Scammed

[david.j2005]

Sold a brand new sealed iPhone 15 pro max and was told that it was defective which sent alarm bells ringing but initiated a return and the phone was delivered to another address nearby, the postie took a picture of the envelope and there was clearly no phone in it, it looked empty.  Told eBay this and not to give a refund but they did anyway.  I told them it was too soon and luckily because I bought postage with Royal Mail special delivery and not through eBay they can track every step of the way and they say that there was a manipulation of the tracking.  EBay know this and still didn't flag it and I have nearly £1000 worth of fees even though they know I was scammed.  Anyone else with this experience? They want me to settle the fees before I am reimbursed and are saying that it's already gone to a debt collection Agency.  Received a message today asking to pay my balance or it will go to debt collection.  Lots of contradictions by different staff and now just don't trust the process.  Royal Mail have sent proof that was good enough but will send absolute conclusive proof but I still think it will goto debt collection even though it was a scam and I did warn them.  I've stop tens of attempted scams on my sales over 19 years of membership but it doesn't seem to matter! 

[tressygirl]

Why is it £1000?  Even with a reserve on a phone and if applicabe seller fees were still there to be paid, there have been no seller fees for Private seller this month, it shouldn't be as high as £1000.

That aside , eBay do use debt collectors contact eBay Customer Services again I know you have spoken to agents but only try them very first thing in the morning when the lines first open a t 8 a.m. on weekdays, there's more chance of Dublin answering,  they can tell you if and what you need to pay, as I cannot believe it's £1000 owing!

The easiest and quickest way to contact Customer Services is through this link, for a Call Back .

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

On weekdays lines open between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Weekends lines open between 9 a.m. to 6p.m.

Good luck please come back and tell us how you got on.

@david.j2005 

[david.j2005]

Thanks for the reply and links,  I probably did not word it properly.  EBay gave the refund almost immediately even though I warned them not to.  They want me to pay for that refund even though I have provided proof it's a scam and then say that there is a process to get the money back but there is no way I'm doing that as have had conflicting replies from them.

[jckl1957]

I assume the buyer sent the phone back to a nearby address with the same postcode as you so that it shows returned and delivered.

Did you provide the label for return and was it a signed for service?  It has to be signed for, not just tracked if the item is over £450.

So, the buyer opened a case, returned the phone, tracking shows delivered but you refused to refund.  Ebay's terms under the Money Back Guarantee allow the buyer to ask Ebay to step in.  They refund and expect you to pay.

Because Ebay refunded, you can appeal and should start that process.  One piece of evidence they ask for is 'Proof that a returned item was delivered to the wrong address or lost in the mail' so get onto Royal Mail for confirmation of mis-delivery.

How to appeal a case

You can appeal cases that were "closed without seller resolution" from the transaction defect report in your Seller Dashboard.

See your closed cases

How to appeal a case from your Seller Dashboard

[david.j2005]

I thought it was a rogue postman at first but apparently Royal Mail have said that even though my address is on the typed postage label which I bought through them online and paid for enhanced insurance the address can be manipulated when it is passed into the system.  If idve gone through eBay with the postage they wouldn't have been able to track every part of the process so maybe a warning out there for others who are selling high value items and if this is the case then it becomes impossible to sell them until there is a way they can combat it.  I have already provided proof that I didn't receive the item but they are still going ahead with a collection agency.  

[david.j2005]

Hi, an update here of how things went.  I got conclusive proof from Royal Mail that the sender had put a pack of pencils in the envelope and had indeed put another address on the envelope.  I received an email from an eBay member of staff saying that they would ask for a manual refund and that I would hear back in 3-5 business days.  After nearly 2 weeks I called and they said the same thing, after over a week still nothing but a several calls from a debt collection agency on behalf of eBay.  So stressful and so badly handled from eBay and they couldn’t care less about 19 years of me being a customer.  I’ve stopped several scams on previous items, have given full refunds to people who don’t deserve it to protect my rating but it doesn’t matter.  Feel very let down 

[papso22]

So is it sorted or not?

[red_magpie]

They want me to settle the fees before I am reimbursed

As debt collectors are now involved you need to present the facts very clearly. They are certainly not clear from this thread.

Where does this £1000 of fees come from??

I had assumed you meant the price of the iphone, which is not a fee. But you say that eBay emailed you to say that you "received an email from an eBay member of staff saying that they would ask for a manual refund and that you would hear back in 3-5 business days" which I take it refers to reimbursing the buyer's £1,000 refund they took from your account?

So in short, if this is refers to a refund paid to the buyer, if they already taken this from your account and have agreed to reimburse this, how can it still be owed to eBay?

Or if you genuinely owe eBay £1,000 in fees you owe these can't be attributable just to the sale of this phone.

If you don't owe eBay this money you don't have anything to fear from debt collectors, but they are entitled to a clear explanation of the facts to take back to eBay.

[plpmr]

adding to the advice already given -

In case it has any relevance to matters, you sold the same phone twice in 24 hours.

[arkwebus]

If you are saying that the envelope/item was delivered, not to you but to an address nearby, then that alone should be enough for eBay not to refund.

If the envelope was empty then make an alarming fuss with Royal Mail and get their investigation service involved.  Also report this independently to Action Fraud who do not investigate but will give you a crime reference which may be accepted by eBay.  

@david.j2005 

[david.j2005]

I do not sell the same phone in 24hrs,  I had another pull out with no feedback so I relisted.  I have been scammed here, I am not the scammer

[david.j2005]

The envelope without the phone in was attempted to be delivered at an address in the same town.  The people at that address refused delivery so it went back to retail mail returns in Northern Ireland.  It was weighed and tracked all the way and confirmed that the person returning the phone had indeed scammed me by putting a pack of pencils in the envelope and not the brand new iPhone 15 pro max.  I did start a case with action fraud which hasn’t been acted Upon yet.  EBay know all this and have ignored me for weeks 

[david.j2005]

Nope it’s not but I have been given an eBay directors email by a member of the community and they said that they had a similar problem and it should be sorted if I email them 

[david.j2005]

Ok I have written the wrong word in the heat of the moment, according to eBay I owe them £905 which they refunded the buyer of the phone not fees.  
I think everything else is pretty clear and as it is with debt collectors I have every reason to be worried and have been let down by eBay.