Why does Ebay allow this? Automatically Return Process

[bee*ut]

Two weeks ago I see the "You accepted a return" huh? what? no I didn't. 

Anyway the buyer acussed me of selling him a defective video card and put in a return claim which was automatically accepted.

After closely examined the photo I noticed the 2 bottom corner of the labels were slightly peeled off, so I compared the photo I took before posting the card out and they were slightly in wrong places. So I suspected this person took the stickers from my card then sticked onto a faulty one 

Below are the messages

There is a dead giveway between to 2 photos, can you spot it? What is this buyer thinking? I believe he done this kind of scam many times before, pulling out the Ebay policy and Australian Consumer Laws stunt to scare people

I contacted CS explained my situation and pointed the obvious but they advised me to go through the process and let the buyer return the item then I can appeal.

WHY??? I dont undertand why Ebay refused to stop the return process when presented with the clear evident showing the item is not the one I sold. the buyer clearly is a fraud

I am not a trader every now and then I sell something on Ebay to make end meet, this process caused unnecssary stress, especially I dont have no time to waste. Now I have to waste more times spending on recording the return item and appeal my case

I just want to put this out there in case Ebay favour the buyer

[bee*ut]

Does anyone know if Ebay going to investigate the buyer? or its done and dusted?

I am happy that the case gone my way but somehow I am still angry about the whole situation. My xmas was almost ruin because I can't stop thinking about the stupid case, I was out yesterday looking for a JP to sign my paper so much times wasted which I can never get it back but I am glad its over.

Should I still send the letter? 

[digital*ghost]

Fantastic outcome - I'm so happy to see this 🙂 Though of course understand the frustration and anxiety it would have caused, especially at this time of year (I've been there, though I was dealing with a fraudulent PayPal claim where the buyer returned nothing by registered post, and the amount involved wasn't even close to what yours was, but the process and time spent on it was largely the same). 

eBay do keep a record of these kinds of things, but wether or not they issued any consequences to the buyer is something that is often difficult to ascertain (if not outright impossible). Recently, I saw the contents of an email that was sent to a buyer who eBay deemed to be opening a high number of return requests, which contained a warning about restricting their access to the request system, but it's difficult to know at what point this sort of action is taken. 

eBay state the decision was reversed, which is a bit different that just giving you a discretionary reimbursement of the amount - they actually do have the ability in some cases to reverse the refund provided to the buyer, but it's impossible to know if that occurred, or they just refunded you out of their pocket. 

For my money, I would suggest simply making the report to ACORN about the buyer, and then spending no more energy on them - you can do it online, and it takes about 10 minutes if you have all the info at hand (last time I submitted a report, I had to provide as much personal info about the perpetrator as possible, name, address, email address, phone number etc, and a description of the problem- what occurred, on what platform and so on). 

[lyndal1838]

That is a great outcome for you.

You will never know if ebay takes it any further as they do not tell you.  I suspect it is done and dusted and no further action will be taken by ebay.

Just ignore the buyer now.....you have not lost any money on the transaction.

You could still report the buyer to the authorities if you want to......if they have done this once it is a pretty good bet they will try it again if they have not done it in the past.

[countessalmirena]

@bee*ut,

I'm so glad that you were determined, prepared, and eager to pursue this! It's resulted in eBay deciding to make what is clearly the right decision (and from what I understand, the right decision is not always reached in these sorts of cases).

Of course eBay could see that you had sufficient evidence, and were prepared to take the right steps. That would have played into it.

Now... I'm not sure how that plays out in terms of the buyer suffering consequences to his/her actions. As the sage digital*ghost says, a reversed decision is different to a "discretionary refund". I strongly suspect (but don't know) that this means the buyer's refund would be reversed. However, you may never know.

eBay do say that an abuse of the MBG involves consequences, and they may suspend MBG protection for offending buyers.

❝Fraudulent claims may include:

• A buyer opening excessive requests
• A buyer colluding with a seller to misdeclare an item's value for customs
• A buyer filing a chargeback after knowingly receiving a refund.

