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!

[pg_kicks]

I agree, its just another reporting feature that doesnt work. I had one last week where the buyer claimed the item was a different colour to the pictures, fair enough the light in the pictures could change it (it doesnt) but the best part was it went through eBays Authentication Guarantee Scheme which confirms the shoes are brand new, authentic and match the description, yet it still cost me for them to return. Contacted eBay and they said report them and you will get the funds back if we find they have misused the MBG, i'll await the decision but nothing yet.

[padanpcparts]

80% of my INAD's are false. Problem is, how do you prove that? I sell item's that can be very technical so it's not always the customers fault.

It wouldn't be an issue at all, even with the return post cost...if you didn't get slapped again by E-bay for Service metrics. If the service metrics didn't exist, then INAD returns wouldnt bother me so much but a couple of years back when service metrics came in I got hit by the 'extra 4% charge' (worked out at 50% more fees at the time). I'm still fuming about it now, some guy who obviously managed a sales team must of come up with that amazing policy. 

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Uk distance selling laws protect buyers well.

Add to that ebays additional rules.

Ebay relies a lot on honesty and sadly not every one is honest.

I usually block anyone who has returned something so they cant pull the same stunt with me twice.

[vichew]

Hi 

I totally agree with all your comments . I recently had a very nasty abusive buyer stating all sorts on a item they bought. E-bay steped in I was told to refund and pay for the return which I did> I am still awaiting the return of the item . I have been trying to launch an appeal but this appears not possible . Am toltall annoyed with Ebay. This person was calling me alsorts I have sent request for tracking information for return of my item and received no reply . in effect this nasty lowlife has stolen my item . I have ben robbed of £33 . I too reported it they have favoured the buyer even though I have evidence of abuse being called a *bleep* among other things. 

Ebay should provid an email address to contact them with any dispute as its obvious the links on the system are not good enough  

Am absolutely disgusted 

[papso22]

EBay does not require you to refund before you get your item back, as long as you have provided a paid for return label.

[4_bathrooms]

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@vichew wrote:

E-bay steped in I was told to refund and pay for the return which I did> I am still awaiting the return of the item .

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It's the other way around...you should have paid for the return label and only refunded if/when you received your item back. However, once a seller has volunteered a refund that's it - the case is closed and eBay's involvement is over.

eBay use the tracking from the return label to check the buyer actually sends something back. Once the tracking indicates the seller has received the item the seller has three days to either issue a full refund or report a problem via the case. You can still report the buyer outside the case but as you have already voluntarily refunded the buyer eBay will not reimburse you.

[osalk49]

This is very frustrating for me and 80% of the return cases opened with those false reasons to make me pay for returns.

[bravergrace]

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@vichew wrote:

I recently had a very nasty abusive buyer stating all sorts on a item they bought. E-bay steped in I was told to refund and pay for the return which I did> I am still awaiting the return of the item . I have been trying to launch an appeal but this appears not possible . 

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Unfortunately, once you refunded the buyer, eBay will have sent them a message telling them they could keep the item (or throw it away), and didn't have to return it any more.  

On eBay, the normal procedure, if the buyer says there's something wrong with the item, is that the seller sends them a return label (usually by buying a prepaid eBay label), then the buyer sends the item back and the seller doesn't have to refund until 48  hours after they get it back.

There are a few exceptions, like if the item can't be returned once it's been opened (like a  bunch of flowers or a leaky pot of paint), or if the seller is away from home and misses the delivery, but NORMALLY you don't need to refund until you've got the item back.

Having said that, I sometimes refund buyers upfront when things go wrong, and they nearly always co-operate over sending it back later.  It sounds as if you've had really bad luck there.

[cosmeticsandmisc]

i've had this happen repeatedly. im fed up.

It was a night mare getting through to an ebay agent, but when I did, he told me to report the buyer and that I will be refunded the cost of return label fee. now ive issued the full refund...there is no sight of the return label fee refund. i cant get through to an agent again. the chat bot is just refusing point blank.

[bravergrace]

I'm not convinced that these "refunds" for the cost of the return labels are ever done.  But frankly, is it worth the effort of claiming them anyway?

I had one last week.  To spare the buyer's blushes, I'll recast it slightly, but it was along the lines of:

"I bought an antique skirt from you but it was Not As Described.  You said it was  ANTIQUE.  But when I opened it, I found it wasn't ANTIQUE at all.  I can tell because  it was black.  Every knows ANTIQUE is a shade of GOLD.   Plus, it looked old."

