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Ebay refunds scammer seller loses item and funds
Summary: incewilliams detailed a suspected eBay return fraud involving an iPhone 17 Pro Max. Despite providing evidence that Royal Mail did not deliver the return package to their address, eBay sided with the buyer and issued a refund. incewilliams has been unable to appeal the decision effectively, citing eBay's unresponsive support and flawed process. Other participants discussed similar scams and the lack of protections for sellers, with one recommending consulting external legal advice. incewilliams expressed frustration and concern over the situation's impact on their mental health.
Summary of suspected eBay return fraud involving an iPhone 17 Pro Max
I sold a brand-new, unopened iPhone 17 Pro Max 256GB Deep Blue on eBay for £915. The phone was an unwanted upgrade and was factory sealed when sold.
After receiving the phone, the buyer contacted me through eBay claiming that the phone would not switch on and requested a return.
I agreed to the return. Because the item was worth £915, I wanted to ensure that it was returned using a secure and appropriately insured postal service. I therefore personally purchased a Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm return label through Royal Mail and supplied that label to the buyer through the eBay return process.
The return label I purchased contained my correct return address at my place of work in Brighton. I retain a copy of the original label and proof of its purchase.
The buyer subsequently posted a parcel using the Special Delivery tracking number associated with the label I supplied.
The parcel was supposed to be delivered to me at my workplace. This is a large, staffed retail premises with prominent double entrance doors.
On 2 September 2026, Royal Mail tracking recorded “Delivery Attempted – No Answer.” I was at the premises and expecting this valuable parcel. To my knowledge, no delivery was actually presented to me.
I contacted Royal Mail and was told that another delivery attempt would be made the following day.
On 3 September 2026, the tracking initially stated that the parcel was due for delivery that day. At approximately 12:12, however, the tracking changed to “Refused – Returned to Sender.”
I did not refuse the parcel. It was never presented to me for me to refuse.
Later that same day, Royal Mail tracking showed the parcel as “Available for Redelivery or Collection” at Brighton Delivery Office.
I contacted Royal Mail repeatedly because these tracking events did not make sense. Royal Mail opened an investigation and at one point placed a hold on the parcel in an attempt to prevent it being returned to the sender.
I attempted to recover the parcel from Royal Mail, but it subsequently entered the return-to-sender process and I was unable to obtain it.
Royal Mail's public tracking subsequently changed again and stated:
“We were unable to deliver this item … as the recipient is no longer at that address. We're returning the item to the sender.”
This was also incorrect in relation to me. I am associated with the return address and the business was operating there.
I subsequently spoke to Royal Mail Customer Service and was informed that two different postcodes were associated with/on the returned package. One of those was BN2 5ET, which was not the postcode I had put on the return label supplied to the buyer and this was the postcode return was sent to,
I then attended the main Royal Mail delivery office/hub in person. Royal Mail staff permitted me to photograph information displayed on their internal computer system concerning this parcel. I therefore have photographs/screenshots from Royal Mail's own system relating to the parcel and the conflicting postcode/address information.
I also retain my copy of the original Special Delivery label, which shows the return-address information that I originally supplied.
I am concerned that the addressing information on the return parcel may have been altered after I supplied the original label, causing the physical parcel to be routed or presented at a different address while remaining associated with the Special Delivery tracking number.
I cannot personally establish who altered the addressing information, and I am asking for this to be investigated. However, I did not provide the additional postcode identified by Royal Mail.
During this process, eBay refunded the buyer the £915 purchase price.
I repeatedly informed eBay that I had never received the returned phone. Initially, eBay relied upon the Royal Mail tracking entry stating that delivery had been attempted and the parcel had been “refused”.
I explained repeatedly that I had not refused the parcel and that Royal Mail was investigating the delivery.
I subsequently informed eBay about Royal Mail's discovery of the conflicting postcode information and offered the Royal Mail evidence. Nevertheless, eBay rejected and closed my appeal. (refused by someone in BN2 5EH)
Royal Mail's tracking now establishes that the parcel was not successfully delivered to me and is being returned to the sender.
Consequently, the buyer has received the £915 refund, while I have received neither the £915 payment nor my iPhone back.
I am therefore reporting this as suspected return/refund fraud.
My concern is that the return parcel's addressing information may have been deliberately manipulated so that Royal Mail tracking would record delivery activity without the parcel actually being delivered to my correct return address. This would potentially enable the buyer to obtain a refund while ultimately recovering or retaining the return parcel.
