BEWARE!! Buyer opens Return Case 4 MONTHS after delivery!

[parts-save]

IS EBAY ALLOWING SELLERS TO BE SCAMMED, NO PROTECTION FOR US!?

A buyer made a false claim against me 4 MONTHS after delivery...

I sold a NEW battery for a cordless drill.  It was delivered on 5th December, but now 4 months later in April I get an eBay case openened against me. The case is for 'item not as desribed' and was filed by a 'payment provider' but is going through eBay's system. 

Now the item is exactly as described and the buyer even ADMITS this!! So first off they have made an entirely false claim, it should be closed on this basis alone!

Secondly the buyer literally admitted to ordering the wrong drill battery, and then attempting to fit it to a drill (CLEARLY using a NEW item and causing damage and marks).

I have rightfully refused the return / refund. Im not taking back a damaged item 4 MONTHS after delivery, paying return postage and refunding. All due to the buyers fault and as a seller I've done NOTHING wrong. NO SELLER SHOULD EVER HAVE TO LOSE MONEY TO THIS SCAM.

HOWEVER
I am looking at a lot of stories about this. And it sounds like somehow the buyer might be able to scam me for the full refund, plus I have to pay a charge to eBay?? Surely that is not real that's illegal theft!?

THAT WOULD BE NOTHING SHORT OF A COMPLETE AND UTTER SCAM. SELLER DONE NOTHING WRONG. POTENTIALLY LOSING THE ITEM, THE MONEY, AND BEING CHARGED BY EBAY!!

IF A BUYER WANTS TO FILE A FALSE CHARGEBACK THAT IS ILLEGAL. IT'S LITERALLY THEFT. EBAY SHOULD NOT ALLOW IT. OR EBAY SHOULD PAY THE MONEY.

THIS ISN'T EVEN MENTIONING THE LOST TIME AND ALL THE STRESS IN DEALING WITH THIS, WHERES THE COMPENSATION FOR THAT?

EITHER WAY I HAVE NOW REMOVED ALL BANK CARDS FROM MY EBAY ACCOUNT IN PREPARATION FOR THIS SCAM, I AM NOT REFUND ANYTHING OR LOSING ANY MONEY FROM THIS SCAM.

SELLERS BEWARE THE 30 DAY REFUND CUT OFF IS A LIE. EBAY ALLOWS FALSE CASES TO BE OPENED 4 MONTHS AFTER DELIVERY OF A NEW ITEM.

EBAY IS NOT WORTH SELLING ON ANYMORE IF THERE IS NO PROTECTION FOR THIS SCAM.

[plpmr]

what you were hit with was a payment dispute that a buyer opens with their payment provider and you have no defence against a claim of not as described.

now with managed payments the case was opened against eBay [who the buyer paid] who the hit the seller.

Before managed payments a seller had some protection with PayPal.

unfortunately one way or the other eBay will get the money off you.

[*vyolla*]

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@parts-save wrote:

Now the item is exactly as described and the buyer even ADMITS this!! So first off they have made an entirely false claim, it should be closed on this basis alone!

Secondly the buyer literally admitted to ordering the wrong drill battery, and then attempting to fit it to a drill (CLEARLY using a NEW item and causing damage and marks).

---

Have they admitted this in writing?

If so, politely inform them that they are making fraudulent claim and you will be taking legal action against them unless they close it.

[ear2fear]

If a buyer makes a chargeback to their credit card and it appears on ebay as a case opened against a seller does it mean that the credit card or bank or whatever have definitely decided that the buyer has a valid case? I would have thought that the credit card would void the refund because of the amount of time that has passed since the purchase? 

[*knight-rider*]

As far as i`m aware, buyers can make claims upto a year after purchase, which is why sellers are always advised to keep postage receipts etc for a year at least.

Also, when a bank does a chargeback like this one, it is against Ebay and not the seller, so even Ebay can`t argue or fight these. Removing your cards from your Ebay account won`t make any difference, their bank will get the money, so if you have evidence the claim is false and/or the buyer admits to anything, i`d get in touch with your bank and see what they say.

