Ebay Scammer - Expert Advice Needed

I don't know how much money is in question here but if it not a large amount I would just give a refund. Sounds like your friend is on ebay from time to time and having a good feedback makes all the difference. That sucks to be a situation like that. I hope you... opps I mean your friend is able to get it all worked out

So... what should he do - grit his teeth and pay up, even though she's being a cow?

Tell your friend to give a refund so that the matter can be closed. Ebay will ALWAYS take the side of the buyer.

Similar things have happened to me, I have issued full refunds and received negative feedbacks in return. The main problem is that because of the negative feedbacks I am now no longer a Top rated seller and have lost the first page visibility in listings but MORE IMPORTANTLY the 20% discount on final fees.

...£16 is not worth fighting for!

And I'm obviously getting too cynical in my old age, because my first thought was wondering whether the two of them are selling similar items?

I gave up selling on ebay after someone complained that they got the gameboy I sent them a day later than I said it would arrive.......The price of this item? £1. After that I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. Subsequently read that the woman in question who I sold it to was I nightmare to deal with. Trouble is you can't bar people from bidding can you?

At that price, if I wanted to protect my rating, I would refund her money saying I'm sorry that happened and because I care about my customers, tell her I'm buying a new one to send her for free.

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I would either send her the "missing" piece and not refund (if that would make her happY) or issue a refund when I received the 2 items she has. She has no right to expect to get her money back AND keep the items.

Either way should resolve the issue.

It not personal, it's just business. leave the emotions out of it.

I personally have not sold on eBay in quite sometime. At one time I sold brand name clothes. Never really had an issue like this one. But as it was already mentioned, just refund and be done with this.

Start the damage control. You will most likely lose your 100% feedback rating, your customer will most likely leave a negative. But, its only 1 and should't hurt your feedback too much. Remember if anyone asks. Just say you ran into a unhappy customer, you refunded, but they still left a negative.

Also, if she honestly received 2 of the 3 items purchased remember that mistakes happen. Apologize and accept the error as yours. Customer service and being nice in these situations can also help prevent the neg. Regardless if the customer is a farm animal

Sorry. I should have said 'If this applies'. Maybe your friend has a product line and multiple duplicate items in inventory. If that is not the case then I would go with option two.

This is a problem on ebay and normally the buyer wins even when they are wrong. Your friend has the emails as evidence I suggest he gets in contact with Ebay directly and maybe this will go in his favour. This woman obviously thinks she is going to get away with it and it is completel. I hope this works out for your friend.

Stories like this are why I stay away from ebay. They'll side with the buyer every single time. I've heard horror stories of people losing thousands of dollars because some little twerp decided they wanted something for nothing.

A non-profit in Los Angeles sold a mint condition CB radio on oBay just before I quit selling there. The buyer filed a SNAD dispute, sent back a piece of junk, PayPal refunded the money, and both oBay and PayPal said it was not their problem.

After refunding the money, I'd go ahead and put that buyer on your list that bans them bid on anything of yours again ... or your friend. This of course assumes that the list still exists.

And then forget about it.

Marvin

As someone who sells on eBay a lot...

Tell your friend to just surrender the money and consider it a loss. There are other ways to get back at her, but he won't win on eBays/PayPals playing field.

My assumption is that this person who is a problem to your friend probably have more than 100 feedback. As more experienced eBay Sellers have experienced these kinds of buyers, the more they have realized how powerless they are to their demands and are forced to give in. So what happens? The experienced buyers hunt down good sales from less experienced buyers, usually with less feedback, and do the same things to them! They buy an item for $24, get it in the mail, tell them they did not get all of it and demand their money back or negative feedback will be left. These people usually get their money back, and then they turn around and sell the item for another $24. If the money isn't given back easily, then they just open up a PayPal dispute and get the money back anyways.

Also, please tell us what their eBay user name is, I would like to stop this buyer from buying from me.

Don't waste another minute thinking about it or writing about it. Give the refund and move on to more profitable things.

Why let the buyer continue to waste your (your friends) time and money?

Thanks everyone for your replies. He's refunding the cash ands cutting his losses.

She seems to have a problem with the fact my friend got the phone for nothing so why should he be bothered about losing out. Sounds like a case of envy to me.

Anyway, I'm kind of glad this happened as I was considering selling on ebay myself. I've changed my mind.

Looks like a refund is on the cards, but remember, buyers get ranked aswel!

"a very unpleasant expereince - proceed with caution"

That's the feedback she's left him.

