, and went as far as to check how the logitech G-hub software work to 'prove' your point that somehow, I must have gotten a genuine item.

Use Occam's razor next time.

''And I stand by my original assessment of you as a buyer''

Thanks, that wounds me deeply. 'Ouch'
There, you hurt me, you happy?

Maybe next time, don't go into a post first thing, and make assumption of the original poster based on YOUR OWN previous experience with buyers, then project those onto a single person who has not interacted with you at all prior to you initiating the conflict.
Then maybe you wouldn't need to waste time proving something that should not matter to you that deeply at all.

[gutterpunkz05]

By the way, did you put your original question to CS, and what was there response?

[sk_121]

They said I don't need to return it.

So pretty much I can treat it the same as your favorite phrase.

''Rubbish''

[gutterpunkz05]

So did you or did you not put your original question to  CS

Obviously as they have made a goodwill payment, there is no loger a need to return it,

destroyed or otherwise.

Do you really think it is right to deliberately damage an  item, send it back and expect a refund.  As that was theintent of your original question

[sk_121]

here's what chatgpt says after posting my original post, and your post 44 into it, and asking the following question:

''Do you really think it is right to deliberately damage an item, send it back and expect a refund'' was this insinuated by the original poster called sk?

~

No, it does not appear that sk_121 insinuated they intended to damage the item, send it back, and then expect a refund. Instead, the original post by sk_121 reflects a concern about preventing the counterfeit item from re-entering the market and potentially harming other buyers.

The key points from sk_121’s original post are:

1. Concern for Others: They did not want the fake item to return to the seller and potentially victimize someone else.
2. Seeking eBay’s Approval: They explicitly asked whether eBay would allow them to destroy the item (e.g., cutting the mouse cord) and still process the refund.
3. Responsibility: They sought clarification and wanted to ensure their actions aligned with eBay's policies.

It seems gutterpunkz05 may have misinterpreted or exaggerated sk_121’s intentions. The original post doesn’t suggest an intent to maliciously damage the item and send it back; it was more about finding a way to resolve the issue responsibly while protecting future buyers.


~

i am happy to give you a non-robot opinion, if it matters to you.

''deliberately damage an item, send it back and expect a refund.''

This is not what I said. In fact I explicitly stated I DO NOT want to send it back.

Damaging the item is to prove to ebay that i am not trying to get a free item off of them or the seller, not an act of vengeance or the like, that another poster called sandy has mistakenly interpreted.

Q: Should I expect a refund if I damage an item and send it back?
Well the obvious answer is no, and I understood it, in fact I was okay with eating the financial loss if it means no one else gets a resold fake product.

But that's not the original question I asked either, is it?

Q: What was the intent of your original question.
I personally replied to you already regarding that. It's to get the attention of a human CSR to help resolve the issue. In my eyes it is partially resolved, and I've done what I could, so the rest is up to ebay.
If ebay is happy with me sending the mouse to them or Logitech to verify it, then I am happy to do that as well.

Drink some water, the hot day has gotten to you. Maybe don't be unpleasant in your first interaction with others in the future, and just admit that you could be wrong some times.
Don't accuse others based on a limited view of the world, do better.

[springyzone · Accepted solution]

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@sk_121 wrote:

Latest update:

Got a phone call from ebay

Getting a refund from ebay directly, without needing to send the item directly back to the seller
(digression: I don't think the return address is even the seller's address; The item arrived from China instead of via Australia domestic Post from W.A., where they claimed to be from;
& their name (on the return envelope) happens to be a terrorist's name when you google it as well, so that seems fake;
I assume a seller from China or elsewhere just used an Australian address where they don't live, to masqurade as an Australian buyer.

that's partially why I didn't want to send it back; it's gonna bother an extra person living at the actual address, who's probably got nothing to do with this)
So that's the reason I made this post. To get the attention of an actual human ebay representative that could help resolve the issues. The other 2 channels just gets automated responses, at least initially (i.e. initiating a refund, and reporting seller's account).

