Item return damaged

[jwils2007]

Can anyone please help me, I’m in a tricky situation and eBay are of no help at all.

I sold my saddle on here all well and good, in perfect condition bar one deep scratch on the seat. The buyer messages me a week or two after receiving it claiming the saddle is broken and can not be used. After much back and forth I was forced to accept the return. This was beginning of October. My saddle just arrived to me last night is appalling condition, broken and covered in man made scratches. I messaged the buyer stating this and how I would only offer her 50% refund back as I feel this is fair. However she has escalated it majorly and is refusing, my hands are tied! eBay is refusing to help and siding with the buyer whom is lying about breaking my $1000 saddle. What can I now do legally? I’ve removed all my bank and card details so they cannot automatically refund the buyer which is unfair. Where are my rights as a seller!?

[curraone]

I am sure some helpful person will answer you soon.

In the meantime, I would take as many photos as you can to show the damage, so it can be compared with your original photos in the listing.

[lyndal1838]

What a terrible situation you are in.

I am not much help in your fight for justice but I can warn you that ebay will pursue you to the ends of the earth for the money that will be refunded to the buyer.

If they cannot get it from you they will pay the buyer and send in the debt collectors to get it from you.

[jwils2007]

Yes I’ve got many photos of my item before sale and on return. I’m within a family of lawyers and police officers who would in a heart beat take this case further. That is utter bull**bleep** eBay would do that it is very unfair!

[kopenhagen5]

You agreed to the rules of eBay when you signed up. Icluding that it is ok for eBay to take any money from your accounts if you lose a dispute. They will probably put your PayPal account into the red.

No amount of lawyers and police officers can change the facts.

The pitfalls of selling on eBay.

Personally with such an item I would have offered local pick up only and had the buyer see the item before paying and taking it away.

[gutterpunkz05]

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@jwils2007 wrote:
Yes I’ve got many photos of my item before sale and on return. I’m within a family of lawyers and police officers who would in a heart beat take this case further. That is utter bull**bleep** eBay would do that it is very unfair!

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Maybe you should have spoken to your family of lawyers and police officers, before trying to circumvent ebays recovery options.  As

Lyndal and Kopes have said, if you can not win the case, you have agreed to ebays terms and will be held accountable for any refund to the buyer, note you will also be responsible for any additional  charges incurred in the debt recovery process.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

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@jwils2007 wrote:
Yes I’ve got many photos of my item before sale and on return. I’m within a family of lawyers and police officers who would in a heart beat take this case further. That is utter bull**bleep** eBay would do that it is very unfair!

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I'll respond to the bolded bit in a moment, but if you actually want to fight eBay on this, just know it will be difficult, frustrating and the odds are not in your favour. But, your first port of call is an attempt to convince eBay that the buyer is not eligible for a refund under eBay's own T&Cs for buyer protection eligibility, which require buyers to return items in the same condition as received. In order to be successful with that, you would need to be able to show someone from eBay that the saddles are one and the same, but it was sent in condition A, then received back in condition B.

That will not be easy, since eBay's default position is "well, we can't know what it was like when you / the buyer sent it", and in the face of not knowing, they will let the buyer's claim stand. 

You will likely have to fight eBay every step of the way in this situation, unfortunately, plus have fairly indisputable evidence (in eBay's eyes) against the buyer, and then be lucky enough to speak to a rep who understands and agrees, and then actually be granted a decision in your favour.  (Usually if this happens, it happens on appeal, meaning the buyer is granted a refund first, and that means eBay has a vested interest in not agreeing with you, since it means they have to pay you back, if funds were debited, or that they pay the buyer out of their own pocket, so it really can be like pulling the most stubborn of teeth.

To be honest it sounds like said family would be in a better position to advise you of your options from this point on, be that advising what is best to communicate to ebay, or how to respond to any debt collection requests that arise. Or even pursuing the buyer for recompense, since they would be the one who is (allegedly) committing a fraudulent act, even though it was facilitated by eBay.

[jwils2007]

Thankyou very much! Yes I’ve been having a lot of difficulty trying to contact a ‘real person’ from eBay. I have got put into more than 10 different offshore people over this it’s just crazy. I’m just annoyed I was told they could step in for the 50% refund for when the buyer doesn’t accept and now they’ve done a 180 and are saying it has to be mutually agreed. 🤦🏽‍♀️

[designers*n*more]

Have a look at the section on Fraudulent Claims

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-pol...

[justkidzbiz]

If eBay have sided with the buyer, tell them that THEIR own policy states item must be returned in the same condition as it was received. Point out your pictures and show pictures of the returned damaged saddle.  If they still refuse to assist, ask them why they have this policy when they don't follow it.  It works both ways. They don't see what you send to a buyer, but then they don't see what a buyer sends back to a seller so how can they side with a buyer if the returned item is not what was sent.

i had an issue where I sold a pair of Boss jeans.  After buyer received them lodge a dispute stating not as described, wrong size.  Sent me a pic. Thought it odd that a pair of jeans would have 2 different sizes on them, especially Hugo Boss. Anyway had to accept the return. When I received the parcel the jeans were a TOTALLY DIFFERENT pair.  Mine were orange label in new condition, returned were red label in well used condition and different size.   Pointed this out to the buyer and response merely "sorry my bad" but refused to close the dispute.  To that point I contacted eBay several times until they were willing to see my side and as a "gesture of good faith" refunded my money which was around $120.  So keep fighting eBay until they return your money. Request a supervisor view the case and don't let take no for answer!