Scammed. Negative feedback removal?

[fromthegreenhouse]

Hi,

I've unfortunately fallen victim to a scam.

I sold a graphics card which the buyer then immediately wanted to return as not working.

Predictably the item was returned but was not the item that was sent, or rather part of it was the original item, but several components had been swapped out, presumably from the buyers own broken card.

It was fairly sophisticated in that he sent it back with the outer board from the original which has a distinctive scratch so it looked genuine, but when i compared it against the photos of my original listing, the circuit board label had a different number and the backplate components also had a different number on it.

I thought maybe the buyer might have an explanation but he became quite rude and dismissive.

Escalated to ebay and I provided photo evidence of the switch. They replied saying they agreed that the item was different, but decided to fully refund the buyer anyway as they couldn't prove the buyer had done it, but that I should report the buyer as soon as possible.

They told me I just had to budget into my figures the fact that there will be a portion of dodgy returns essentially.

That sucked, but then to top it all off, the buyer has now left me negative feedback with the cheek to actually claim I attempted to scam him. 100% feedback now gone and down to 96.7% thanks to one solitary scammer....

I have reported the buyer via the feedback page as advised but all it said was they will look into it, but due to privacy I will never know of the outcome.

So I guess the question is, how do I go about getting rid of the negative feedback?

Is there a procedure for getting feedback removed, particularly since customer services have already agreed that I have been scammed?

Thanks.

[millcottage]

Report it to the police as fraud anyway and get a crime report number.

Tell police ebay are complicit if they have admitted to knowing you have been scammed yet still refunded the buyer.

I would then escalate with eBay further. Go up the chain ....

[ian_w42]

Wow I am very sorry to hear that happened.

I hope someone can chime in with some good advice on how to rectify the feedback situation... as if the scamming and loss isn't bad enough.

I wonder if a fraud report and eBay's admission that they believe the item returned was not the item that was sold could make a difference.

[plpmr]

unfortunately the only feedback that's sure to be removed, if the buyer complains to eBay, is the false positive you left the buyer

[fromthegreenhouse]

False positive?

I had automatically left positive feedback for the buyer shortly after the item sold as a courtesy.

I left a follow up comment on the feedback, which is a free text box comment, not option for positive/negative etc.

[four_mid_able]

You left a negative comment as a follow up to a previous positive rating which buyer can easily get removed.

This may result in Ebay giving you another defect for a "policy violation".

[fromthegreenhouse]

Oh, I didn't know that.

There was no option to mark it as negative or positive, only a free text option.

I wonder what possible reason there would be for a free text follow up option on feedback unless you wished to dispute what you had originally posted?

[rjwilmsi]

If you haven't done so already, go online to Action Fraud and submit a fraud report for the scammer. Save the reference number and download the PDF confirmation / create a PDF of the confirmation page (I don't remember exact step there).

Then get in contact with eBay customer services to escalate that you have been the victim of fraud. eBay should create a case that requires you to upload your Action Fraud PDF, once you've done that you should be reimbursed by eBay a few days later.

I'd be much more interested in getting my money back that dealing with the feedback. Though if eBay do reimburse you they should also remove the negative.

Note: Action Fraud won't do anything, but this is the process to get eBay to reimburse you.

[fromthegreenhouse]

Thanks, that's very helpful.

[the-nutwood-collection]

There's nothing wrong with adding a comment to the buyer's feedback which disputes their side of the story, but you must keep it calm and factual.

All you needed to say was Claimed graphics card was not working after downloading drivers. I accepted the return request but Item that was returned had different back plate and circuit boards as evidenced by comparing component parts and label numbers to photos on original listing.

Don't say 'scammed' and never mention that it's been escalated to eBay and/or the police - the buyer can use that as a reason to have the comment removed.  Just keep to the facts.

[adivinesoul]

Hi there,

I had a similar experience recently.  I sold a genuine Elvis double album in mint condition. Took plenty of photograps of the records itself and checked them over before posting - the records were in immaculate condition.  This album came was one the few private possession which I initially didn't want to sell for sentimental reasons.  However, 3 days later I was bombarded with messages from the buyer saying  that both the records were strachted all over. He told me that he was a avid record collector and wants to return the records.   I was completely shocked. He sent pictures of records which showed Elvis records that were strachted  all over.   I was also informed by eBay that my payment was on hold. 

I immeditaly suspected foul play here and called eBay CS and explained that my items were in top condition and I supect that buyer intends to swap his HIS stratched Elvis records. This buyers messages were not only full on nastiness but also intimidation - saying things like "my son is a police officer" etc. In my chat with an eBay agent I said that I will not accept this buyers claim. So I told the buyer that I will not accept a return.  Well, 1 or 2 days later eBay informed me that eBay has initiated a refund to  the buyer and that I do not have to do anything. My payment was also no longer on hold.  Wow, that was a surprise !

Anyway this nasty buyer left a neg FB for me with nasty words.  I again contacted eBay CS about removing his neg FB.  However, they removed his nasty comments but the read dot stayed. eBay suggested to ask the buyer for a review of the FB.  But I declined as I do not want to deal with people like this anymore.   Well, I never leave a FB straight away for a buyer I always wait a few days or weeks.....   

I can very well imagine how you feel. I would sugest to speak to an agent and express your disgust about this scammer.  Ask to have the neg FB removed or at least the comment in it.

Some members here have suggested to report this buyer to the police.  To be honest I have my reservations since the police will regard ebay issues as low priority and not do anything.  Please try to solve this matter with eBay, I'm sure that this will bring a better solution.

Best of luck!

[fromthegreenhouse]

Thanks for all the replies.

Pleased to say as soon as I filed an ActionFraud report and contacted ebay customer services with the ActionFraud case number, the case finding was reversed and found in my favour with a full refund and removal of the negative feedback.

The trigger is definitely to have an AF case number to give them.

Really poor that I had to be given this information via a forum despite conversations with ebay customer services where I mentioned I was going to fill out an AF report and they still claimed there was nothing they could do.