potential fraud

[steve068steve]

Hi all, i have perfect feedback, a buyers that i sold a dvd audio disac  to has said it is badly scratched and wants to return, i said it left inperfect condition as ive listened tio  it many times, he said by definition by saying that then  it means its not in mint condition, the pictures are i believe not my item he wants to receive, even though i have told ebay via their fraud option i am still obliged to accept return at my cost and pay for the privelidge, i will probably not get my item i sold back ( the buyer in hindsight paid over the odds as a offer ), so i get the return they get refund im left with an item i cannot sell yet ebay still insist that is tough even though i have told them before the item is coming back its incorrect. So when i receive it back and tell ebay its not the same item will they actually do anything

Any ideas in principle 

[m25jet]

Unfortunately you're just going to have to accept the buyer's request to return the item.  Make sure you state via the case that you will refund the money in full upon receipt of the item, then issue an eBay Returns Label.  The buyer gets fourteen days to download and use it to return the item - therefore, if he doesn't do so eBay will probably assume that he's changed his mind and decided to keep the item, in which case you won't be required to refund the buyer's money.

In the event that the buyer returned the item to you but sent you back something other than the item you posted out to him use the Report Buyer option to log a complaint against the buyer.  You'd still have to refund the buyer's money via the eBay case, as if you didn't then eBay would force the refund and you'd be left with an account-damaging defect.  However, if you log a report with eBay relating to misuse of the eBay Money Back Guarantee then they may decide to watch his account more closely.  If the buyer racks up too many reports from sellers relating to abuse of the eBay Money Back Guarantee then eBay may well take action against the buyer, which could be anything from restricting the buyer's right to use the eBay Money Back Guarantee, or if the buyer turns out to be a serial offender then eBay may well take tougher action against the buyer, such as closing his account and chucking him off of the site for good.

Although eBay won't tell you what action, if any, they've actually taken against the buyer it would still be worth logging a complaint against the buyer using the Report Buyer function, as that way you will have done your bit to help try and stop the buyer from screwing other sellers over in the same way.  If it results in the buyer being permanently banned from the site then at least his bad buying behaviour will have ended up backfiring on him eventually.  Although it may not be instantaneous this buyer will get his come-uppance eventually, but it does require some action from those sellers who have been screwed over by the buyer to prevent him from being able to do it again without being penalised.

Finally, if you have not already done so by the time you read this reply, add the buyer's User ID to your Blocked Bidders List.  In order to access your Blocked Bidders List click on this link https://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/ebayISAPI?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 once you have done that the buyer will not be able to purchase anything else that you list on eBay in the future, in which case he won't be able to cause you any further problems.