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rainmanesq
New member
- Aug 31, 2008
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I know a lot of people say ebay always sides w/buyers, but I wanted to relay a story to show why it’s important for sellers to stand up to what they believe are unscrupulous buyers.
I recently sold a multi-item order to a buyer who claimed ¼ of the order was missing. This is impossible (unless there was mail fraud) b/c I double/triple check orders (esp. multi-item 1s) to make sure everything’s included. I also pack multi-order items in a very specific sequence.
First thing the buyer does is threaten me with negative fb if I don’t refund him some $. Interestingly, he also offers to pay my ebay/paypal fees if I “refund him ASAP.” That struck me as odd b/c while I’m a kind person, I’m not so kind as to offer to pay a seller’s fees if the SELLER is the one who messed up the order LOL In fact, I don’t know any buyer who would do that.
I ask the buyer for a list of missing items…he provides it. I look @ his current auctions + surprise, I see he has listed several of the “missing” items. I also notice that the “missing” items are the most valuable. Now that’s odd, right? I email him asking for an explanation. He says he “must’ve got the items wrong,” (really? 20+ items were “wrong?” LOL), but WON’T tell me what the “right” missing items are. I ask him for this list repetitively, but he just keeps asking for $/threatening negative fb.
So I contact ebay b/c I think he’s engaging in FB extortion. I get told no, he didn’t specifically threaten negative fb, so it’s not extortion. Um ok, what does I’ll leave a neg if you don’t refund me sound like? LOL
So I’m getting frustrated and people are saying “suck it up- cost of doing business- refund him- not worth your time- you don’t want the neg/bad dsrs.” I can see the point I guess, but if I just refund him, I’ll be caving like most other sellers, which just lets scammers keep scamming.
Now mind you, I really DON’T have the time to deal w/this b/c I’m contracting for a law firm 3 days/week, my grandma’s been hospitalized 2x in 2 months, my mom’s health is worsening, another relative died, I’ve been to 7 funerals in 2 months, my ex’s cancer’s come back, my ex’s mom’s been hospitalized repetitively/will likely die soon, I’ve taken in 4 stray cats + can’t find them homes, the pregnant stray cat I found a foster for just came back (I think they were going to kill her), etc…Just way too much ish to the dizzle going on + I just CAN’T take another freaking bit of stress like a scammer buyer, right?
So guy files a dispute + negs me right after…big red mark + all caps basically saying I’m a scammer. While it didn’t hurt my fb % too much (took me to 99.9%, still pretty flipping good), it just bugged me, especially since the buyer still NEVER gave a “right list” of “missing” items.
Liars are my BIGGEST (in fact, only) pet peeve b/c it’s just NOT right. So I reach out to Griff and ebay’s office of the president. I didn’t really expect a reply b/c I’m 1 seller out of a zillion, right? Even if I got a reply, it would probably just be “oh, that’s too bad- give him a refund” b/c that’s what sellers ALWAYS hear, right? Buyers ALWAYS win, right? Sellers ALWAYS lose, right?
Wrong. Bottom line: The buyer is now NARU + my negative fb is gone!
This is the third time I’ve stuck to my guns against scammers + EVERY time, ebay has found in my favor. No, it hasn’t happened instantly + frankly, the scammers came at times in my life when I did NOT freaking need the stress.
Bottom line: DON’T back down. No, you may not always win, but there’s no need to just roll over and play dead b/c you’re afraid your dsrs will get dinged or you’ll get a neg. If you want ebay to do something, DON’T be lazy about it. DON’T take “too bad” as the end all, be all answer. DON’T let posts that say “give up- you’ll lose- move on” discourage you. If you DO roll over W/O taking time to do everything you can, DON’T blame it on ebay b/c how can they catch scammers if sellers DON’T report them? DO reach out to every option out there- FBI fraud division, your local pd/da, griff, ebay execs, etc.
I recently sold a multi-item order to a buyer who claimed ¼ of the order was missing. This is impossible (unless there was mail fraud) b/c I double/triple check orders (esp. multi-item 1s) to make sure everything’s included. I also pack multi-order items in a very specific sequence.
First thing the buyer does is threaten me with negative fb if I don’t refund him some $. Interestingly, he also offers to pay my ebay/paypal fees if I “refund him ASAP.” That struck me as odd b/c while I’m a kind person, I’m not so kind as to offer to pay a seller’s fees if the SELLER is the one who messed up the order LOL In fact, I don’t know any buyer who would do that.
I ask the buyer for a list of missing items…he provides it. I look @ his current auctions + surprise, I see he has listed several of the “missing” items. I also notice that the “missing” items are the most valuable. Now that’s odd, right? I email him asking for an explanation. He says he “must’ve got the items wrong,” (really? 20+ items were “wrong?” LOL), but WON’T tell me what the “right” missing items are. I ask him for this list repetitively, but he just keeps asking for $/threatening negative fb.
So I contact ebay b/c I think he’s engaging in FB extortion. I get told no, he didn’t specifically threaten negative fb, so it’s not extortion. Um ok, what does I’ll leave a neg if you don’t refund me sound like? LOL
So I’m getting frustrated and people are saying “suck it up- cost of doing business- refund him- not worth your time- you don’t want the neg/bad dsrs.” I can see the point I guess, but if I just refund him, I’ll be caving like most other sellers, which just lets scammers keep scamming.
Now mind you, I really DON’T have the time to deal w/this b/c I’m contracting for a law firm 3 days/week, my grandma’s been hospitalized 2x in 2 months, my mom’s health is worsening, another relative died, I’ve been to 7 funerals in 2 months, my ex’s cancer’s come back, my ex’s mom’s been hospitalized repetitively/will likely die soon, I’ve taken in 4 stray cats + can’t find them homes, the pregnant stray cat I found a foster for just came back (I think they were going to kill her), etc…Just way too much ish to the dizzle going on + I just CAN’T take another freaking bit of stress like a scammer buyer, right?
So guy files a dispute + negs me right after…big red mark + all caps basically saying I’m a scammer. While it didn’t hurt my fb % too much (took me to 99.9%, still pretty flipping good), it just bugged me, especially since the buyer still NEVER gave a “right list” of “missing” items.
Liars are my BIGGEST (in fact, only) pet peeve b/c it’s just NOT right. So I reach out to Griff and ebay’s office of the president. I didn’t really expect a reply b/c I’m 1 seller out of a zillion, right? Even if I got a reply, it would probably just be “oh, that’s too bad- give him a refund” b/c that’s what sellers ALWAYS hear, right? Buyers ALWAYS win, right? Sellers ALWAYS lose, right?
Wrong. Bottom line: The buyer is now NARU + my negative fb is gone!
This is the third time I’ve stuck to my guns against scammers + EVERY time, ebay has found in my favor. No, it hasn’t happened instantly + frankly, the scammers came at times in my life when I did NOT freaking need the stress.
Bottom line: DON’T back down. No, you may not always win, but there’s no need to just roll over and play dead b/c you’re afraid your dsrs will get dinged or you’ll get a neg. If you want ebay to do something, DON’T be lazy about it. DON’T take “too bad” as the end all, be all answer. DON’T let posts that say “give up- you’ll lose- move on” discourage you. If you DO roll over W/O taking time to do everything you can, DON’T blame it on ebay b/c how can they catch scammers if sellers DON’T report them? DO reach out to every option out there- FBI fraud division, your local pd/da, griff, ebay execs, etc.
