Buyers abusing free returns

[tabletop-hobbies]

I'm getting increasingly fed up with buyers making false claims to get free returns,  they claim the item is not as described and with seeminlyg no come back or due diligence ebay makes the seller pay for the return postage.  There is no come back to this other than reporting the buyer which doesn't fix the issue in hand, which is that ebay just facilitated someone robbing money from your pocket.

I've had a fair few of these recently with only one being an actual valid return, the others were basically buyers remorse but chancing their arm at saving a few quid.  I photograph my listings well and describe them accurately.

Give us a break ebay!

[divine0606]

These UK distance selling laws need looking at again things have changed a lot especially with the cost of living retails stores get robbed on a daily basis some businesses are put out business because of this and the clever ones know they can just go online purchase items return something different or state its not as described and its killing businesses basically i beleive these laws are no longer fit for purpose buyers are just given to much power here in the UK and they now know that and take advantage of this. 

Its a shame really. 

[1956glyn]

Hi

Its not just Business sellers and i think private sellers are also suffering the same with regard to bogus returns.

I have had 3 not as described cases opened against me in the past 3 months.....none of which were genuine.     In the previous 10 years plus i never had even one return request.  One case was for a hand held hoover which the buyer said was defective........came back and works fine as it did when sent.    The buyer even kindly returned it full of fluff and other nasties and the battery was flat !

[lincolnshiremarine]

Hi

That is exactly the same situation for us too, in the outboard marine trade.  Even on every advert we ask to send over the model number before purchasing if not sure.

 Then when it does not fit we get an abrupt rude message asking why the part does not fit. 

It turns out they have ordered the wrong part, or not even read the advert.

Of course as you have said, we are in the wrong despite us being in the trade for 25 years, what do we know.

We had one case were an item was returned, it was used and dirty and the wires bent, and not in the orginal packaging, so it was clear it had been used.  The buyer claimed it was the wrong item sent and not used. 

As we put the return had been used, the buyer sent a message saying it had not been used and was just sat on his kitchen table.  Ebay did side with us on this one as provided photos etc as proof.   This item then had to go in the bin.

We also get message like "my pump is not working I brought from you, why?"

Even when buyers ask questions about a product there, is no hello, thank you etc, 

Best wishes 

[aj_swift]

You may be able to tell but I had three cases like this yesterday and was extremely wound up by it, a little calmer today. To be honest I can live with the financial cost but it's the service metrics that really wind me up. I can never get out of the high category, fortunately never ended up in the very high category. I have real doubts about the average rate they measure me against. Apparently my competitors have a rate below 0.5% but when I look at their listings they don't make half the effort I do in putting all the infomation out there. I don't know who they are comparing me to but they sure as hell aren't selling parking and abs sensors. Perhaps I need to dilute them with some much more simple products. Simple products for simple minds, that's the eBay way.

[1956glyn]

I do not list or sell very much to be honest.    I am rather concerned that due to this and the 3 recent cases my returns rate is 8%  !!!  

[lincolnshiremarine]

Hi

I too get wound up by ebay, we try as a small family business to help customers in the way we would like to be helped, and try to expain as much as we can in the adverts.  I am sure many other sellers have that stance too.

We have been a seller on here for many years, but noticed it is getting worse.

Ebay customer service is as much use as a chocolate fireguard.  There are buyers (not all of them) that know how to work the system unfortunately.

It does not matter how simplistic you try and put the adverts, it still does not work. 

I had buyer buy three spark plugs, the advert said the details of the spark plugs x 3.

The picture showed three boxes with one spark plug sat on top of box to show them.

We sent them three spark plugs in three boxes. 

I then had a message saying "where is my 4th spark plug, you only sent me 3"  

I said that is correct three spark plugs,  the advert is for three spark plugs, I highlighted the bits in the advert to show this, they said that it was for four as the picture showed three boxes, plus the spark plug on top of the box which they claimed made four !

How do you deal with that.  

