(not another ;D) ebay sided with the buyer - I'm the seller

Buffman

Buffman

Buffman

Soldato
Joined
4 May 2007
Posts
9,757
Location
West Midlands
Hi all,

I attempted to sell a phone on ebay (apparently I've been a seller 11 years with loads of stuff sold) and brief timeline below:

Is there any way of me recovering my phone or money?
Is there any way to raise the case further? Ebay provided me a mail (!) address for complaints but no further details

If I tell my bank to deny any return monies to eBay are they likely to chase me with debt collectors etc? Can I raise this case with an ombudsmen or similar?

Timeline
  • Sell phone
  • Buyer complains its not as listed (description not as described
  • I decline, buyer is fobbing me off (provides no photos, demands an £70 reduction (£320 to £250. I complain twice to eBay with no response
  • 9th November : buyer raises case for refund
  • 9th November : I raise counter case identifying buyer is trying to rip me off. The app on ebay note "case on hold" - my perception was I shouldnt send a return slip during this period as it was on hold.
  • 14th November - receive a closed case identifying the buyer will be refunded regardless of returning phone
  • I called ebay and they identified I should get in contact with buyer
  • I contact buyer and identify I will pay return shipping as it appears the buyer have gone radio silence (seller has 400+ feedback)
  • I contacted ebay and they identify "there is no further escalation" and they closed my appeal (with no response to it)

You heard it here folks.... As you always do.. use members market not ebay (doh!)
 
Seeing as how you have their address, take a day off work and pay them a visit to get it back. If nothing comes of that then phone the police and report this person for stealing your phone.
 
they always side with the buyer ALWAYS

plus someone wronfully left me bad feedback even though they were clearly in the wrong and ebay refused to remove it and it still stains 20 years of 100% good feedback i built up with hard work and a huge amount of effort
 
Buffman said:
  • Buyer complains its not as listed (description not as described
  • I decline, buyer is fobbing me off (provides no photos, demands an £70 reduction (£320 to £250. I complain twice to eBay with no response
  • 9th November : buyer raises case for refund
Click to expand...
presumably ebay saw what you said to refute the bad description claim - is it very subjective ?
they then said he doesn't have to return the phone - how did they justify that when you telephoned them
I bought as pair of asic trainers buyer advertised as uk 9, a pair of 8.5's turned up, sent photo etc. he had to pay for return, sent photos within hours of receiving parcel
 
When buyer raised case for refund, you should have offered a return and refund. That would have been one of the options?

By completely refusing everything you put yourself in a bad position.
 
jpaul said:
presumably ebay saw what you said to refute the bad description claim - is it very subjective ?
they then said he doesn't have to return the phone - how did they justify that when you telephoned them
I bought as pair of asic trainers buyer advertised as uk 9, a pair of 8.5's turned up, sent photo etc. he had to pay for return, sent photos within hours of receiving parcel
Click to expand...
I guess it's difficult to define, they said there was "dents all over the phone"

I noted in the listing the screen was immaculate (which it was) and the back quite heavily scratched (with photos provided) and couple scratches on corners.
 
muon said:
When buyer raised case for refund, you should have offered a return and refund. That would have been one of the options?

By completely refusing everything you put yourself in a bad position.
Click to expand...


Yep, hindsight!

I disagreed with the case, and when I raised a countercase my understanding was "it was under review" by ebay and it was on hold. Therefore I was waiting the eBay assessment before issuing return label.

Ive never previously had anything returned to me on eBay.
 
I had similar. Thankfully the buyer unintentionally provided evidence that they'd damaged it.

I ignored them (since I wasn't going to fork out £20 for return postage) and eventually eBay found in favour of the buyer, and said as soon as the parcel was tracked as arriving back with me they would process the refund. I tried to appeal at this point, but they said it didn't matter how good my case was - I had to wait for the return to arrive and then file an appeal after the case was closed.

By this time I'd removed all bank accounts. The barstewards tried to set up a direct debit on my bank account, which I immediately cancelled (and besides, left £0 in there and no overdraft just as insurance).

I filed an appeal against the case, and someone called me to talk about it - think he was Irish. He was very reasonable, and noted that I'd never had any issues on eBay in >10 years. Read the messages, and agreed with me, so he struck out the case. So then my account went back to £0 net. And after 2 more phone calls, they removed the feedback as well.

So it is possible, but it was an absolute nightmare and wasted a huge amount of time.
 
  • 9th November : I raise counter case identifying buyer is trying to rip me off. The app on ebay note "case on hold" - my perception was I shouldnt send a return slip during this period as it was on hold.
  • 14th November - receive a closed case identifying the buyer will be refunded regardless of returning phone
Click to expand...

Im gonna take a stab in the dark and sayebays position is that you should have sent a return slip?
 
Yep I’ve been caught out as a genuine seller on eBay too. Sold a Gpu and the person said the usual ‘wasn’t as described’ when it blatantly was. Item got returned in the end but not before he kept it for as long as possible to mine with! I now avoid using eBay and use Facebook sales or ask for cash on collection.
 
muon said:
When buyer raised case for refund, you should have offered a return and refund. That would have been one of the options?

By completely refusing everything you put yourself in a bad position.
Click to expand...

Yep, i had similar with currys, and bizarrely they just refused to respond to anything, even ebay escalating it.

In the end ebay just sided with me and let me keep the order with a full refund as they never had any response from currys.

It would appear it is never a good idea to just simply refuse a return because if you lose, ebay give them a refund, and they keep the item.
 
Last edited:
Tefal said:
Im gonna take a stab in the dark and sayebays position is that you should have sent a return slip?
Click to expand...
Hi yep that's the one! To me it really wasn't clear and I. Re read it multiple times

Jim99 said:
By this time I'd removed all bank accounts. The barstewards tried to set up a direct debit on my bank account, which I immediately cancelled (and besides, left £0 in there and no overdraft just as insurance).
Click to expand...

How did you remove all bank accounts? I intend to do the same if possible and not bothered if my account is banned.
 
eBay and phones is too risky.

Use the phone until it's worthless then get a new one is the way forward.

Will only sell phones on there when they are worth £100. That way less likely someone is going to scam you for a hundred quid they go after the bigger money.
 
Buffman said:
How did you remove all bank accounts? I intend to do the same if possible and not bothered if my account is banned.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I could go through my account and click the three dots for each account and remove. Possibly I had to leave one bank account there, but since I knew there was no active direct debit set up I knew they couldn't draw money out of it.

I'd be more concerned about debit / credit cards, since it's very easy to charge them.
 
Was the money removed from your account?
If so, request the money back through direct debit guarantee through bank
Then wait for ebay to legally chase you for the money, which you will easily win :P
 
Buffman said:
If I tell my bank to deny any return monies to eBay are they likely to chase me with debt collectors etc?
Click to expand...

They'd need to take you to court first, otherwise any debt collectors aren't much different to literally anyone turning up at your door saying "gimme some money".
 
ShivP said:
Was the money removed from your account?
If so, request the money back through direct debit guarantee through bank
Then wait for ebay to legally chase you for the money, which you will easily win :p
Click to expand...

Does this still work? When I worked at RBS / Natwest until 2019, we categorically weren't allowed to process direct debit indemnity claims for PayPal direct debits and they would be rejected if we did.
 
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