I think I am being scammed, please help.

[ibeyondwu]

I listed a watch on eBay for $1500, a buyer with 0 feedback tried to approach me for the purchase, after talking to him, I feel the buyer is reasonable and sold my watch to him. But I am quite careful when doing business with people with 0 feedback. The buyer is from the US, before the item arrived, I sent him a message asking him to check the delivery while the postman is there, if there is any issue get back to me straight away. Turns out he was not home while the postman was delivering the item, and he asked the postman to left the watch at reception.

I have just been contacted by the buyer told me the watch has issues that not been described in my advertisement, and the watch is not functioning. I have checked the watch before I post it out, I know and love watches if I am not in financial difficulty, I would not put it on sale. I am confident the watch is in great condition, without any issues.

So I feel like what I have been worried has come true, this buyer is trying to scam me. I never have this kind experience, but heard eBay always on the buyer side, some buyer even sent back empty box, papers for the refund, return with a different watch, or take the movement out of the watch, and return the case back. 

Please tell me what should I do, how should I handle this, I did purchase the insurance for the shipping if the buyer can prove the watch is damaged on arrival, can I claim the insurance?

Should I accept the return? If I do I will lose 200 for the postage, and I don't know what I will receive.

I can relay on eBay against this kind of scam from 0 feedback buyer?

[ibeyondwu]

hi, it is an automatic watch, if don't wind or ware, it would not keep time, beside the watch does not have a second hand, the small hand on 12 is the timer hand

[ibeyondwu]

This buyer is an expert scammer, was very friendly before the item arrived, but since the watch arrived, I received a message from him saying' I will examine the watch in detail, and will let you know' and very calmly tell me there are issues with the watch, and not in a hurry to show me any photos. a normal person can't wait to show the problem if just drop 1500 on a watch. It will be a hard one for me, don't think he will settle for a partial refund.
If I escalate the case to eBay, how will they help?

[davewil1964]

DO NOT ESCALATE!!!!

eBay will automatically find in favour of the buyer and he will get his money back (from you) and get to keep the watch.

If the buyer won't show you pics, insist on a return before refund. You will be out postage both ways, but that is better than losing the lot.

As you've probably already guessed, selling valuable items to overseas buyers is not a good idea. Especially if they have no feedback.

[kopenhagen5]

You need to get the watch back before refunding.

And as dave said DON'T escalate, it is the same as saying - yes eBay please close in the buyer's favour.

[ibeyondwu]

What s the process of escalate? Why the buyer can keep the both money and watch, shoulnt ebay at least ask the buyer return the watch for the refund?

[padi*0409]

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@ibeyondwu wrote:
What s the process of escalate? Why the buyer can keep the both money and watch, shoulnt ebay at least ask the buyer return the watch for the refund?

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The dispute process is very heavily weighted in the buyer's favour, and if you as a seller escalate they invariably find in favour of the buyer and you'll lose everything.

If however you offer to give a full refund after the return of the watch, then at least you only lose the postage part.

[ibeyondwu]

"they invariably find in favour of the buyer and you'll lose everything."

If this happens will eBay official notify the buyer to keep the watch and will refund him?

I have called eBay, explained my concern, they told me if the buyer opens a case against me, escalate to them, they are on my side.

If the end of the day the decision is in favour of the buyer, why eBay has the authority to let him keep my watch without paying, it is not a counterfeit. 

[padi*0409]

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@ibeyondwu wrote:

If this happens will eBay official notify the buyer to keep the watch and will refund him?

I have called eBay, explained my concern, they told me if the buyer opens a case against me, escalate to them, they are on my side.

If the end of the day the decision is in favour of the buyer, why eBay has the authority to let him keep my watch without paying, it is not a counterfeit. 

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Multiple members here have told you NOT to escalate yourself otherwise (despite what the CS reps have told you) you will run the risk of losing both the money and the watch.

When the buyer escalates the dispute your best choice is to agree to give a refund AFTER the watch has been returned to you.

[clarry100]

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@ibeyondwu wrote:

"they invariably find in favour of the buyer and you'll lose everything."

If this happens will eBay official notify the buyer to keep the watch and will refund him?

I have called eBay, explained my concern, they told me if the buyer opens a case against me, escalate to them, they are on my side.

If the end of the day the decision is in favour of the buyer, why eBay has the authority to let him keep my watch without paying, it is not a counterfeit. 

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They do almost always find in favour of the buyer if the seller escalates the case. Many such results have been posted on these boards.

So as advised above, despite what ONE CSR told you, do not escalate this case yourself. 99% you will lose, as the case passes to the escalations team who will have a different view to the monkeys on the phone.

As I said above your only real option now is to accept the return and ONLY refund if/when you get back your item.

If the buyer is scamming and really wants to keep it for free then they are likely to return something different to what you sent just to get the money back. If/when you receive it back you need to have a credible independent witness with you when you open the package who would be able to recognise that what was in the package was not what you sent and be willing to sign a stat dec stating what they saw when it was opened. And take some video of the opening as well.

It might sound like a whole lot of rigmarole but in such cases you need to do what you can to protect yourself and your goods.

The fact that you accept the return case means that ebay will not force you to refund until return tracking shows you have it/something back. Then if its not what you sent out you can argue the case with ebay on the evidence you have at that time.

If the buyer thinks its too hard they might give up and just not return anything. In which case the return case will time out and will eventually be found in your favour. So by accepting the return you put the ball back into their court to do something. At the moment it is in your court.

[springyzone]

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@ibeyondwu wrote:

"they invariably find in favour of the buyer and you'll lose everything."

If this happens will eBay official notify the buyer to keep the watch and will refund him?

I have called eBay, explained my concern, they told me if the buyer opens a case against me, escalate to them, they are on my side.

If the end of the day the decision is in favour of the buyer, why eBay has the authority to let him keep my watch without paying, it is not a counterfeit. 

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I think you are finding it hard to believe the advice in here because when you rang ebay, they said they were on your side.

Also, you are focusing on the loss of money in postage costs if you do accept a return. You're hoping for a result where you won't lose any money and you think you might get that if you follow ebay's advice.

So who to believe, the people in here or ebay itself?

The problem is if you escalate, you won't be dealing with the same ebay people. Not at all. It will be a different department and from what I have read, sometimes the results are automated. In other words, computer generated in the buyer's favour.

I would say even if you get a human looking at it, they are likely to decide in the buyer's favour when it comes to the report of a watch not working properly.

Ebay usually refunds the buyer. No, I don't think they just tell the buyer he can keep the watch but if they refund the buyer automatically, before that buyer has posted it back, do you think a scammer is going to return it if he doesn't have to? Of course not. 

Scammers are always nice before they scam you.

No one here can say exactly what will happen with your case but what they are saying is if you escalate, don't believe that what one ebay person said on the phone is what the next ebay person will follow. You are more likely to lose the case and the buyer keeps the watch and gets a refund. You will probably lose it all.

Or you can opt for a refund on return of the watch. You will definitely be out of pocket postage costs but will at least have the watch.