Buyer returned item.

[diddy-55]

UK Seller here.

I sold a NEW and sealed iPhone 16 on the 14th August and paid extra at my own cost to get the buyer the item on next day delivery , on the 22nd August the buyer contacted me asking for the item to be returned as 'Doesn't work or is defective'

''The Phone is not activating currently we have tried cycling it through a few times but the screen would not turn on.

I have left the phone on charge for hours on end but had no luck. I've also tried some other troubleshooting steps but nothing. Some forums are stating it could be a hardware issue so I'd like to have this returned if you could have this inspected and a resolution brought forward after"

I requested for an return label to be issued to the buyer with my personal home address on the label.

I received notification that the item was out for delivery to my address on Friday, and then received further notification the item was "delivered" while I was in the property with no Royal Mail calling card left either.

I thought I would leave it for 24 hours or so as it may of been with a neighbour etc but no sign of said return.

I contacted Royal Mail on Saturday 30th August who advised they checked the GPS and the item was delivered around "7 minutes drive" from my property and was not delivered to my property.

Royal Mail opened an investigation and as of yesterday (1st September) I received the below email:

I am sorry to learn that you have not yet received an item that was returned to you, even though it was confirmed as delivered on our system. I can understand your concern.

"We have now completed our investigations. I can confirm that this item has not been delivered to the address you have provided which is xxxxxxx

The purchaser gave us a different address to the return information that you supplied to them. Based on the information received, we delivered the item to the correct address. In light of this, I’d advise you to contact the person who returned the item or the selling platform used for this transaction for more information.

Due to GDPR guidelines I am unable to share the delivery address details we used in the return of your item. Please check this with the purchaser or the selling platform directly"

I have shared this email with eBay - the buyer isn't contacting me and I am under pressure to issue a refund to the buyer from eBay.

 I am not quite sure what to do or where I stand on this, I used the eBay call me function and got absolutely nowhere with them, I have contacted Royal Mail further and awaiting a response.

eBay said there is nothing they can do, its the carriers fault and stepping away from helping me out - meanwhile today is the deadline for issuing a refund - but I cant issue a refund for something that is not in my possession.

I've had an eBay account since 2007 and I think this is the final straw for me unfortunately - there doesn't seem to be any support for sellers constantly a one way street with the stress this has caused me over the past few days or so.

Any advice would be appreciated.

As of today 3/9/25 I received an email from eBay advising they are now stepping in to resolve the return - I presume that means they will be refunding the buyer and chasing me for the costs?

Thanks

[*vyolla*]

This is a relatively common scam, a bit of random cheap rubbish is sent to a nearby address, thus providing a  status of delivered. It's vital that eBay are aware that you have confirmation in writing from Royal Mail that the address on the label was changed and that their GPS confirms that it was delivered to an address 7 miles from you.

What happens when you discuss this with them?

I’ve found that the easiest route to contact eBay Customer Services is via the link below where you can request a call back:

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

Pop back and let us know what they say.

[diddy-55]

Just abit of an update that has happened in the past couple of minutes:

Here's the case outcome

We decided to refund the buyer and will deduct £xxxx from you.

Case details

Outcome

The case was decided in the buyer's favour.The case was decided in the buyer's favour. More details We received tracking information from the buyer that shows successful delivery to your return address.

History

3 Sep

The case was resolved

3 Sep

The case opened

"I have requested and the seller hasn't granted the refund andi released parcel and they havent accept further delaying my refund ""I have requested and the seller hasn't granted the refund andi released parcel and they havent accept further delaying my refund "

26 Aug26

You provided RMA

26 Aug

You approved the return

22 Aug

Buyer requested a return

Something odd about this, not sure how I go about this further?

[diddy-55]

Hi Vyolla,

I actually contacted eBay and asked to speak to a manager 'Cre' awful delay on the line, wasnt helpful in my favour whatsoever really and said I need to take the issue up with Royal Mail and nothing eBay can do.

Royal Mail said I need to liaise with the merchant/sender?

Now I have been stumped up with the costs given to me by eBay as they have refunded the buyer, and charging me - meanwhile I do not have the item back.

[w79805]

i definitely recommend making an action fraud report, but it would have been better to have it before they refunded the buyer  https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

I've read that people have had success after providing ebay with the action fraud reference number.

If you request a callback from the link https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

I've read that requesting it at 8am weekdays or 9am weekends gives you more chance of getting through to an irish call centre instead of an asian one which could be more helpful. You could also call them: 03453553229

Are you able to see the exact location the package was delivered when on the royal mail website? it could help if you could recover the package from whoever received it

[pegr-834437]

You need to contact eBay again, hopefully getting somebody in Ireland, explain everything and that you have proof from Royal Mail that they have delivered to a different address. You may also need to open an action fraud case, they just give you a case number that in eBays eyes proves you are not lying. Whatever you do do not give up and try and phone as early as possible to get the Irish team.

[ett1954]

I would suggest you make a report to Action Fraud who will provide you with a case number then open an appeal against the case decision with eBay and make sure you provide eBay with the Action Fraud case number which will ensure eBay re-visit your case.

What will happen next I am not sure, but plenty of people on here have suffered from this scam; perhaps one of them can come to this thread and advise you further.

I presume you have the imei number of the phone.  You should report the phone stolen and have it blocked.  Unfortunately this block will only work in the UK and I suspect your original phone is now wending its way to Africa somewhere if this is a professional scammer.

