Some time back I pulled both my personal and all our work selling accounts off ebay. The changes to the policies made being a seller impossible. You couldn't even leave negative feedback for a buyer. This prevented us from being honest and that goes against my values. There was no point having a rating system if it was not honest.
I'd hate to think how many hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of product we had sold on ebay.
Some time later ebay wrote to me seeking a return to ebay. I was very hesitant. Had ebay changed?
Recently I sold a camera flash. It was in immaculate condition, listed as used but said 'as new' condition. The ad showed exactly what was included. Every item. The item was tested as working perfectly. It was tagged as no returns.
The flash sold. The flash was shipped on time.
The buyer complains to ebay he expected an extra cable to be included even though it was not listed and was not shown in any photos. He asked ebay for a return and this was granted by ebay and the money was pulled from our account. The listing showed photos of exactly what was included. The item was exactly as described. The item worked perfectly. And yet ebay has forced a return on us and taken the money.
Today I reached out via chat to talk to ebay. After presenting the points above they ended up simply cutting off the conversation. So we have sent out a perfect item, on time and ebay has taken the money and hung up a support conversation.
Ebay is simply a terrible place for sellers, there are competitors now who allow us to trade honestly. There is no point coming to us again because after all the reassurances, you haven't changed. You simply do not care about customers or about delivering value to the planet and that is the worst sin a business could commit.
w to avoid all ebay policies...and ebay can not do anything about it.. what they don't tell.
when you sell, all you have to do is to include all of your own personal policy when selling and state... all bidders must agree to my policy when bidding.
This makes it a legal binding contract which the bidders are agreein to when biddin and ebay will then have no legal right to intervere.
and also the hold policy is infact illegal by law.. it will only take one person to take it to small claims to over ride it... which ebay won't do because they know they will loose.
When you contact eBay, you will need to focus on what outcome you want. Whether that outcome is achievable or not depends on a number of things, such as:
when you contact eBay (i.e., at what stage of a problem)
what means you use to contact eBay
eBay policy that applies
what your listing shows
your T&Cs (as long as they don't contradict eBay policy or Australian consumer legislation)
what outcome you wanted.
You say that the buyer complained that he expected an extra cable and requested a return. That sounds to me as though the buyer requested a return on the basis of the item not being as described. It was at that time that you really needed to act. (It's not enough to say in your listing that you don't accept returns, because that is for change of mind returns. If the buyer claimed SNAD, it's another ball game; you need to demonstrate to eBay that the item is as described.)
What you should have done at that point is get in touch with eBay via Have us call you (not use the chat facility). You should have explained that the flash was shown in your listing with [you explain what parts are shown in the image], and that there was certainly no mention of an additional cable. You would have stated (very politely) that the buyer seems to have expected something additional to what was stated and shown in the listing, and that this comes under change of mind. Point to the eBay Money Back Guarantee, where if "the item matches the listing", it isn't covered under the eBay MBG.
❝Not Covered
Any reason besides not receiving the item or receiving an item not as described in the listing (see the seller's return policy for return options)❞
Point out that you have "no returns" selected for buyer's remorse.
Had you done this, it is probable (but not guaranteed) that the buyer's request would have been closed in your favour on the spot.
You needed to have contacted eBay immediately (as soon as the request was opened).
You needed to have contacted eBay via Have us call you.
You needed to point eBay to the Money Back Guarantee policy under which you are not obliged to accept a return for buyer's remorse/change of mind. Point out that wanting something extra that wasn't included in the listing comes under change of mind. Also you'd have pointed eBay to what the ACCC says about change of mind where, for instance, "consumer guarantees do not apply if you got what you asked for but simply changed your mind, found it cheaper somewhere else, decided you did not like the purchase or had no use for it."
You'd have pointed eBay to your listing's T&Cs where you state "no returns" which is permitted under Australian Consumer Legislation for change of mind returns.
You'd have pointed eBay to your listing's description where there is no mention of an extra cable.
You'd have pointed eBay to your listing's photos which do not show an extra cable.
You'd have said that the only reasonable outcome would be that eBay close the request in your favour.
As you haven't done this, and I presume your buyer has already sent off the item to you, I don't know exactly what you can do. What do you expect from eBay at this stage? If you receive the item back, you can't very well ask for the refund not to be given, so I'd suggest that you sit down and add up those costs which you think are reasonable for eBay to pay you, as otherwise you will request these moneys from PayPal, and if PayPal will not give them to you (and they won't), you will then lodge a complaint with the AFCA.
Reasonable action might be:
refund of your final value fees (not a credit - an actual refund)
refund of the return postage cost
refund of a small handling fee (what reasonable costs would be incurred in your receiving the returned item, opening it in the presence of an authorised witness, unpacking it and examining it for damage)
removal of the defect on your selling account
removal of any negative if the buyer gives you negative feedback.
Earlier I said that you shouldn't use the chat facility. This is because eBay's chat facility is staffed with low-level CS reps who don't have any decision-making authority, and whose responses are largely policy-generated bot-driven non-specific replies. These particular staff are low in the pecking order (outsourced low-paid eBay staff); they only know what has been spoon-fed to them by eBay.
You will get a more-informed sort of CS by using eBay's "Have us call you" option.
eBay say: We'll call you at the phone number registered to your account, or you can enter a different number.
We’re available from 8am to 10pm AET, 7 days a week.
You may want to record the call. Check here for details (plus how to ensure it is done legally).
Would this item, when new, have included an extra cable?
Is a cable required for this flash?
Why do you think the buyer would have thought an extra cable would have been included?
For any future listing, think about what isn't included as well as what is included, and perhaps ensure that you spell this out so that even an idiot would be aware of all the details.
If nothing else, you will know how to deal with a refund request based on change of mind/buyer's remorse.You'll know to contact eBay via Have Us Call You immediately, and have all your evidence ready that this is a change of mind return request, which your T&Cs state are not accepted.
For the record, if the buyer buys the wrong size (i.e., selected a size 10 when he/she really wanted a size 14), or doesn't like the colour, or thinks that the colour is plum rather than purple, or medium grey rather than light grey, or doesn't like the item when they get it, or thinks it should have been bigger (even though the measurements are in the listing), or it doesn't fit, or it doesn't suit the person, or the buyer received another one of these as a gift and doesn't need this purchased one, or saw it cheaper elsewhere after the purchase, or if the buyer thought that extra things not mentioned in the description/listing would have been included, or that the item should have had a particular function that is not mentioned - that ALL comes under change of mind.
w to avoid all ebay policies...and ebay can not do anything about it.. what they don't tell.
when you sell, all you have to do is to include all of your own personal policy when selling and state... all bidders must agree to my policy when bidding.
This makes it a legal binding contract which the bidders are agreein to when biddin and ebay will then have no legal right to intervere.
and also the hold policy is infact illegal by law.. it will only take one person to take it to small claims to over ride it... which ebay won't do because they know they will loose.
