Hi there, From time to time we encounter people claiming non receipt of goods purchased from us which are sent via Royal Mail to UK and overseas destinations but which do not ring true for one reason or another. I will not go into the ways and means at our disposal and which we exercise in order to dismount or counter such fraudsters as this gives potential armour to same within a public domain but needless to say there are common factors which always present with such cases. Recently we were unfortunate to encounter an eBay buyer purchasing an item from us for delivery to Italy and which they started complaining/chasing for receipt of after just 4 elapsed working days which made us suspicious. We followed the usual protocol and procedures but soon the threats started being messaged through eBay to us demanding a refund, not wanting another shipment sent out as they had been forced to purchase another as a present for their friend locally, and threatening a Paypal buyer protection claim and eBay negative feedback unless the refund was made. Our suspicions aroused, we began a deeper and targetted investigation and over the next few weeks discovered that over 20% of their feedback left for sellers during the past 18 months was up to that point negative, claiming non receipt. After contacting the sellers they had purchased from through the eBay message system we began to uncover a pattern of constant non-receipt claims for all goods purchased except for a particular collectable they constantly purchased and a few other very low cost items. Most sellers faced with such threats will just give in and refund the purchase, not wanting to risk their public viewable eBay profile, detailed seller ratings, top rated status, final value fee discounts, and a Paypal case being opened against them possibly also risking their top rated status and discounts. We discovered most sellers capitulated and gave this rogue a Paypal refund and so were cheated out of their goods and the relating shipping costs. Some of us are sticking to our guns and risk grossly unfair black marks and financial losses made possible by the current eBay and Paypal dispute and buyer protection meachanisms and systems now in place, and thus also risk our eBay status, discounts, etc. Every eBay seller that replied to our enquiries regarding this same buyer confirmed that they had received identical complaints, threats, claims of non receipt, the goods being a present for a friend, that they were forced to purchase locally, not wanting another shipment and demanding a full refund through Paypal in order to prevent Paypal and eBay systems being used to cause sellers harm. Now, my posed questions and statements should be obvious at this point. Why in this specific case have complaints to eBay against this buyer by sellers been met by stock answers of "tracked goods", "contact buyer" etc. when there is a clear constant pattern of visible and identifiable evidence against this buyer wrongfully claiming non receipt of so many packets? After all, it is 100% of everything other than what they collect and purchase regularly and is glaringly obvious. WIth the number of related Paypal refunds and possible complaints/cases lodged in respect of this buyer, especially considering how visible all of the relating information will be to Paypal, why does Paypal continue to allow this buyer to use a Paypal account to practice extortion in this way and remain protected by Paypal and the systems intended to protect genuine buyers with genuine problems? Why has Paypal not limited this buyer still when it has obviously been going on for considerably more than a year now? Why have sellers ended up being made so vulnerable to such unscrupulous practices without any real means of redress or recourse? Changes to the eBay and Paypal systems and workings over the past few years have totally removed any element of seller self defense, and put in place systems which enable rogues to hide and cause harm often undetected and almost always without recourse or redress. We can no longer post negative feedback to alert or warn other potential sellers away from becoming victims, we cannot risk our status with any system due to the low tolerance level of protection cases in Paypal and eBay, and these predatory buyers and criminals must be rubbing their hands together with glee that their unlawful activities are so masked and thefts are so easy to escape justice with. I am sure that there was never an intent to create a loophole or black area within the eBay and Paypal systems to enable criminals to operate with impunity and be so protected and safe, but surely there comes a point when self policing is a duty and a responsibility. Claims of just offering a service start to wash thin when we see a pattern of repeated wrongdoing which is also being correctly reported by victims; we are not the experts in this respect but Paypal SHOULD be, and clearly on the strength of the evidence I have do not appear to monitor such behaviour of wrongful claims, history of repeated identical claims, seller complaints, and the like. Surely each claim should be viewed in the context of a buyer claim history and the like? Most certainly a pattern of so many refunds and claims would alert even the most disinterested? I think it is really great that we have such strong buyer protection systems in place but where is our seller protection? The current buyer protection/no clear seller recourse situation reminds me of a small claims court case I decided to fight some years ago wherein a customer had purchased a product from us with a one year warranty, after 15 months of use decided to take it apart, remove a component and install the component in something else which then caused its failure, put it back in the original product and reassembled it and then proceeded to send it back to us claiming it to be faulty and demanding a full refund. We know all of this to be fact as it was declared so in the claim lodged against us. We stuck to our guns and went to court only to be awared against because it was ruled that the product should have lasted longer in spite of the customer disassembling it and damaging a component, and (here is the killer and very telling blow) we were a company and could afford it more than the customer anyway! - not my words but exactly those of the registrar ruling in an arbitration situation which has no right or appeal or recourse in any way. I ask, is this the attitude of eBay and Paypal?" I am willing to share the identity of this Italian rogue with anyone who is interested, including Paypal of course, but come on guys, where is our protection? You earn your money from us so how about giving us value for money and redressing the balance in some way? If someone steals £30 from us then we have to turn over another £200 to get this back, and in the current economic climate there are many of us who can ill afford the losses, the stress, the waste of time etc. which could be spent concentrating on marketing and sourcing new products. Will someone please come back to me and help to stop this rogue from making even more misery and trouble for innocent eBay sellers with the unwitting assistance of eBay and Paypal? I CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE THAT ALLOWS ME TO FLAG THIS FOR A MODERATOR. PERHAPS SOMEONE CAN HELP?
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