I have a feeling we fell for a scam - buyer claiming counterfeit on a genuine very expensive item

[bright_tomato]

I have listed my husband's very expensive phone (it's over $5000 brand new) and finally sold it at best offer for only $1300, much less than what we were hoping to get. But we really needed the money. I took all precautions - took very detailed photos, sent the buyer the IMEI number  and tracking number, insured the phone for $1300 when posted. She received the phone and literally the next day I receive a message that she believes the phone to be a copy or a fake. I am in a state of shock, I am not a retailer, I only sell my own second-hand goods and this phone was a gift from a close friend of my husband's. There is absolutely no chance that it is fake or a copy. She didn't even investigate,  i suggested that she takes the phone to a TAG store to check and she completely ignored that. I have a feeling this is a scam artist who is now requesting a return for refund and will send us back a fake phone to scam us.

My questions is, does anyone has any experience with what kind of process ebay/pay pal follows when a buyer claims the item to be fake? I listed the item with "no returns accepted" condition so I am also wondering - am I able to reject her return request?

[thecatspjs]

---

@kopenhagen5 wrote:

BT, you are winning admiration and have more support from ebayers all around Australia than you realize.

Just take it one step at a time and you will probably have a good story to tell in time to come. 

---

Good on ya Kopes

OP as Kopes has posted, there are sooooo many other eBayers that are behind you in spirit in this situation.

It is not over by a long shot, a very long shot indeed. 

[thecatspjs]

---

@am*3 wrote:

---

You say you are losing your money, as it was a gift, that isn't exactly accurate.

---

What on earth is wrong with you to post this judgemental carpy carp on the trading boards ??

Of course it is accurate.  It was an asset of value belonging to the OP.

[thecatspjs]

---

@bright_tomato wrote:

Yes, haven't called Pay Pal yet, thought I need to wait until the dispute is opened. Wouldn't they tell me to wait until that happens?

---

Giving Paypal a heads up that you are dealing with a scammer is probably wise.  I would certainly ring them if in your shoes.

One can never know what they do behind the scenes in terms of trust and safety. This buyer may have other suspicious activity on their account - who knows.

I would ask them to make a note on the transaction that you rang just so you can have confidence it is on the record.

[cq_tech]

---

@bright_tomato wrote:

Yes, haven't called Pay Pal yet, thought I need to wait until the dispute is opened. Wouldn't they tell me to wait until that happens?

---

Not necessarily. I'd have already been on the phone to Paypal and explained the situation with them so they know exactly what to expect when the buyer lodges his claim, and as you already have photographs of the phone as you sent it, plus the images of the phone he claims to have received, if you can manage to obtain the highly relevant information such as your phone's IEMI number, it might even be a good move to pre-empt him and lodge your own claim first.

I don't even know if it's possible for a seller to lodge a SNAD claim on behalf of the buyer, but if so it might throw his prearranged plans into turmoil and stuff him up big time. If that can't be done but you have the necessary information, it might also spoil his plans if you were to immediately escalate the claim the moment he lodges it. I'd be discussing this possibility with Paypal however.

I've intentionally refrained from commenting before now because quite clearly you already have enough on your plate, but having experienced a scam situation with a Chinese seller who sent me a cheap silk scarf instead of an expensive mobile phone, purely so he could obtain a legitimate tracking number, I found it was to my advantage to have relayed my suspicions to Paypal and kept them fully apprised of the situation long before the dodgy package arrived, as everything had been sequentially recorded on my file, and as a result my refund was actioned virtually immediately.

I'm very sorry this has happened to you and I know it's easy to say, but please try not to let the situation depress you or ruin your normal daily life. Ultimately it's only money (albeit a great deal of it) but there's still a very good chance that everything will eventually be resolved to your satisfaction but do keep Paypal in the loop as much as possible.

BTW, the IEMI number should normally appear somewhere on the outside of your phone's box, so it might be worth closely studying all of the photographs that you have of phone's packaging.

[2011.narelle]

Maybe i missed it in previous posts,but what is the buyers's fb left for others like? Anything of interest?

If they haven't filed a claim yet then maybe they have used up their Buyer Protection from too many PP claims.

Many buyers in the U.S seem to bluff a refund/partial with the seller without a dispute when they know they will not get PP suport due to excess claims.

[thecatspjs]

Last feedback prior to the OPs negative, was a negative.

Otherwise ok - but now that eBay hides the items purchased by the OP it is difficult to gauge what goods and who were the sellers that the positive feedback was left for.

Love your eBay survivor analogy Narelle... too true....unfortunately

[2011.narelle]

LOL cats that why i loves me a good blindside,seller should be giving some hints perhaps.I don't like hidden sneaky stuff by buyers thus i left dates with selling fb & would give my immunity idol to a seller who gives good reply with ID to fb from buyer

[clarry100]

You certainly have my moral support in all this for what it's worth, and from what I read on here also the majority of posters as well.

So don't give up on it. People across Aust are supporting you here.

Even if PayPal find against you and award in favour of the buyer I believe there are other avenues open to you afterwards.

One I have used before is the small claims court where a real estate agent treated us unfairly in regards to refund of some of our bond money some years ago now. We took it to small claims court and won the case. It is (or was then) a free service and all it takes is your time to prepare a case and present it to a judge on the day. You don't need to employ a lawyer. They look at the evidence and make a judgement and the decision is final and legally binding on both parties with no recourse for appeal.

I think you have enough compelling evidence to mount a pretty good case. A stat dec from your husband (or anyone else) who knows/saw that you packed and sent the genuine phone would be accepted as pretty clear evidence you did the right thing. Supported by any other evidence you have already seen/gathered along the way that points towards a scam by the buyer. You would not be out to prove a scam case against the buyer, more to show that you did the right thing and that PayPal have awared unfairly against you.

In such a claim I would be inclined to include an amount (say $500) for the stress and time cost this whole saga has brought onto yourself and family. 

PayPal (or their rep) would be notified to appear in court to present their case. Of course, if they did not appear then I'm pretty sure it would be a hands-down win for you. You may even find that they would capitulate once they knew of the case against them and reverse their original decision out of court. Then you can revoke the case.

You may even have a win if you notify them of your intentions up front once this buyer scammer opens a formal claim against you.

So hang in there. It's far from lost just yet. I'm feeling your stress in this too and will try to help with thoughts/angles of my own.

[i-once-was-bump]

You will have to forgive my ignorance but why can't the buyer start a dispute until the 8th January?

[clarry100]

I think its got to do with the buyer opening up a formal query with the seller and then there is a certain amount of time after that to give the seller time to respond and resolve the issue before they can escalate to a case and ask ebay/paypal to step in. From there it can be further escalated to a formal paypal claim. Due process I guess puts certain timeframes on things.