eBay

sagr2519 · ‎15-04-2024

A buyer offered £2 then £2.50 on an item I was selling for £4+postage. I counteroffered £2.63 and he accepted, choosing the cheapest available postage option. Later he claimed that I sent an empty box and lid but not the item itself. I definitely included the item but what proof do I have? Photos showed the open envelope, which I recognised as the one I sent, but not the item. I understood that the buyer is lying, so I reported the buyer and contacted CS. They opened a case and closed it in my favour, so I should be happy now. I don't understand what just happened.

The buyer joined 7 years ago and has a feedback score of 261, so why does he want to ruin his reputation over £4.18? Could it be a hacker using someone else's account?

Could it be that the envelope was tampered with? If it's an honest buyer, why wouldn't he say if the envelope arrived with a hole in it, big enough for the item to fall out?

m25jet · ‎15-04-2024

Given that sellers are unable to leave buyers negative feedback - even if they are telling the truth - it is next to impossible to tell whether a buyer has done the same thing before, or whether he/she is doing it for the first time. However, if you have not already done so by the time you read this reply, I would strongly advise you to add the buyer's User ID to your Blocked Bidders List so that he/she cannot purchase anything else from you in the future and cause you any further aggravation.

If you do not already have the option enabled in your Selling Preferences, make sure that you activate the option that says "Don't Allow Blocked Buyers To Contact Me." This will prevent the buyer from harassing you with unwanted messages; however, given that you have recently been in a transaction with this buyer the blocks will take a bit longer to kick in than would otherwise have been the case. Once they do, however, the buyer will not be able to contact you.

If it's of any consolation, the fact that you flagged this matter to eBay and they decided the case in your favour may well have flagged the buyer's account up to eBay, especially if this is not the first time that the buyer has tried something like this. If eBay do feel that the case sets alarm bells ringing they are likely to take action against the buyer, although it is extremely unlikely that eBay would tell you what action, if any, they decided to take against the buyer.

In the event that eBay found that the account had been hacked they would suspend the account immediately, thus preventing any further purchases or sales on that account until such time that the real account holder was able to prove that the account belonged to him/her. Onde the real account holder had provided eBay with satisfactory information to make them feel that it would be safe to revoke the suspension on the account the suspension would be lifted, although the account may well be monitored closely afterwards to ensure that no further violations occurred on that account that would justify closing it down indefinitely.