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

[davewil1964]

The bottom line is that the buyer has to pay return postage AND is still up for the import duties, so he's not exactly getting it for nothing. And at the end of the saga, he still will only have, at best, half of the tool.

[phorum_junkie*]

I gave you several suggestions on what you could do but you obviously prefer to just rant.

As stated in post 20 after the seller has paid the cost of return postage, over £50 with full on line tracking, and the import duties They will only be £50 better off and will have to spend time sourcing another one.

I really can't imagine why somebody would go to such lengths for so little gain.

[xena-and-alex]

Even a man can be a drama queen PJ. 😉

[3415len]

Lol Phorum, do I need to give you acknowledgment that I followed up on your suggestions?

Also, I'm allowed to rant because this is a forum and forums cater for rant threads. I'm allowed to do that right?

I think everyone is missing the whole POINT of the thread. I didn't come here to rant about losing money, I'm here to get the point across that it's so easy to get your money back and that seller's have absolutely no leg's to stand on when it comes to dispute.

C'mon then Phorum, you think you're a smart guy, can you solve my problem? I need you to please answer me what no eBay employee and no one I have yet to come across can answer -

How can I send a parcel internationally next time and NOT have this happen again?

[3415len]

Also thank you to those telling us to wipe it off as a small burden when dealing with business. We fully understand that, but as I mentioned above, it's the principle behind it and the fact that eBay let's fraudulent buyers get away with their crimes.

I mean, we pay 10s of thousands of dollars in ebay fee's a year. The buyer pays nothing and get's all the security, and the seller is left to fight an impossible to beat system.

[hotshot-cards]

WOW... I hate people that don't read the OP of a thread.

IF the buyer is right and only half the items are inside then why should the buyer be out of pocket for your mistake?

Bsal are you for real... I can see exactly what this seller is talking about by actually reading the original post. How is it his mistake if he has documented proof that when the parcel left Australia it had 700g in it!

Take a break from trolling brother....

BOT...

Curious to now who much the items are worth if you care to share hope they weren't too much?

Feel bad for you mate, I used to sell Trading cards online and always had problems with USA buyers.

[jensmanchester-australia]

How can I send a parcel internationally next time and NOT have this happen again?

The reality is that you can never guarantee this will not happen again.

Even though you have proof that both items were sent it is not possible to prove that both items were received by the buyer.

On eBay UK it is proof of delivery which is required and not proof of postage.

[3415len]

^ I guess the unfortunate reality is that everytime you send something internationally, you are selling at your own risk. If something goes wrong, bad luck your on your own.

"The customer is always right!"

Comforting 😐

[3415len]

Wish there was an edit feature 😛

@Hotshot, the entire cost for product and post totals around $230AU.

We lose alot of money out of this, but whatever, thats the cost of doing business as been previously mentioned by others.

"jensmanchester" you have an impressive feedback score and I thank you for your genuine contribution to my thread. I get the impression you know exactly what I'm talking about and I'm sure similar incidents have happened to you many of times before. Is this right ?

[***super_nova***]

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.

OK, so the 2 items were total 700g, your parcel apparently weighed 700g............  so there was no packaging?

What exactly would you want eBay to do?  They are just an advertising medium, they set the rules to be as fair as possible and you either are happy to go by these rules or you find other place to trade.  There are millions of transaction every day, eBay cannot judge every bad transaction individually, and the existing rules of buyer sending back at their own expense for full refund is as fair as it can possibly get.  If you advertised your items in a newspaper and got ripped off, would you also expect the newspaper to "do something". 

If PP, eBay and CCs would not provide buyer protection, many people would not take the risk to buy on line.