Too easy to scam sellers as a buyer

[3415len]

So here it is. The absolute 100% proof that eBay don't give a flick about their sellers.

We have been on eBay for many years and have over 10,000+ positive feedback. We are Australian based and we sell engineering tools all over the world.

In September we were scammed by a guy in the UK.

He bought an item that consisted of two parts. Part 1 weigh's 300 grams, part 2 weigh's 400 grams, totaling 700 grams . We sent the item by Australia Post's Registered International service.

We supplied the customer a tracking number, and he emailed us asking where his product was. We told him to use his tracking number and he said they tried to deliver to his company at 1:10am and said he would sort it out.

8 business day's later, he messages us again saying he didn't get Part B of his item.

We found it a bit odd he took this long to tell us, and we quickly assured him we would get to the bottom of this. He told us the parcel had 0 signs of being tampered with.

Upon checking our statement from Australia post, we found that Australia Post weighed the parcel and declared it 700 grams. This means when the parcel left our hands and was received by Australia Post, the article included both Part A & Part B, otherwise the parcel would of weighed less than 700 grams.

The buyer wanted a full refund for his purchase, and when we told him NO and provided document proof of the parcel leaving our hands with both parts inside. He did not accept this and escalated to a claim.

Here's the frustrating thing. He bought the item from OUR AUSTRALIAN eBay shop, yet we had to log in to EBAY UK to sort this out. What kind of rubbish is that. And if we wanted to speak to someone from eBay, it had to be done through the UK. OK that's extremely illogical.

Even after providing the document proof we sent this parcel, he still won the claim.

Currently, we are waiting for the item to arrive in our hands, as he is sending PART A back to us.When the item gets back in our hands, he will be issued a FULL REFUND INCLUDING POST.

Not to mention, all our listings state that we are not responsible for lost / stolen / tampered articles, which is the ONLY possible thing that could of happened if this guy was really telling the truth.

We have contacted 5 different people through phone to eBay about this. You know whats funny? The extreme awkward silence when the eBay employee responds with "I don't know" or "...." when we ask the question "What did we do wrong and how can we stop this from happening ever again"

I think we are well within our rights to say the parcel he is sending back to us never got to us so he does not get his money back.

And eBay, you should be ashamed. Your company policies are actually borderline criminal, your letting people get away with fraud.

So yeah, basically if you want free stuff, just buy things internationally and say you only got half of it. eBay won't do a thing to stop you.

Thanks for reading

[*new2vintage]

You can claim from Aus Post for the "missing" part can't you ? I don't want to sound unsympathetic but all sellers can be held responsible for missing, damaged or undelivered items.

No you should not be dishonest by claiming you haven't received the item. Lodge an appeal if you can.

[extra-keen]

I am sorry this has happened to you, a very unpleasant experience.

I stopped selling internationally a couple of years ago because of just the type of problem  you are having.

And yes my income is less, but the stress is WAY less.

Good luck with this one!:-(

[bsal6160]

SO you have proof you sent a 700gram package. Looking at it from the outside, you could have posted anything that weighed 700grams. Just saying thats all.  Another thing, despite what your listing said, you ARE responsible for the item until it reaches its destination.

How is this a scam? He is returning the parcel? If the parcel shows signs of tampering then you would have a case against the buyer but until then......

[kopenhagen5]

Being a business and within the professional arena, I am flabbergasted at such remarks and claims made in the OP's statement.

I was going to offer some excellent advice until I read the last few lines, so now I am perplexed and shaking my head.

[phorum_junkie*]

Here's the frustrating thing. He bought the item from OUR AUSTRALIAN eBay shop, yet we had to log in to EBAY UK to sort this out. What kind of rubbish is that. And if we wanted to speak to someone from eBay, it had to be done through the UK. OK that's extremely illogical.

When selling overseas you agreed to comply with the protection applicable to the site the buyer purchases through, for the UK that means ebay buyer protection applies, not Paypal protection.

Although the time difference makes it less than ideal contacting  UK ebay is not exactly difficult or expensive.

There is a site in the UK similar to that run by QLD police for auction fraud but as you have absolutely no proof that the buyer received both parts I don't fancy your chances. If you receive the parcel back and there is only one part you can try turning the tables and say that they have not sent back the item in it's original condition.

I am not sure if ebay UK come under the auspices of our financial services ombudsman but it may well be worth checking and if you can make a complaint from overseas inform ebay that is what you are going to do.

Once again unless there is documentation that the parcel weighed 700g when it was delivered to the buyer you may be on a sticky wicket.

The up side is that to send it back by trackable post with proof of delivery, not just proof of posting, will be expensive.

[*new2vintage]

You'll be even less impressed if you read his responses to his feedback k5.

[crypsynight]

Does your postal receipt have the weight on it?

If it does, and you receive back less than that weight, then item hasn't been returned in the same condition it was initially posted.

Just a thought.....

[3415len]

Wow.

I did absolutely everything in my power to get this article safely to my customer.

It was packaged well - he said it did NOT look like it had been tampered with.

PART A Weighs 300 grams

PART B Weights 400 Grams

Australia Post OFFICIALLY weighed the package as 700 Grams

If I only sent 1 part, Australia Post would of weighed the package as either 300 grams or 400 grams

Therefore, when the parcel left my hands, the package has DOCUMENTED PROOF that the item was sent complete.

So please. Tell me exactly what I have done wrong. I registered the parcel. I packaged it properly. I have proof from Australia Post I sent it EXACTLY as described. I provided ALL the evidence to eBay and I STILL LOST.

Tell me what else I need to do. Please, inform me exactly which part of my sales process I did wrong.

If you can't answer me this, then you should then realise the loophole I'm talking about.

Theoretically speaking, anyone can buy an item internationally, say they didn't get it as described, and get their money back no worries.

Also LOL at the people bagging our feedback. It's written by like 4 other of our employee's. Yeah so what, some have terrible grammar, but none of you even come near my feedback rating, so please, get on our level

[*new2vintage]

Any seller's feedback score is irrelevant. Responses to bad feedback reflect badly on you regardless of who writes it. It seems like it's harder for a seller to win an ebay dispute than it is to win a Paypal dispute.