However, if you dig into her real rating from before ebay stopped sellers leaving feedback, this is what you get about her dealings from other:

As a buyer:

1. NOT RECOMMENDED EBAYer. Makes bid without reading a description. AVOID! - She did this with my friends item.
2. Moans about every little thing. does not read listing properly - Again, she did exactly the same thing

Her as a seller and a buyers feedback:

the seller did not mention the good was a ready to wear piece and not a couture...

...and her reply to that

the photo and description clearly stated what the item was - she's accusing the buyer of the same thing she's been guilty of three times.

This is the ebayer: traci2307

Mods, I put that there to protect others. If you disapprove, please feel free to remove her name.

Hi rezbi. What is the amount of this item ? I don't know if you will win that dispute. My advice is for the future do not send item without tracking number. It costs much but it's safer

I would refund immediately, then wait a few days/weeks and since the buyer also sells on eBay you said, I would then buy something of hers and reverse the tables to recoup the money lost on the refund Muahahaha I'm evil.

Seriously though, when dealing with scammers, an eye for an eye. I've done it myself in the past on eBay. Feels great when the tables are turned on scammers.

She sure does have the nervs to play this cat-mouse game...either way, thanks for the update, she is going on my Bi---List for sure (even tho I rarely sell products that get shipped to UK).

Cheers.

If that is the case then you need to be asking a lawyer.

What value are we talking? As a Powerseller with 15K feedback I would say that unless it's of high value, just refund and put it down to bad experience. Sounds like he has offered that already but she refused?

If it is a high value item then let eBay handle it. Buyer will normally win but they do have systems in place to handle these situations. eBay may also cover the cost if they find neither party at fault. The fact that she is being a bitch shouldn't alter any decision, nor should it alter the way your friend maintains his professional tone and customer support.

David

I feel sorry that your friend was ripped off. She is surely playing games and its not fun at all. There is something we call karma. Good or bad, depends on what you do in your life. She'll get hers soon.

Andrea

I buy and sell on ebay all the time, the thing is she can and may still leave bad feedback! for 2 yr.s I've had 100% positive feedback till recently, an item arrived damaged due to poor handling and no fault of my own, I had it insured so i didn't think it would be a problem, this woman was impossible to deal with from the get go, she got her money back plus shipping and still left bad feedback, I left a rebuttal explaining the situation and contacted ebay and they said they wouldn't do anything about it but my response would go a long way and not to worry about it, another popular scam method thats going on is to complain about something that is inexpensive thats pointless to ship back then threaten bad feedback t so you get some kind of refund to lower your price and you get to keep the item, I've dealt with this a few times as well, it sucks but unfortunately ebay almost always sides with the buyer and there's not much you can do about it, I would tell your friend to have the woman ship the remainder back before he refunds it, especially if he knows he did nothing wrong, there are a lot of scammers, you just need to deal with them, tell him to leave bad feedback for her and others will reconsider selling to her and maybe get her off the bay all together!

Hi,

I deal a lot on ebay and I have come across a few nasty people on there. I think the first course of action is to report th case to ebay. Phone them up , explain they are being abusive and explain that you are prepared to refund the amount. Also lay down the foundations with ebay in case this person gives negative feedback , the could reverse it. If your friend phones ebay they are quite good and they will give you the best advice. They will also make a note of the person in case this is a regular thing by them, then it becomes a police matter and I know a few people have been prosecuted for committing fraud on ebay.
It's possibley a case of gritting your teeth and moving on.

Hi

Another interesting point is to check on the weight of the package. If your friend took the item to be weighted by the post office, surely that will prove if there were 3 items in the package rather than 2.

There are scammers on ebay , but you can put processes in to stop them.

1. never sell to people with less than 10 feedback
2. Never sell to people with less than 97% feedback.

If you follow the above 2 rules, you will not be caught by scammers.

I had few customers like her before. If i was your friend i would take just few steps to sort her out. Why refund if you are not guilty, that's just gona make you look stupid. some easy steps

1) Shipping Tracking number along with signed for

2) if she is being little abusive.. thats great. take a scrren shot of the message she sent. Go to ebay live chat help and have a chat with them. send them the screen shot.

3) if she open a case on paypal. make sure you provide the tracking number to paypal also ring up paypal and discuss with them.

you may think it's a lot of hassle but trust me, things like this happens all the time so it's best to get the grip of it and try your best to deal with it..Refund should be the last option you offer. hope that helps