(if you search fake items post on the forum, you'll see that ebay generally sends an actual person to help resolve similar posts)

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I am glad ebay refunded you. I think the fact they did so, and probably out of their own coffers, pretty much indicates they had some doubts about this particular sale or this particular seller.

I can also well believe that if you asked what was going to happen to the seller that a rep would reply that they deal with that aspect, although  they will definitely not get back to you to let you know exactly how they deal with it.

As I suspected, this sounds like it was a Chinese seller. The Australian address may be a warehouse?

If you see in an ad that an item is located in W.A, that does not actually mean the seller is located there. It is a common mistake new buyers make. You can check out buyer location, though you'll never see it in the original ad. You'll need to go to feedback or a general page where you'll see a tab that says 'About'. Click on that and it will show you where the seller is located.

Ebay could do a lot more to make it transparent but I doubt they ever will because Amazon doesn't either.

I understood what you meant when you put buyer instead of seller. It happens a lot, common mistake, I have done it myself. It is interesting that you got a call from ebay. I think there must be some monitoring of these boards but maybe the moderators only refer certain categories of posts on to ebay or maybe there are some key words that get auromatically flagged, I have no idea. But some  posters occasionally report what you have, that they were contacted after posting here.

[countessalmirena]

OP, why on earth - why, why would you use ChatGPT to analyse human intentions in posts on a forum????

I cannot take this entire refund scenario seriously as a result. It may be as you’ve posted; it may be some elaborate AI-generated farce.

[padi*0409]

Exactly my thoughts as well Countess, add to that the possibility of the OP leaving themself open to phishing, malware or God forbid if that system has another security breach like they did last year where personal details of users including first and last names, email addresses and personal addresses as well as partial banking details were accessed.

Horrifying possibilities.................."searches for Abacus and Trebuchet"..............

[sk_121]

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@springyzone wrote:

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I am glad ebay refunded you. I think the fact they did so, and probably out of their own coffers, pretty much indicates they had some doubts about this particular sale or this particular seller.

I can also well believe that if you asked what was going to happen to the seller that a rep would reply that they deal with that aspect, although  they will definitely not get back to you to let you know exactly how they deal with it.

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yah, don't really expect Ebay to do the last bit. I do hope the seller's fund get frozen at some point, though I'd have no way of knowing if that has happened or would happen.

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@springyzone wrote:

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As I suspected, this sounds like it was a Chinese seller. The Australian address may be a warehouse?

If you see in an ad that an item is located in W.A, that does not actually mean the seller is located there. It is a common mistake new buyers make. You can check out buyer location, though you'll never see it in the original ad. You'll need to go to feedback or a general page where you'll see a tab that says 'About'. Click on that and it will show you where the seller is located.

Ebay could do a lot more to make it transparent but I doubt they ever will because Amazon doesn't either.

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It did appear to be dropship-from-China to me. The Australian return address is a residential area rather than a warehouse when googled.
Combined with the seemingly google-able fake name, I highly doubt the actual seller lived there.

From what I read, and if i recall correctly, it appears dropshipping with non-previously-purchased stock using a third-party vendor say, Aliexpress, is explicitly disallowed by ebay.

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@springyzone wrote:

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I understood what you meant when you put buyer instead of seller. It happens a lot, common mistake, I have done it myself. It is interesting that you got a call from ebay. I think there must be some monitoring of these boards but maybe the moderators only refer certain categories of posts on to ebay or maybe there are some key words that get auromatically flagged, I have no idea. But some  posters occasionally report what you have, that they were contacted after posting here.

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both actual human moderators & automatic flagging seems plausible (& probably they are both used, to some extent)
it'd be a no brainer to flag topics with keywords like 'fake' or 'counterfeit' considering ebay wouldn't want to suffer damage to their reputation/brand.

The last bit is what I noticed, so it seemed to be that posting here would get me the fastest response, instead of relying solely on the other 2 channels (slow refund process via 'item received not the same as described' & 'report the seller').