[papso22]

marco@ebay 

kat@ebay 

dave@ebay 

Can one of you help the OP?  They have been the victim of the 'amended return label' scam and don't seem to be getting anywhere with ebay CS.

[w79805]

"I'd like to have this returned if you could have this inspected and a resolution brought forward after"

Definitely a scammer. a normal person doesn't talk like this!

[*vyolla*]

@diddy-55 

You have enough confirmation from Royal Mail that the label was amended, so appeal this.

Make a report on Actionfraud, the Police website, this will give you a reference number.

Keep your statement short and concise. State in it that Royal Mail have confirmed in writing that the issued return label has been changed by the buyer and that their GPS confirms that it was not delivered back to your address, which you now understand is not an uncommon scam with iPhones (copy and paste RMs message if room, if not screenshot it and add it to your appeal case). State that you have lodged this with Actionfraud and that the reference number is XXXXXXXXXX.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/appeal-outcome-case-seller?id=4369&st=3...

Also calling on 

marco@ebay 

kat@ebay 

dave@ebay 

This is a common scam, hopefully one of you can get this through to the relevant section of eBay.

[marco@ebay]

Hi diddy-55, thanks for your post.

Just to set up the right expectations, at this stage, there is probably not much that we could do. However, if you confirm the item number for me, I'd be happy to look into it for you to see what can be done to help you out.

Thanks for the tag, @papso22 @*vyolla* 

Marco

[*vyolla*]

Thanks marco@ebay.

It is a relatively common scam to print off the eBay pre-paid returns label and change the address on it to a nearby one and send a bit of tat to that address, thus giving the buyer a 'delivered' status for their fake return.

This just requires somebody at eBay to take note of the message that OP has from Royal Mail confirming that the delivery address was not his, but one '7 minutes drive' from his property, GPS confirms this. 

I've had the same stunt pulled on me a few years ago, even though I pointed out to eBay that the delivery address was actually 300 miles from me, and that they surely should check the tracking a little more carefully, they refunded the scammer. I eventually got my money back, but it was a bit of a fight.

[millcottage]

Reading threads like this gives me another reason not to sell high value items via eBay.

I was thinking of selling a gold proof coin (now gold price is at a high) with potential value of £900.

What would happen if I sold coin, posted it , then the buyer raised a return request and did same scam as in this thread?

It seems from the reply from an eBay employee they would refund the scammer/buyer regardless and leave the me out of pocket to the tune of £900 plus 😳

[diddy-55]

Hello,

Just to keep you updated regarding this post.

I reached out to eBay yesterday and managed to speak to an Irish agent - super helpful who vowed to resolve and would do the best he could to help, however he did say he would need more information from Royal Mail.

He provided me a document uploader link to upload documents/email from Royal Mail mentioning the GPS info etc.

I contacted Royal Mail even further (40 minutes on hold) and they wasnt much help in all honesty, RM said there is an open case for 10 working days from Saturday 30th August with no determined outcome as of yet.

I thought I would upload the information I already had from Royal Mail (PDF emails) to the document uploader link - and recieved the below some 20 minutes after.

"Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Service about return case for the item “xxx” by “xxx”. 

I understand you have not received the item in return from the buyer. I appreciate you for providing a documentation from Royal Mail confirming item was not delivered to your address. Rest assured, I would resolve this for you.

Here is the resolution for you. 

I have reviewed all case details and, I am glad to inform you that I’ve granted your appeal. The funds will be released within 24 hours and this case will not affect your seller performance. 

To learn more about seller protection, you can refer this page: eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Happy to resolve this for you today.

Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Service and appreciate you for being a loyal member since 2007. I hope you have a great day. 

Kind regards,

eBay Customer Service"

According my payment account it is now out of the red.

I'd assume the matter is now closed and resolved.

[*vyolla*]

Oh well done, we do like to hear about a happy ending.

I only hope that eBay have got this down as a scam on that buyers part, and not some accidental incorrect delivery. Horrible to think that they may end up rewarded for their shabby behaviour. 

Don't forget to get that phone blocked as lost/stolen.

[w79805]

Has the buyer not already been rewarded? if they were initially refunded, wouldn't the refund go to their payment method? I imagine ebay paid for this refund?

[diddy-55]

Hi,

The buyer has been refunded by eBay yes that's correct.

Whether they have sent the item or not, who knows but like mentioned above the more I think about it the more I think I was scammed and they still have the item.

Nevertheless eBay have also sided with me and closed the case so no refund required on my part either.

[vinylscot]

If you have the relevant details, could you have the phone blocked, so that whoever has it (your "buyer" or whoever he has sold it to) won't be able to use it?

[kyanyama]

So pleased to hear it was a positive outcome for you in the end - but it must have been a very worrying time.  Am so glad I don't have anything of that value to sell.  Reading about this 'scam' - which I hadn't heard of before (returning something to an address nearby) I realised one of my client's may have been a recipient of one of these 'returned' items.

He received a parcel from 'eBay' but he hadn't purchased anything.  He lives on his own so nobody else could have an item delivered to his address.  And nearly all his stuff is from the tropical river.

I am wondering what eBay does in these circumstances?  If they refund the buyer and the seller when proof that it wasn't returned is provided eBay would be out of pocket - for a large amount.  Do they then do anything to the buyer?

I agree with the others that you should still report the phone as stolen and block the iemi number so that crime does not pay.