[dch2112011]

A few thoughts for you to ponder on

Ebay like all receivers of card payments  accept chargebacks  as part of the terms and conditions of having the facility to allow payments to be made by card -  likewise ebay, the same as everyone else is charged for this facility by the payment provider.

An ebay seller accepts under the terms and conditions to sell on ebay that ebay will collect information to help defend the claim, If the payment institution finds in the buyers favour, ebay will refund the  buyer and then claim the refund plus an admin fee from the seller 

However a seller may be eligible for payment dispute protection.

When a buyer opens a payment dispute because the item they received doesn't match the listing, sellers will be asked to provide evidence to challenge the payment dispute, such as photographs showing the item's condition prior to shipment.

When determining whether to protect a seller, eBay will look for one of the following:

The seller issued a full refund to the buyer through eBay
The seller issued a refund to the buyer through eBay, but deducted an amount from the refund because the item was returned used or damaged (in accordance with our guidelines
An eBay Money Back Guarantee case of the same type for the same transaction that was already resolved with:
eBay determining that the seller met their obligations to the buyer, or
eBay issuing a full refund to the buyer

Because you are registered as a private seller  your buyer had no opportunity to return the incorrectly ordered battery, they simply ordered the incorrect item unintentionally and therefore it was of no use to them.  In the ideal world the buyer would simply put it back up for sale.

I am guessing they made contact with you requesting a return and refund which you declined - reading between the lines some back and forth took place resulting in the buyer opening a dispute via their payment provider. This may have contributed to the time from purchase to dispute.

Once this happens the payment provider open the dispute with ebay - not the customer .

This is where it gets confusing -  ebay can ask for the item to be returned but cannot force the buyer to return it ( legally it is your responsibility to arrange collection of the item at your expense ) 

By disputing the claim you are almost certainly going to enjoy a forced refund and an admin fee. 

Your best result would have been to allow the buyer to return at their expense via the ebay system and then inspect the item for damage rather than assuming it will be damaged and then if damaged claim under the appropriate seller protection on ebay

[game_raid]

I have had a couple of these over the years and have never lost one yet, this is simply down to the amount of time that has passed. The issue with these types of cases is they go on for at least 6 weeks because it goes to human review.

The only thing I did each time was to upload an image of the item that was sold to prove you shipped the correct item, of course they can say you didn't but the banks are not stupid, someone who receives an incorrect item would report it in a matter of days not months.

I wouldn't even speak to the buyer now it won't get you anywhere, upload the pics and wait for the bank to review the case.

[mainly.sneakers]

I had something similar with some trainers I sold.

Buyer opened a dispute with their payment provider, (bank, credit card, PayPal - can't remember who exactly).
ebay asked me to provide evidence to refute their claim.
I completed a Word document, including pasted screen shots of pictures plus communications, (so in your instance comms where the buyer admitted they ordered the wrong item and had damaged the battery).
The Word document can be uploaded as evidence - suggest including a summary with the screen shots.
It took a few weeks, but I won.
As I understand it a 'payment dispute' raised with a bank supersedes ebay's dispute so there isn't a lot ebay can do other than support you by passing across the evidence you provide.
Good luck. Hopefully you get the correct outcome.

[baz000000]

eBay are not their to help their customers, those who pay the commissions and various fees. The only approach to this is problematic as eBay only retain sales data for 3 months which means you might have no access to the transaction data on the orders tab. Though that should still be available from the payments record on eBay.

Anyway, you have the persons name and address so a court small claims is a good way to proceed to recover costs and I would also report a fraud to the police to attempt to gain a crime number which will support your prosecution case. I have always pursued companies or individuals for any debt exceeding £50 through the small claims court. Once you gain a judgement you can wreak havoc if money is no object on your side, including taking an individual through and to bankruptcy. 

I do like inflicting suffering on others who cross my honest path.