Best wishes and keep smiling 🙂

[arkwebus]

You refunded and then sent the label to get it back. 

That is the wrong way round.  You should have sent the label within 3 days of the case being opened.  There is no point in any discussion.  

As you refunded eBay closes the case thinking - with justification perhaps - you do not want it back

@vichew 

[extra_discount_deals]

Another day, another buyer abusing the returns - 'claims dvd in box set was faulty after having it delivered 4 weeks ago' been returned, said dvd plays fine clearly just has just watched it and decided fancies £48 refund, not even sent the actual outer box that the dvds come in back. CS advise to contact and ask for box to be sent back, but still Ive only got 2 days to issue refund (before ebay step in) and then report him after - guessing slim chances of getting box back before I'm forced to refund 😐

[susapric-68]

As a top rated business seller you should have the option to partial refund. Think you can deduct up to 50% if it does not come back in the condition sent

[4_bathrooms]

---

@extra_discount_deals wrote:

CS advise to contact and ask for box to be sent back, but still Ive only got 2 days to issue refund (before ebay step in) and then report him after 😐

---

At the bottom of the case there should be a "Report a problem" link. Click that to report the buyer (selecting the most appropriate reason) - this should stop the automated process and prevent the buyer from asking eBay to step in on the 2nd day. According to eBay if you issue a partial refund eBay's guidelines allow the deduction to be 10% (apparently):

[extra_discount_deals]

Thanks thats really helpful, its just annoying theyve claimed its faulty when its not - this info has been really helpful along with susapric info 🙂 

[street_automotive]

We are having the exact same issues and its getting frustrating as it pushes our service metrics up to to the point we had to pay even more fees, its ridicolous 

[*knight-rider*]

There will alway`s be some out there who play the system, anywhere, for anything. i`ve sold two cd`s in the past couple of weeks, both mint and like new, first guy actually told me he`d looked at it under a halogen lamp, found a mark and wanted to send it back, which he did. Second guy did pretty much the same, claimed it was covered in scratches and opened a return. So i provided a label, because it was £25, i wasn`t going to just refund. Three days later, return wasn`t showing as dispatched and i thought, `i know what he`s waiting for`

Low and behold, i get a message asking if i`m prepared to give a partial refund instead `just a thought`, which is probably what he thought i`d do rather than provide a label. Anyway, the label would cost me nearly a fiver, so i said i`d refund a fiver, anymore than that, you can return it, which he accepted. Not so scratched now is it 🤔

Thankfully, alot of this behaviour is in the minority and i`m afraid if you sell on ebay, it`s something we just have to accept. As everyone has said, just ignore the neg, hardly anyone reads them anyway and it will soon disappear 😉

[tech-tech.shop]

Totally agree, I'm getting 2-3 returns per week as "wrong item sent" and they even put a photo of the correct item on the return case. Sick of paying for return labels and getting into the high category on the service metrics now

[santlache_sales]

I'm surprised nobody has challenged eBay in court on them  stealing 10% of our P&P fees, for no other reason than to generate them more cash.

It all started when they wanted everyone to offer free P&P and they pushed it hard, except sensible sellers realised by giving free P&P and loading it onto the sale price, you ended up paying eBay a bigger FVF.

So most sellers ignored this free P&P request and continued to charge it, which meant the expected extra revenue ebay were expecting never materialised .......so what did they do ?

A month or so later they loaded a 10% fee on everyone still charging P&P, immediately giving them back the extra revenue and gave the limp and pathetic excuse it was to stop (Chinese) sellers advertising items for £1, and charging £15 P&P.

Like they couldn't police the site themselves and stop it !!

It was just another one of eBay's cons used to generate more cash from the seller, and it stinks.

It was policies like this which turned me off eBay and their greed was cemented, a nasty extra seller tax used only to generate them more cash.

[dan_4i]

I am fed up too. I sold a ring with enormous stamp 925 and he said it was fake to

get a free postage