theft and false return requests

[ironmaiden48]

just sold 10 coins which were packaged in plastic coin sheet of six with two pairs sellotaped to the pack of six (very securely packed) Buyer came back saying he only received 7 coins but could not show me the packageing as he had quickly disposed of it, instead he sent pic of seven coins as proof !!!!! Offered a refund which was refused ?  So easy for unscrupulous byers to make this type of accusation against trusted sellers. Also sent a strip of stamps to another buyer who demanded refund and returned the supposed damaged stamps, he got his refund but the stamps returned were not the stamps sent so this buyer got a good set to replace his damaged set and free of charge. Has anyone else had this type of  theft and how can we fight it.

[plpmr]

this is one of the hazards of selling online.

Unfortunately if the buyer reports the false positive you left them it will be removed and that will damage your account.

[*knight-rider*]

never understand why sellers ask for photos off buyers, because it doesn`t mean anything at all, to anyone. If i get 10 items of an item, it`s easy to remove 3 and say you only sent me 7 hopeing you give me some money back.

I`m willing to bet the three they`ve said are missing, are the only three he wants, so their trying it on with the other 7, but the problem is, proving it. If they say 3 are missing, Ebay will no doubt side with them, but to get a refund, they need to be returned, which you pay for, so it maybe worth weighing up the cost against what they sold for. Personally, i don`t encourage partial refunds, because it just encourages the behaviour by buyers.

[ironmaiden48]

The buyer refused the offer of a refund and dropped the case. The cost of
the 10 coins was a measly £2.09 so I think he was indeed trying it on. Many
thanks to all who commented

[red_magpie]

Has anyone else had this type of theft and how can we fight it.

Any number of sellers have complained that buyers have kept the item they received, and returned another one.

One seller, who allegedly had a valuable item switched for a worthless one, told us that eBay had replied: "As we didn't see the original item that you sent to the buyer and we didn't see the item the buyer returned to you, we are not in a position to take sides in these situations and verify who has the valid complaint". EBay's idea of not taking sides was to require the seller to refund the buyer!

Two sellers have separately told us that eBay's advice was that sellers should allow for losses from fraudulent returns, in the same way as supermarkets do!

EBay's money back guarantee policy has evolved into a perfect toolkit to defraud sellers. As to how sellers can fight against this, the user agreement requires us to accept eBay's decisions. EBay is unregulated, so there is no right of appeal to any independent authority.