First time having someone request a refund…dodgy?

[tytherley12]

Hi, I sold our Dual Fuel Rangemaster oven today.  It was collected by the purchaser this morning. The purchaser has, this evening, requested a refund claiming that the item isn’t as described.  The purchaser wanted the ovens to be electric, but one is gas and one is electric. I even put in the listing that the main oven is gas, because I wanted to advertise that it has been barely used. Photo of listing below. I also showed her husband which oven compartment was gas when he collected it.  In her messages this evening she has accused me of editing the listing which I haven’t!  To add, she had sent a question before she placed a bid, which I didn’t get around to replying to, which said “Hi can I ask is the oven electric or gas just in the listing it says gas oven but it says dual fuel” so she clearly did know it had a gas oven. Is it likely that EBay will rule in her favour do you think? I don’t really sell on eBay and this lady clearly knows eBay inside and out judging by the content of her messages. It’s really thrown me.  I’ve spoken to eBay and the eBay lady basically said the buyer can do what it likes. Surely this can’t be right? Thanks for reading and any advice. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@edwardian-dreams wrote:

Shouldn’t the buyer have to prove why an item is not as described? otherwise they get a refund for whatever reason they like even if fraudulently 

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That is not how eBay's Money Back Guarantee works. The seller uploads a return label and after the return shipping label indicates a status of delivery or attempted delivery the seller reports a problem via the case should their buyer have abused the MBG.

The OP really needs to find a way to get the cooker collected even if it means hiring a van and asking a friend or two to go with them to pick it up. Although they won't have a return shipping label by doing this they will at least be cutting their losses by getting it back as a refund through eBay is all but inevitable. However, the clock is ticking and if their buyer clicks the "Ask eBay to step in" link on the third business day after the case was opened - with no return label uploaded - it will all be over. 

[xyz307xyz]

"tenner in the pot towards it.  Find 7 others"

I tagged the reps hoping that would provide clarity, so yes, £10 from me.

[4_bathrooms]

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@xyz307xyz wrote:

I understand. My point, as per another post, was as CS have confirmed the buyer opened the wrong type of case (not literally but by agreeing the item description was accurate) that they could (I hoped) refer it to someone to review manually at this stage; as an exception.

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It's not going to happen.

None of eBay UK's customer service reps are based in the UK. Well, you might get a UK-based customer service rep if you are a big business anchor store subscribing mega-seller which the OP is clearly not. The nearest CS reps most of us mere mortals can contact are based in Dublin (Ireland) or Manila (Philippines). If you're lucky you'll get a Dublin rep who at least speaks English as a first language but in either case they can only really regurgitate what is displayed on the screen in front of them. If they're unable to deal with your query by doing that they'll typically tell you what you want to hear (or what they think you want to hear) in order to get you off the phone so they can meet whatever "calls answered" target they have been given. If an eBay CS rep told me the sky was blue I would still look out of the window to check.

It used to be possible to hold eBay accountable for something said by a CS rep when the "online chat" option was available and the eBay user was subsequently sent a transcript of the conversation. However, as far as I can tell this feature has been replaced by an AI bot that can only regurgitate eBay's written policy or tell you a CS rep will call you back if you request to "speak to an agent".

[xyz307xyz]

To repeat my message, in shorter form.

I understand. 

I had hoped for something which you have told us is not possible.

I'm not disputing what you say, (I've learnt from this not to list anything similar,)

[lucy_farmer]

'.....so yes, £10 from me.'

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I'll join. 

@tytherley12  What part  of the country are you in? and how far away is the buyer?

[tytherley12]