I want to emphasise that I am reporting this as a suspicion requiring investigation, rather than claiming that I personally witnessed the buyer altering the label.
I can provide supporting evidence including:
the original eBay listing and £915 transaction;
communications with the buyer;
the original Royal Mail Special Delivery label I purchased;
proof of purchase of that postage;
the complete Royal Mail tracking history;
evidence of the “No Answer”, “Refused” and “recipient is no longer at that address” tracking events;
photographs taken with Royal Mail's permission of its internal system concerning the parcel/address information;
evidence concerning the additional postcode BN2 5ET;
communications with Royal Mail and details of its investigation;
eBay's correspondence and rejection of my appeal;
evidence that the buyer was refunded £915 despite the return never reaching me.
Police Crime no
I would like the circumstances investigated, particularly how the second postcode/address information became associated with the return parcel after I supplied a correctly addressed Royal Mail Special Delivery label, and what ultimately happens to the parcel when it is returned to sender.
Financial loss: £915, representing the sale proceeds of the iPhone for which I have neither received/retained payment nor had the original property returned to me.
*vyolla*
Mentor1 month agoI do hope you've reported that phone as stolen, at least it will get blocked.
incewilliams
OP1 month agoI now have solid evidence from Royal Mail confirming that they did not attempt to deliver the package to address, the address that was on the special delivery post this label I provided, this completely contradicts eBay, so I presented this to eBay in a online chat Where I was told But eBay has to go by their own tracking They refused to contact Royal Mail Now they have blocked me from asking for a call They don't reply to my emails, it's a disgrace And to think that the person who did this is still on eBay doing this probably to other people And eBay don't care at all, it's because of eBay systems and how they function that this scam is done so easily, I've been a member of eBay for over twenty years with over 700 feedback 100% never had any problems Never had any complaints Sales always went smoothly, the only had one visible feedback, but this means absolutely nothing to them The past week has been pure hell and it has massively affected my mental health, I've been called a liar, being hung up on on many occasions, get sent down endless loop Holes of bots Redirecting to help pages that are actually no help at all, this is sellers are dealing with, a company who does not care about its customers, and they are fully aware of this scam, so I am left without my phone and without the money and the scammer is left with my phone and the money, eBay obviously thinks this is perfectly fine
incewilliams
OP1 month agoincewilliams
OP1 month agoRoyal mail have provided me with written confirmation that there were no attempts to deliver the package to my return address, eBay are still ignoring me and refusing to accept this new evidence from Royal mail
incewilliams
OP1 month ago“I am sharing this because other private sellers need to understand the risk. I followed the return procedure, supplied a tracked and insured return label, gathered evidence from Royal Mail and reported the matter as suspected fraud. Despite this, I have been unable to obtain what I consider a meaningful review of that evidence, and the appeal facility described in eBay’s own seller guidance is not available to me. I am not asking anyone to take my word for it — I am documenting the evidence and my experience so other sellers can make their own judgement.”
papso22
Mentor1 month agoAltering the return address is a scam we have seen here before. I am not aware of any positive outcome for the affected sellers, certainly not through any action by ebay.
incewilliams
OP1 month agoeBay are currently ignoring me, there is no option to appeal with my new evidence the link to appeal is grayed out, support just sends me in endless loops, callback hangup, I have all the evidence but eBay siding with the scammer and the over 20 years member with over 700 positive 100% feedback is treated like dirt
red_magpie
Mentor1 month ago · EditedThis is a glaring example of how sellers are left helpless when eBay seems unwilling to properly investigate apparent fraud by buyers.
eBay has structured its organisation in such a way that although the handling of customers' money is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, its conduct of the money back guarantee is not. This means that sellers have no right of appeal to any independent authority against eBay's decisions. Quite the reverse, in fact, as the legal agreement requires users to agree to accept them.
Buyers, as so often, are better protected. Every payment method that eBay accepts is regulated by the FCA, so if eBay finds against a buyer they can file a dispute with their payment provider and if necessary appeal to the Ombudsman.
It's very hard to know what to suggest if eBay won't take the matter further. Going to law against unknown private buyers is uncertain with no guarantee of getting any money back, even if you win. Best to start by consulting Citizens Advice or a solicitor. Good luck anyway!