Buyers who file fraudulent claims are subject to consequences outlined in the Abusing eBay section of the User Agreement. In addition, we reserve the right to indefinitely suspend the buyer's coverage under the eBay Money Back Guarantee.❞

I know that having thwarted the buyer must be a relief for you, but that there lurks in each of us to some extent the desire that someone who's tried to "pull a fast one" and cheat one should be aware that the cheat was uncovered AND be punished. (I'm sure I posted something previously about stocks and pelting offenders with rotten vegetables...?) In addition, there's the very real issue of doing what you can to ensure that this proven cheat be put on the radar, so to speak.

Given that, I'd go ahead and report this individual to ACORN. You have eBay's decision to reverse the "outcome of the case", as well as the information you've gathered with everyone's help here, to support your communication with ACORN.

One of the best lessons to take from this is that you should never let a cheat or any other dishonest sort of person take even a smidgeon of real estate in your mind. You deserved to have peace of mind on Christmas Day. Indeed - dishonest people don't deserve even an overnight stay in your thoughts on ANY day... but of course it's hard not to give any headroom at all to those sorts of things.

In all - wonderful outcome for you.

[springyzone]

I am glad it has gone your way & you have been reimbursed.

Like the others, I can't say exactly what steps ebay will take with the buyer, but I suspect when they say the results of the case have been reversed, they don't mean that the buyer's refund has been reclaimed, because they also go on to tell you that you don't have to take any further steps to repay ebay. In other words, I think ebay is still out of pocket in this exercise, but that is quite okay as they make quick decisions and would have allowed in their budget for this sort of thing from time to time, to cover mistakes etc.

By reversing the result, what I took them to mean (apart from reimbursing you) is that the results are on record and this case will in no way affect your selling account, you won't get any defects and the buyer won't be able to leave feedback etc

As to whether they investigate further, I very much doubt it. In fact, I am not even sure if the buyer would be notified of the decision, although I think it would be mad of ebay not to at least send a message along the lines of telling the person the decision had been reversed in favour of the seller but on this occasion, the buyer could keep the funds but would need to be careful that any future claims were factual.

Since you say the case wrecked your peace of mind for a while, why not submit a report to ACORN & why not inform the buyer of this (by letter, not ebay messages). Not in a personal way, just official, calm & factual. One report won't do much but if a few reports come in about them over time, it may have some effect.

[bee*ut]

Thank you ALL. I am at ease now and lessser upset.

I emailed Ebay and ask them if they are going to investigate the buyer for fraud.

This is what they say....

Hi *********,

Thanks for getting back to us.

I know that this concerns you but don't worry about this because the buyer has now submitted to the Trust and Safety Team for further review.

Since the member has been submitted for review, the appropriate team will review the information we provided and take action in accordance with our policies. Please note that not all actions we take are visible on the site. Due to our Privacy Notice, we can’t share the details of our report or actions.

I can tell you that it's our top priority to ensure eBay remains a safe and reputable place and we take reports of members not following our rules very seriously especially for members who made fraud action.

Let me assure you that we have investigated and taken appropriate action in this case. As you know, it's important to protect member privacy, so we can't share details of any action we've taken on this member's account.

The actions we take can include: sending the member a warning, limiting buying and selling privileges, or even suspending the account.

In some cases this means that the member may be allowed to continue to use eBay, but on a limited and closely monitored basis.

Before we take action, we consider the circumstances of a report, as well as any previous warnings or offences. To be fair to all members, we won't take action unless a complaint can be proven with certainty.

I hope I've explained things clearly, Sir, and if you need further assistance, please let us know.

Thanks for choosing eBay.

Kind regards,

*********************

eBay Customer Service

I am guessing the worst he can get is suspended account LOL...

[springyzone]

Hmm, couple of cut & paste sections in there as they have doubled up in info, but at least you know it has been forwarded on to another department and more importantly, the buyer's claim is on record. One complaint about them might not affect them greatly but if they get 2 or more, I would imagine it would be harder for them to have their claims upheld, especially if sellers do demand a review.

[brerrabbit585]

Not just doubling up, some of it's contradictory - we will investigate, then we have investigated.