What should I do?  Berate the buyer for her ignorance?   Send her a dictionary?  No, I just sent her a return label and said I was sorry the purchase wasn't suitable.  Life's too short to waste it arguing with Customer Support - or with customers.  Customer didn't open an eBay case, didn't leave bad feedback, I'm down by the price of one label, that's the end of the matter as far as I'm concerned.

[neil9178]

Is this not encouraging pour buyers to simply get free returns over and over making the whole issue worse?? Just saying....

[extra_discount_deals]

Completely agreeing with the amount of buyers abusing INAD, Ive even had a buyer open INAD and in the 'reason box' wrote that he had not actually looked at what he was buying and that the item wasnt what he wanted but i was made to pay the return (this was a 8kg parcel so cost me £9.50 to upload a label) after multiple calls to CS they agreed he had misused the returns and refunded me £3.50 for the label, in the end it took over 6 weeks and numerous calls/email (purely out of prinicple) to get the rest of the money refunded - buyer then leaves me negative feedback because i had blocked him - on recommendation from CS - and CS will not remove it as it doesnt break any rules?

I have had several false INAD returned and all CS say is report it but we cant tell you anymore - yet i'm stuck with a defect and the return cost of the label. 

[handscartridges]

I have to agree we have had a few over the last few months.

We have had the reason not as discribed then comments "sorry bought wrong item" or "did not read Discription correctly bought for wrong printer"

We report and try our look with Ebay but we never seem to get the label returned on other sites you can open a case explain why it the wrong reason for return and 9 times out 10 it gets refunded.

[cbennissupplies]

Never ever refund until goods are returned, yes supply the return post but never refund at same time.

you are NOT doing anything wrong by waiting until you have the goods, you can NOT be forced to refund before reciving the goods back.

[johnjojohnson]

I have also experienced this issue and am equally as frustrated as most sellers on eBay. The "return whatever I want for no reason at all" policy should be, and most likely will be, the downfall of eBay. I would love to see the statistics on the number of return claims made public. The amount of time, money, and effort wasted on eBay is a joke. The treatment of sellers by eBay is unacceptable by any standard. They should be taken to court or at least publicly investigated regarding how their service operats, as it is currently subpar.

[lincolnshiremarine]

This is happening to us more and more too.  When we ask the buyer for more details after they raise a return as wrong item sent, (we know we sent the part they ordered)  they send us a message back saying sorry my fault it turned out not to be that part that was faulty.

In the adverts we state to contact us first if they are unsure if the outboard part will be correct, and we reply almost straight away even out of office hours.

However, many buyers do not do this, then the part arrives and it will not fit there outboard, and then have the cheek to say wrong item sent.  

Sellers are no longer treated fairly by ebay at all.

Best wishes 

[yvonnshepher54]

I am in the same boat, used to get no returns now happening often with reasons such 'dont like' or changed my mind.  On those two occations I listed the buyer as 'abusing the returns' *(as told by ebay customer services) but were awarded against me

When I contacted ebay to ask what the returns policy is I get different information.  Large retailers no longer provide free returns, most retailers on Ebay are small businesses and yet we are having to cough up. Dont really think Ebay cares about business sellers, we are just a cash cow to fund the fees for the private preloved clothing listings.

[yorkshire*flower]

Unfortunately you took the advice from Ebay CS who dont know what theyre talking about and you should never refund a buyer if you were expecting goods back. If the return was authorised then tracking is through ebay and the buyer can return for free.

If ebay stepped in and refunded without return of goid (which im surprised at)  then you should appeal as tracking will show not returned. Youll never receive your money back now as ebay will see that you have refunded them voluntarily. 

[aj_swift]

We get these every day in car parts. People who think because the word Golf is in the title it must be the part they need, because obviously everything has been kept the same since 1974. They then find it's wrong and assume that it's my fault, I've only worked in parts for 20 years and they own a car and looked at a photo so it must be me that messed up. Then there are the ones that order the wrong part, fit it and then ask me why it doesn't work. I ask their vehicle details, point out their error to them and explain that we can't accept returns of used car parts as we cannot guarantee their safety and would not be able to sell them again (plus they are always marked and obviously used). What do they do? Open a return for a defective item. Of course it's not working, you don't have the right car. How did people get so entitled? Everything is someone elses fault, couldn't be theirs, they spent 30 seconds looking at a picture. We even have some that are colour coded so we send them in a bag marked in big capital letters, "ONLY REPLACES OTHER BLACK SENSORS" they go ahead and use it to replace their white sensor, when it doesn't work they open a return "defective item". When I highlight this they tell me 'oh I saw that but it was the same shape so I assumed it will be fine, will post them back tomorrow". Are these people not aware I am a person working very long hours just trying to pay his rent and maybe one day have enough for a mortgage? Just blame me and have your money back, it's online so nothing really matters.