Buyers abusing "not as described" to force refund when it's really buyers remorse.

chukkerm8
Member
Member

BUYERS ABUSE POLICY

Sellers should be very careful when describing items and only ship out things as described. But how about when buyers try to force the seller to accept a return by claiming not as described when its just buyer's remorse?

 

Case in point; I sold a wallet described as new in the box recently. It WAS new in the box.

At the time I had 100% feedback with glowing remarks regarding the condition of the items I had sold, some new, some used, some considerably older. I'm sensitive to this because as a buyer I have been taken by a few sellers who did not divulge the flaws in their auction...no one reumbursed me then either, despite my claims through PayPal.

 

Anyhow, I have a no return policy which is clearly stated in the auction. I take good clear photos of the item and fully inspect and descibe it. I request that ALL questions are asked prior to bidding.  Buyer asked none.

 

Upon receiving payment, I carefully packed the wallet in the box and shipped it out. It was in new, perfect condition when it went out.

The buyer contacted me when she received the item and claimed it was crushed, damaged, sticky stuff all over it and it was scratched, NOT NEW, etc, you get the point.  Total drama. I asked myself how that could have happened via shipping as it was personally inspected and packed.... It was immaculate when it went out. It was in a waterproof envelope wrapped in many layers of protective tissue. I knew this couldn't happen on it's own. I mean sticky stuff and scratches all over the wallet inside a box wrapped in tissue and waterproof envelope?? come on.  This stunk of buyers remorse.

 

I reminded her of the no return policy, restated that the wallet was in new condition when sent and offered to replace the outer (gift) box, with no response from the buyer. Instead, she opened a claim with Ebay. I responded to the Ebay inquery and told them I had sent a new wallet as described to her and don't know how anything like what she's claming could happen.

 

Their latest action is to have her send me back the wallet for a refund. They never asked me for proof of condition (hello, auction photos?) or demonstrated that she had offered proof of her claim. I have thirteen years of 100% postitive activity with Ebay over 1,400 transactions; she has a year and 43 transactions and has complained about other people. I have sold many other things of higher value with glowing reviews. What incentive do I have to lie? None. It doesn't make sense. I could sell it with flaws if it had any.. I would list them and get on with it.

 

so...

 

I ask you, how is this policy fair? I sent her a perfect wallet. She decided for whatever reason she didn't want it so she gets to force me to fully refund her despite the no return no refund policy clearly stated in my auction by simply lying about the condition in which it was received.

 

In addition, I am concerned that with such an unscrupulous buyer,  it is possible that she may damage the wallet before she sends it back just to justify her claim. Then I will be out the money AND the wallet to sell to someone else who would be very happy with it.

Any suggestions?

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11 REPLIES 11

Cjovh
Contributor
Contributor

I have had a similar experience to you. I sold a part for a car. The guy came back with 'not as described'. I had specified no returns for any reason etc. eBay told him to return the part to me. He returned me a different part (probably the broken one he just removed from his car to install my part) which is broken both functionally and physically. eBay refunded him his money and only responded to my emails of complaint with some stupid canned messages. I have been totally wronged and abused by the scam buyer who now has my good part and his money back so he has it for free. eBay has aided and abetted this crook. In all of this the so called Customer Service were totally unobtainable and no phone contact to a person was possible. I am closing out my eBay and PayPal accounts immediately. They are really unethical.

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Rockergeek
Member
Member

I've noticed this happening a lot more lately. This is a BIG problem that needs to be addressed IMMEDIATELY by Paypal and Ebay! I tested EVERY item that I sell before I ship it out and now I have 2 buyers that "claim" the items do not work. So how can I prove they do?!? The products are in the buyers' hands...if they return them, who's to say that they won't damage them before shipping them back?!? Both these buyers were very "picky" before they bought these items. I think they are lying. Of course, they will win a paypal dispute by simply claiming "the item was not as described". Tell me, Paypal and Ebay...WHY ARE THEY RIGHT AND I"M WRONG...have you considered that buyers have found a loophole and are using it?!? I can't afford the money being taken out of my account just because a buyer is running a scam. The holding money during a dispute is ridiculous! How can I prove that I send out a fully working item and the buyer damaged it just to get a refund. What's the point in stating a return policy if it is IGNORED by Paypal in a dispute. Someone needs to come up with a better system...

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profdata
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

You shipped it in an envelope.

 

Sure it was in it's original box, but envelopes get smashed and ripped

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

 


@Rockergeek wrote:

I've noticed this happening a lot more lately. This is a BIG problem that needs to be addressed IMMEDIATELY by Paypal and Ebay! I tested EVERY item that I sell before I ship it out and now I have 2 buyers that "claim" the items do not work. So how can I prove they do?!? The products are in the buyers' hands...if they return them, who's to say that they won't damage them before shipping them back?!? Both these buyers were very "picky" before they bought these items. I think they are lying. Of course, they will win a paypal dispute by simply claiming "the item was not as described". Tell me, Paypal and Ebay...WHY ARE THEY RIGHT AND I"M WRONG...have you considered that buyers have found a loophole and are using it?!? I can't afford the money being taken out of my account just because a buyer is running a scam. The holding money during a dispute is ridiculous! How can I prove that I send out a fully working item and the buyer damaged it just to get a refund. What's the point in stating a return policy if it is IGNORED by Paypal in a dispute. Someone needs to come up with a better system...


