I have never heard of the seller changing an item /changes the buyer's purchase history, I am not an expert in eBay software but that sounds very very odd

I am not surprised that the call center staff made it out to be a return request though, that is exactly how the call center operates, staff reading from pre-loaded scripts which are basically 'best match' on one or two key words

So if the caller says

"Item in purchase history is incorrect"

Call center staff member hears "incorrect item sent"

Best to use the Have Us Call You option and ask to speak to a supervisor would be my suggestion

$12 odd is a heck of a lot of mponey to me too (and I'm certain we're not alone) But one wonders who thrilled the person you spoke to would be to lose twelve bucks