I am sick to death with being scammed by serial "item not received" buyers.
I've not been selling on eBay for too long, about 15 months. I made mistakes initially, insufficient packaging etc, but i learned, and generally i try to do the very best i can. It didn't take me long to realise that there are serial scammers. I started checking feedback that had been left for others and where there was a high proportion of negative feedback left for sellers, i.e item not received, item arrived damaged, item not as described etc etc etc Where there is a lot of this feedback left, i have decided that selling to these people is just too risky. Not worth the effort because there is a high chance that thye will find/invent a problem and i will end up having to refund.
I contacted eBay to ask how i can cancel a sale without being penalised. It turns out i can't. Even though i had a buyer who had left 8 out of 10 negative reviews for items not recieved. He is obviously the unluckiest buyer on the planet. Anyway, he bought an item on a Thursday evening, it was posted on the Friday. It was posted Royal Mail 2nd Class which has an estimated delivery of 2-3 working days.
On the Monday afternoon, the guy opened a case against me for item not received. I replied that the due date hadn't even arrived and wasnt expected until possibly the Wednesday and that actially with the pandemic, all couriers are issuing warnings about increased delivery times, but i already knew judging by his previous feedback left for sellers that he was never going to receive his item. I contacted eBay to ask why he was even allowed to open a case so soon, but as sellers know, Ebay does not care for about its sellers. I had 5 days to resolve the issue. I wrote to him on 4th day to ask if he had received his item. I heard nothing back and then over night, he has escaleted the issue with ebay who has refunded in his favour.
I have a couple of issues here with eBay.
- Why can i not refuse to sell to certain buyers
- Why was he allowed to open a case so soon, before even the expected delivery date
This guy has "not received items" again and again. The first might have been genuine, but because it is so easy for him to get his refund with no questions asked, he obviously just keeps on using same excuse. Ebay will argue that i should use tracked mail, but essentially, eBay is encouraging theft. Ebay make more money per transaction than i do and to add tracking to small letters just makes it completely unviable. But, it is a fair point and would remove these issues.
So, the only way i can have some control over this would be cancel a transaction to a seller who i believe is a scammer, a thief, a serial moaner, anybody who goes out of their way to find a problem. I understand that problems do genuinely occur, but when buyers are repeatedly leaving negative feedback for the same reasons, you have to ask if the problem is not with the seller, but with the buyer. And ultimately eBay themselves. If in my shop I suspect I have a shop lifter, I can refuse them entry. I own a bar, and i can refuse to serve people, and yet eBay are forcing me to sell to buyers who I strongly suspect are scammers and indeed thieves. Buyers open a case, I have no tracking, eBay closes case in their favour, which I understand because there is no tracking. If I could have cancelled the transaction in the first place, I would not be out of pocket, I would not have a defect against my account, and the buyer would not be getting away with for want of a better description, stealing product.
Am i the only seller who thinks this ? I know a vast vast majority of buyers are genuine, and I know genuine problems do occur, but when the same buyer has the same issues, then surely the problem is not with the seller, but with the buyer , and eBay for allowing them to continue to steal product. I know they are strong accusations, but that's how I feel.
Sellers should be able to refuse sales ??