 

 

WHY ARE THEY RIGHT AND I"M WRONG

 

Because they're buyers and you don't keep buyers happy by making them mad.

 

You're going to get a certain percentage of buyers that abuse the system, it's true.  Most do not.  You add a percentage into your price to pay for the buyers that give you grief.

 

 

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contessa65
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, I had the exact same thing happen to me and ebay told the buyer to return the item to me. I asked them the same question about if I had to refund the buyer if they return me a used item that was not in the condition I sold it to them in and they told me that if I could prove it was in new condition when I sent it and that it was not in new condition when they returned it that they would honor me as the seller. I told the buyer to return the item if it was damaged as they claimed and if it was not new as I sent it to them that ebay would not refund them. Ebay said they would take my listing picture as proof of the condition of the item. I told this to the buyer and what do you think? they never returned it to me and ebay voted in my favor. In my experience with ebay for 8 years I have found that buyers who pull this, figure that you as the seller will say I am not taking the item back and then be forced to refund them OR that you will be stupid enough to take their word on it without returning it to you. I always call their bluff if i am certain that the item was as described upon shipment and ebay has backed me everytime when I provide proof of how it looked when listed. Hope this helps. In the meantime, many sellers are leaving ebay due to the ridiculous policies, high fees and loss of a lot of business when ebay raised their fees. We have moved on to facebook selling on Grapeworm. It is a free service. No listing or selling fees, no annual fee, no anything. All the profit is yours! you can take whatever form of payment you want, there are hundreds of catagories to list in and it will eventually put ebay out of business. I am sure of it. Check out the link below and join.  It will cost you nothing and you can see how it goes. I sold a few items already in a few days. You can use your wall as advertisement and pass on to friends, who pass on to their friends, etc. You can leave your listings for eternity. Just awesome! Good luck fellow merchant!

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I to have been a victim of this abuse. This was to do with the sale of a book. I had 30 copies of this book brand new, all the same. This one seller said the item I sent was damaged, the pages looked like they had been opened and read. Ide not read any of the books let alone 30 of the same book.

 

Soon enough the harassment came, 'what you going to do about this book?' 'ill have to open a case' etc. Ebay gave me something like 10 days to provide my side of the story. I did so buy contacting all my buyers from the last 90 days (about 16) as you loose information after that and I couldn't be sure if I was contacting a book buyer etc. I asked them if they were happy with the book and if they would conceder the item to be as described. All those who replied (about 12) supported my case. I also looked through the buyers purchased items and found he had dealings with a car perchance. I also contacted him who came back with information on the buyer that also showed this buyer was 'playing the system'.

 

In total I had drawn up a 4 page document of information supporting my side of the story. I had photos at the ready. I go to the resolution centure and low and behold sellers only have 4 options to them; 1. Bend over and take it. 2. Bend over and take. 3. Bend over and take it 4. Continue dealing with the case until you have to bend over and take it. Naturally I continued the case. In the reply boxes you are only allowed 800 letters. I had a 4 page document! This forces me to break it down and spread it over 6 or so reply that really didn't do my reply any justice.

 

To cut a long story short eBay said that neither of us were at fault. Everything I had to go through to get that was nothing short of epic. So the buyer gets £6.50 from eBay. So the lesson here is folks, if you buy something and you don't feel like paying for it, say the item is 'not as described', harass the seller into submission, if that doesn't work, eBay will either force the seller to refund it or Ebay will give you your money back! Spread the word, we know how to break the system! Well done.

 

Ide love it if we could put the buyers name down here so as sellers we can name and shame.

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What!!! How the **bleep** can a buyer leave feedback when the dispute was settled by eBay! Ive worked hard to keep my 100% positve feedback.

 

What can i do? Can i have it removed and if so how?

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

 


@harrytheschmuck wrote:

What!!! How the **bleep** can a buyer leave feedback when the dispute was settled by eBay! Ive worked hard to keep my 100% positve feedback.

 

What can i do? Can i have it removed and if so how?


 

Buyers have the right to leave feedback.  The right is not automatically removed because it's inconvenient for you.

 

 

I very much doubt if it can be removed.

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Dr_Watson
New Community Member

I just had a buyer claim that the laptop I sent him was a BLOCK OF WOOD in a big box.  My paypal account was debited the amount of the laptop, and he claims to have sent the block of wood back to me.  How do I fight that?  I had delivery confirmation and insurance on it, and had pictures of the laptop working.  Sold two the same week and the other the buyer wrote better than expected.  I think I'm about to lose out on a lot of money.

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