GREAT NEWS! I’m over the moon to tell you that I just had a call from a manager in Dublin called Leon. I told him the sorry tale, and he’s stepped in and is releasing the funds to me!! I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful and relieved I am!  I ‘might’ have embarrassed myself and shed a tear, but it’s just such a massive relief!  The money is one thing but I think what was just as bad was this feeling of being scammed so meanly and unfairly.  It’s interesting though that ebay is also going to refund the seller so these fraudsters are still profiting as no doubt they will sell the cooker on.  It is clear now that they are scammers. Leon was able to advise that the account was in the husbands name, Michael. When he was here he told us his name was John.  Another lie.  
For all you kind folk who suggested that the MBG could be invalidated if someone other than the account holder collected the item: you are correct. I didn’t mention this and Leon actually bought it up! So good to know for the future; although I have to say there is no way I’m selling on ebay again! This whole experience has aged me!  Also, I did write a formal letter of complaint yesterday. I have no idea if this played a part in the outcome, but it clearly didn’t do any damage.  
Finally I also want to add thanks to the lovely people on here for your help, honesty, ideas and support. I would never have known to speak to Ireland and the outcome could’ve been very different.  Also to those who wanted to chip in £10 to help - gosh, the kindness of strangers is overwhelming. Thank you so much and thank goodness is hasn’t come to this!  At least that’s one happy ending. What a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. 
Never mind ‘buyer beware’ - its ‘seller beware’ on ebay!!! 

[bojangled]

@tytherley12 

Im glad it all worked out. Just a quick thing you mat need to remove buyers name from your post, not allowed to name and shame …

[tressygirl]

Great to hear great results / news on here!

Congrats,  tenacity and patience paid off, well done !  😊

@tytherley12 

[*vyolla*]

Wow, that's amazing, and great news.

I'd like to think that somebody from eBay popped in to view this thread and was able to step in and assist, and some attention to detail and the messages that passed between you were given some consideration. 

[tytherley12]

Whoops, sorry I didn’t know that. I’ve removed who it was. Thank you.

[tytherley12]

Another reason to be grateful. Thanks for tagging those people. I’m celebrating with a massive cup of tea!!

[*vyolla*]

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@tytherley12 wrote:

 Leon was able to advise that the account was in the husbands name, Michael. When he was here he told us his name was John.  Another lie.  
For all you kind folk who suggested that the MBG could be invalidated if someone other than the account holder collected the item: you are correct. I didn’t mention this and Leon actually bought it up! 

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Before somebody else spots this and it becomes a thing - yes, this makes little sense because in the end it was the account holder who did collect the item, but it's a happy ending so lets go with it. 

[3942rick2005]

But why did he use a false name? I don't understand why the wife/partner didn't accompany him on collection to check it out. It smells of scam to me. Glad it turned out right in the end.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

Wow, I'm so pleased for you, what a wonderful outcome and a huge relief.  Enjoy celebrating! x🍾

[4_bathrooms]

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@tytherley12 wrote:

GREAT NEWS! I’m over the moon to tell you that I just had a call from a manager in Dublin called Leon. I told him the sorry tale, and he’s stepped in and is releasing the funds to me!!

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Well, that's great (and very unexpected) news!

Does the case now show as being closed with no further action required?

[cbclassicbuyer]

That's great news, well done.

But, it just goes to show that Ebay are complicit with scammers and fraudsters working on the platform.

[w79805]

I'm very happy that you get to keep your money.

But its disgraceful that ebay will let scammers profit from their actions. Same thing happened with me.

Ordered from a new account with no feedback, they added FedEx tracking to my order but the postcode it displayed when delivered was wrong.

The item never arrived and seller didnt respond to messages.

Ebay gave me a 'gesture of goodwill' refund of £60 and let the scammer keep the money and then gave me tips to 'prevent my package going missing after delivery'

The scammer quickly racked up over 40 negative feedback in about a month for not sending out items

I tried to convince ebay to take their money back from the scammer but they said they weren't able to...

It was a business account with a companies house page so I reported them to action fraud but of course nothing will come of it

[tytherley12]

It’s showing this:

We've reviewed your case and have decided to issue the buyer a refund of £430.00 without any impact to you.

This case is now closed. You aren't required to reimburse the buyer or eBay and this case will not be counted in your seller performance evaluation.

The money hasn’t arrived in my account yet, and the balance on eBay is showing as zero. I suppose it just takes some time to show up? 

[bizzy-lizzy99]

The cooker's gone and you've been, or will be,  paid in full. Try to forget all the other stuff, it's the end result that counts. No doubt you'll sleep well tonight.

[johnwash1]

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@bizzy-lizzy99 wrote:

The cooker's gone and you've been, or will be,  paid in full. Try to forget all the other stuff, it's the end result that counts. No doubt you'll sleep well tonight.

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It's wonderful news.  Still, it will be more wonderful when Ty actually has the funds.

Call me a cynic, but if ebay now reverses their decision, despite having given that in black and white, would that be a first?  Or not?