Sellers have no protection on eBay ... Something must be done
OK so this is my experience.... Been an eBay member for 19 years.
Have sold many items and have excellent feedback rating.
Sold iPhone 11 Pro, after a few days return request received stating Box was empty. I looked at buyers account only opened in August 2021 with 3 feedbacks. I could clearly see this was a scam... I looked on google maps and saw that the address was not apartments but an industrial site. So, I was confident that eBay would take all aspects into consideration and close the request in my favour.... Boy was I wrong.
They put a hold on my funds £485 and refunded the customer. when I called eBay to appeal the gentleman just said "we can’t do nothing". No investigating no common sense no passion to stop crime or protect sellers. He advised the buyer had sent in a police ref number (which you can get in 5 mins online) and that was the end of it. I explained to him that anyone could order a phone, get a crime ref number and say the box was empty... His response was "yes they could".
He tried to pass the buck onto the shipping company but looking at the photos of proof of delivery the package was as sent.
So, I Have a few questions and suggestion.
If anyone can help me how to get this investigated further internally or externally via regulator?
After looking for help online there seems to be hundreds if not thousands of posts regarding sellers that have been scammed. This is not acceptable and I believe action needs to be taken. As a collective much can be done, it’s not a matter of closing our accounts but rather ensuring eBay has policy in place to protect sellers.
One simple suggestion would be to send orders of considerable value to a service centre for new buyers or buyers with low feedback. The item could be checked securely sealed by eBay and sent to buyer. I know not everyone is a scammer but recently it has been getting out of control.
As I mentioned as a collective much can be done so may start an online petition, highlight on media or something along the lines.
The worst thing is I called my network provided who said they can’t block the phone as not brought directly from them, called apple they said they can’t block the phone either... So, the buyer has a free phone!!!
I took take the hit of £485, but for many people that could be life changing in this day and age. If someone was selling that phone because the needed that money for an emergency and this happened to them could put someone in a very dark place mentally and financially.
