Buyer accepted delivery and got ebay to provide a refund

[godz609]

Hi all

Help! I am looking for some advice as a private seller, below is a time of events...

Late March 2020 - I sold an item to uk buyer and economy air was chosen.
1 April- item shipped and was informed by auspost of delays, I passed that message on.
3 April - auspost announced int. economy air delayed/de-prioritised until further noticed
Early May - uk buyer complains that the tracking status has not been updated for month and said he doesn’t want to wait, ask ebay to step in for a refund. I tried to explain to them the impact of COVID-19 and the delays but assured him I had sent it with the correct details but ignored and ebay ruled in the buyers favour
9 May - item delivered per tracking
12 May - I ask ebay to reverse the refund that was taken from me. Ebay informed me that the buyer said the item was not received even though per auspost/uk Royal Mail the item been delivered.

The buyer now won’t return my messages and I am out of pocket my item, shipping and fees totalling $400AUD

Ebay asked me to provide them with proof of postage which I did, receipt and custom form but was told it was not acceptable given the custom form was handwritten? Ebay have now stepped back.

I am just really disappointed in the outcome and wondering if anyone have any good advice I can resolve this?

Thanks in advance.

[rocket2retro]

Every seller finds their own solution. It may be higher prices on all items to cover the ocassional loss. Personally I no longer sell overseas as I've found it too problematic. I also do not sell anything on eBay at I price that I can't afford to lose.

[godz609]

I agree that the risk in selling to overseas is too risky right now and would not recommend it, you would hope the platform would provide support but from my experience there isn’t one international policy that all of ebay follow therefore it’s a nightmare if there are conflicts.

[tazzieterror]

Nice work, Kevin - I'm glad to hear you got a positive result! Did you hear anything back from the buyer at all during this?

And did eBay describe the refund as a "courtesy"? They sometimes do that in situations where they don't want to upset the buyer or seller, and so eBay wears the cost of setting things right.

Thanks for posting back here with your outcome.

[tazzieterror]

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@godz609 wrote:
...but from my experience there isn’t one international policy that all of ebay follow therefore it’s a nightmare if there are conflicts.

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It's unrealistic to expect that there would be given we're talking different countries with different laws, regulations, customs, management structures etc.

[godz609]

cheers for the support.

No i did not hear anything back from the buyer, i do not think i will, he has been unreasonable and a trouble maker from the start and i initially accepted that i have been cheated so i am fine if he doesnt respond.

and no again, eBay did not make any comments to the payment, i am fine with that as long as the desired outcome was achieved even tho it caused unnecessary stress.

[11dustyattic]

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@godz609 wrote:
I have since read so many cases where it’s in the buyer favour, I am contemplating whether it is worth my time and effort to find a solution... how do you guys accept this and continue to sell?

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I'll answer this. Every single transaction is a risk. There is so much that I want to sell but won't here, more expensive items, jewellery etc. It's a crime when we get robbed when we have done nothing wrong. Wave your money goodbye. You won't see it again. They never reverse a case, and the buyer always wins unless they forget to respond to a case or something. I'm just selling higher risk stuff pick up only. Even that's not fool proof but not as risky

[11dustyattic]

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@godz609 wrote:

Hi all,

Great news. out of the blue eBay UK refunded me the full amount. After i saw everyone's repies (thankyou) i did the following, i do not know which one spurred the refund but possibly a combination of them did the job

• continued to reply to UK customer service, in total i probably emailed 10-12 explaining and re-explaining my situation;
• I logged a case with the Australia customer service askign for support;
• I repeated tried to contact the buyer to resolve the matter;
• I posted on this community and also on a Facebook eBay seller community group.

I hope this helps you, there is also a eBayer youtuber that offered insight to their experience and ways of dealing with it, since i posted my experience i have heard worst cases so this seem to be a systemic eBay issue and hopefully eBay looks at these issues seriously and re-consider their compliaint processes more appropriately.

If you do want to chat about your experience then feel free to contact me.

Thanks all

Kevin 

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Exposure on facebook and youtube sometimes makes them do the right thing to save face. Good result for you but that is not standard, just so other sellers know, you were lucky to get your money back and following standard procedure here would not have achieved the same result. I recently lost $200 dollars and I'm still dirty about that, particularly since the scammer has since done it again to others, almost every purchase would be theft, and they continue to support that. Buyer's money back guarantee is an open invitation to thieves and they need to stop it

[cremo1]

Why should it be this hard?
The seller has proof of delivery.. Why should the seller lose?

I have a few items up at moment but after that - wont sell here ever again

[11dustyattic]

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@cremo1 wrote:

Why should it be this hard?
The seller has proof of delivery.. Why should the seller lose?

I have a few items up at moment but after that - wont sell here ever again

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It shouldn't be (this hard)

Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets another person in the commission of a crime. It exists in a number of different countries and generally allows a court to pronounce someone guilty for aiding and abetting in a crime even if they are not the principal offender

How dare they use our money to aid and abet. They conceal the history of the scammers for a very good reason. 

[godz609]

agree it shouldnt be that hard. you should see the responses i received from eBay customer service, i have re-explain the situation and the CS personel will take a snippet and use that as a reason for the decline... similar to you, i have 2 more items in transition (fingers crossed nothin happens) then after i will not sell on eBay until things change...