Advice please re Dishonest & Abusive Buyer

[bagabargainwmsjt]

Hi

I am after a little support and advice, have upped my selling recently (covid redundancy) and experienced a number of time wasters non payers etc but today's little gem is off the scale.  Buyer won the auction last night then messaged me this morning to say he had more than one account and bought the same item elsewhere so cancel it no need to involve eBay.  However I wanted my fees back and to try second chance offer so said i would seek advice from eBay.  He then became difficult about wasting his time and has despite being blocked by me proceeded to message me throughout the day threatening a formal complaint if I dont leave it and has left me really awful feedback (words removed by eBay a unfounded but -ve shown there until I can raise unpaid item tomorrow) he is sending me screen shots of conversations he is having on chat with eBay where they are supporting him and reassuring him that he is their priority and they are sorry about his upset along with laughing faces and lunacy ha ha has?!?!  At what stage do eBay protect the seller who pays them fees against dishonest buyers and why does being blocked not work for messages? 

[red_magpie · Accepted solution]

You didn't need advice from eBay, and it's best not to get into discussions like this. Use the procedures that eBay provides.

You have two choices - offer the buyer a cancellation, or just open an unpaid item case. The second seems appropriate in this case. You can open it any time between 2 and 32 days after the listing ends, and close it after four days if they haven't paid. For details, see: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/unpaid-items.html

Your final value fee (but no other fees) will then be credited back to your account and you can safely relist the item. The buyer will receive an unpaid item strike from eBay. This will stay on their account for a year, and if they receive a second most sellers will block them from bidding. Neither party can leave feedback; any already left can be removed.

Unfortunately there is so much abuse between eBay's millions of members that there's little point in reporting it. EBay has long since removed the link once provided to do this. If a member makes threats of violence or sends racist or sexually troubling messages, this is a matter for the police. Otherwise I'm afraid it's just one of the more unpleasant aspects of trading with strangers online.

p.s. you can't block messages from a buyer with whom you have been in a recent transaction.

[bagabargainwmsjt · Accepted solution]

Thank you; I will do the unpaid item request and as you say close it as soon as i can and then move on. I genuinely wish I had not engaged but I was trying to do the right thing but as you say you live and learn. It’s just shocking the power the buyer seems to have but you’re right it’s no biggie and not worth the hassle. Thank you for plain talking and talking sense.