Hi am I the only seller who believes eBay automatically issue refunds to buyers even when they lie?

[4894regina]

Hi, am I the only seller who belives eBay automatically side with buyers even when you can prove the buyer is lying?  How can you post a brand new sealed in box with a plastic domed cover dog toy to a buyer, who waited a month then ciontacted eBay sighting item doesn't work. eBay insisted I had to accept the return but said I had two days from receipt of return to complain. The dog toy I have received back has teeth marks all over the base, chewed all over the sides, everlikely it no longer glides across the carpet. Yet eBay have rejected my appeal and upheld the buyers return request. eBay they don't see before or after photographs and can't prove what condition an item was dispatched or returned and needs to work on trust. What trust, the buyer is lying but eBay have given in to his refund request. I keep hearing people say eBay always side with buyer, so don't worry about buying something you aren't sure about because you are guaranteed to get your money back because eBay are bias towards buyers. Given eBay have now gotten rid of PayPal but just increased their own commission costs and introduced a set 30p selling fee per item, they do very little for the money they charge sellers. I would like to know if other sellers feel eBay are totaly disloyal to their sellers in favour of buyers no matter what? Unless sellers are able to challenge these mistakes by eBay then they don't deserve to retain loyal sellers. Your opinions please. 

[*guinevere*]

 eBay they don't see before or after photographs and can't prove what condition an item was dispatched or returned and needs to work on trust.

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You have answered your own question there. Ebay don't see what was sent or what was received so they default to the original position where seller gets his item back and buyer gets a refund. 

With a huge organisation like ebay  that is the only thing they can do. They can't send a staff member round to every house to examine what a buyer has receicved, and anything similar would bump up selling fees until no one could afford to sell anything. 

[*guinevere*]

You can report the buyer for abusing the money back guarantee if the item is not in the condition you sold it. They may have had problems with this particular buyer before, or if not it will put them on the radar in ase another seller has the misfortune to get them.

[rusticrye]

No, but you may be one of the few who don't understand why, so here is a full explanation:

Ebay have no idea what you actually sent, or what condition it was in when sent, received, or received back, as they were not present when sent or received, so have no choice but to accept a buyer's word for it when they claim Not As Described, as per their Money Back Guarantee.  They cannot get into disputes between you and a buyer.  Only a judge can decide if a buyer is a liar or scammer.

You agreed to comply with the MBG when you registered your account. If you dig your heels in and refuse to offer refund on return, Ebay will either force you to pay for a returns label, or they will force the refund without the need for return. You will also have a damaging defect slapped on your account for failing to comply.

This may sound unfair, but it's the fairest it can possibly be.  The MBG is a very good thing (although you may not think that at present) as it gives buyers the confidence to shop with you and every other Ebay seller.  Without it, you'd be lucky to sell anything at all.  In fact, without it, Ebay would no longer exist.

You have to refund on receipt, and then report the buyer to Ebay for abusing the MBG by fraudulently claiming Not As Described (via the 'report' button on your ‘leave feedback’ page) if you're 100% sure that's what they've done.  A few of those from different sellers, and their account will soon be toast.  And add their Ebay ID to your Blocked Bidders List so they can’t darken your doorway again.

You can then deal with the buyer outside of Ebay as follows, if they have actually scammed you:

Send them a PayPal invoice to cover your losses, giving them 7 days to send cleared payment or you will be taking legal action and reporting them to Action Fraud (the police's online fraud unit).

If payment is not received within that timeframe, send them a 'before action' letter by Signed For post, giving them 7 days from receipt to make full and cleared payment, or you will report them to Action Fraud, and take them to Small Claims court to recover your money and all court and other costs.

If payment is still not received (unlikely, as this is generally enough to put the fear of god into small-time fraudsters), take them to Small Claims court if you wish.  Very easy to do, and the process can be started online.

@4894regina 

[m25jet]

Unfortunately eBay are heavily biased towards the buyer and don't really appear to give any consideration to the seller's side of the argument, except for cases whereby the seller has got convincing evidence that the buyer is lying through his teeth - for example, if the buyer is claiming Item Not Received but the seller has full tracking details that prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the item has been successfully delivered and that the buyer is lying through his teeth.  In this instance eBay would decide the matter in the seller's favour, but other than that eBay appear to favour the buyer 99% of the time.

If you haven't already done so by the time you read this reply add the scammer's User ID to your Blocked Bidders List.  If you're unsure as to where to find it you can locate the Blocked Bidders List by clicking on this link https://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin and a big white box will appear on the screen.  Add the buyer's User ID to that white box, click on the Submit button beneath it and from that point onwards he will not be able to purchase anything else that you list for sale on the site.