Buyer refused delivery and opened a return, ebay support going haywire

[dza-4617]

Hi guys, 

I have  a peculiar situation, warning to sellers perhaps?

Buyer refused delivery and immediately opened a return, even put the tracking number from me as his own return tracking. I contacted ebay support as delivery refusal is clearly outlined in ebay money back guarantee as voiding protection. I also pointed out that the return request is basically fake, as the buyer is not returning anything and the tracking is not his but for the outbound parcel.

The support rep agreed and said buyer account will be put under risk management review, and that they will contact me via email with a resolution, clearly stating case will be closed in my favour.

Of course, no email came. I contacted support again, who confirmed buyer account is under risk management but they can't say anything more, and that the previous rep "misspoke" and the return is not going to be closed, because buyers have the right to return goods by UK law and now the buyer has no money and no item:)

When I pointed out ebay policy ebay rep agreed delivery refusal voids protection, but not the right to return, and that provided tracking shows item refused, yes, but also item will be returned to sender, at which point I am supposed to refund in full, period.

The rep even checked the tracking and tried to accuse me that I rejected the return shipment, because tracking said recipient refused and they thought the package was already sent out by the buyer, even though they agreed a moment before that buyer refused the package... and that the same tracking number shows this.

When I drilled further, basically what it boils down to, if buyer refuses a package, opens item not received case or not as desribed and you provide tracking that shows refusal, case will be closed in your favour with no refund. If the buyer refuses the parcel and opens a return, you are toast, full refund and extra postal fees. Don't get me started on international parcels. 

Just to be clear, I am totally for refunding on my own the item price minus shipping and fees, but ebay does not even say refund the guy and get back to us to get a credit for cost incurred or whatever.

They were supposed to talk with their manager and let me know by email, but forgot to mention when and immediately disconnected the chat, so that's that...

Any thoughts?

[douglaspuglas]

The buyer negated the money back guarantee by refusing the parcel.

Getting eBay CS to understand the their own policy will be your problem.

I've also seen a post from a buyer who did the same as yours and it was suggested they contact eBay and give them the original tracking number to show they returned the item.

It's post 8 on this thread.

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Buying/Getting-my-money-back/td-p/7574839

[dza-4617]

Seems like in that thread the buyer got nowhere in the end, but it's actually a clever way for dishonest buyers to get their money back in white gloves. Even if the seller decides to fight this, it takes finding the right person in the ebay mud.  And I am not even sure if you contact ebay support with an issue, and they say one thing, they "flag" your account in case you get back so the next rep sees that you came back complaining about something they made a judgment on, so it gets progressively harder to get to the bottom of things.

[papso22]

marco@ebay 

Can you help the OP?  This is a clear case where the buyer is not covered by the MBG but ebay CS can't see that. 

[dza-4617]

Just got hammered by ebay today on another return case that I was told will be closed in my favour even if buyer escalates. Item not received case closed in my favour, return opened with buyer flat out saying in the comment that he does not have the item and he wants a refund.

I specifically asked that the date provided by ebay rep when case is supposed to be closed in my favour is after the date buyer can escalate. Was told not to worry, even so it will automatically be closed in my favour as ebay treats it as item not received case.

Alas, buyer escalated and case was automatically closed in his favour with a refund and a strike on my account. Now I am told a specialized team will handle this in 3 days. 

What is going on with ebay support lately flat out lying and ebay not taking ANY ownership for that?

[dza-4617]

And to add insult to injury, appeal was denied because I did not provide a return label even though I was previouly told by ebay not to do anything and that case will be ruled in my favour.

Ebay actually went on saying that after buyer escalated the case, they gave me extra 5 days to provide a return label, so they closed the case with a full refund. Trouble is, case was opened on March 6th, escalated and refunded on March 9th, and it's March 10th today so where are the 5 days they speak of? 

Absolute mad house lately. Is there an address to appeal an appeal? Probably not...

[marco@ebay]

Hi dza-4617, thanks for your post.

If you confirm the item number for me, I can send your case for review. Obviously, I cannot guarantee anything until the case is reviewed, but in the scenario where a buyer refuses the delivery of the item, and then files a return, the seller usually wins as the buyer doesn't have an item to return. Once you confirm the item number, I will send it for review and let you know more eventually.

Thank you,

Marco

[dza-4617]

Hi,

I used an option to email ebay under a different topic and ebay refunded me for that case, though the email I received had weird wording like it was pasted from different topics, in most points referring to me as a buyer, even when I was the seller. Ebay ignored the issue of the defect though, and is no longer responding to my queries, so I was refunded but my account was struck with a defect anyway...

[papso22]

You can still ask Marco to get the case  reviewed.