Tag Archives: Dear eBay Queen

Dear eBay Queen: An eBay Buyer Stole my Shoes & Then Put Them on Social Media!

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Dear eBay Queen:

I waited in line for 16 hours for several pair of Nike Air Jordan Shine shoes in royal blue Vachetta leather.  I purchased the shoes and put them on a buy it now on eBay.  I’ve sold and shipped all of my shoes, but I have a problem with one pair.  The buyer says they did not receive the shoes, and the tracking shows they were delivered.  I contacted eBay and they said that was all I needed to do.  A couple of days have gone by and the buyer has said that the tracking shows they are on their way back to me.  WHAT?  So low and behold, I check the tracking and the shoes are at my post office and they are going to be delivered back to me.  How can this happen?

I received the package back, and it’s not even the size, weight or shape of the shoes!  It looks like they used an Exacto knife to cut off my label and taped it on this new package. What should I do?  The shoes were sent to an individual about 65 miles from me, and the buyer has an unusual name, so I looked at his Facebook page and low and behold, there are photos of him with MY SHOES on. I looked at his Twitter feed, and he has pictures on there.   I have not contacted him yet what should I do?

A.V.

Dear A.V.

I’m so glad you had the forethought to look at this guy’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.  If I were you, I would take screenshots of the photos showing this person wearing the shoes.  I would then contact eBay and the post office.  What this person is doing is mail fraud.  To file a complaint with USPS go HERE: http://ehome.uspis.gov/fcsexternal/

I think if it were me, once I got the all-clear from eBay and they closed the ‘not received’ claim, I would re-tweet their photos to let the buyer know that you know what they are doing.  I would say something like, “nice shoes, I thought you didn’t receive them”

 

Dear eBay Queen:

You’d think as long as I’ve been selling Legos and Lego sets, I would have had this happen before, but I haven’t.  I sold a 4 different sets of Frozen and Friends Legos.  I received a message from the buyer and they said that EVERY set (each set was sealed in the package,) has missing pieces.  I messaged them and asked them to send me a list of the pieces that were missing.  I then called eBay, and they told me my best bet was to offer a refund and just chalk it up to doing business.  HUH?  Why would they say that to me? How could all 4 new sealed sets be missing pieces? 

I’m thinking about calling Lego and telling them what pieces are missing, and perhaps they will send me those pieces so I can send them to the buyer?  What other options do I have?

Maggie


Dear Maggie:

I think that is a great idea! I would contact Lego and see if you can get the parts from them.  If you can’t I think your only option is to have the buyer send the sets back and offer a refund. I think it’s pretty suspicious that all four sets arrived with missing pieces; the issue is that it is your word against the buyers. This is why eBay says “it’s the cost of doing business.”   I have called eBay in a similar situation and they have said almost the same thing to me. I hate to hear them say those words.  It seems almost insulting to me. 

I hope that Lego comes through for you and your buyer is happy.

legobunny

Strange eBay Item of the Week: Item #:111019548316. If you have the right set, Legos can bring a hefty price. Lego 40005 Creator Bunny New Sealed Free US Shipping Set Retired. SOLD: $10,000.00.

Dear eBay Queen: Return Requests and Cell Phones don’t mix.

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been selling for a couple of years, and have always had a “no refund” policy.  I read on an eBay message board that buyers don’t want to buy from someone that doesn’t accept returns.  At the beginning of the year I started accepting returns.  Yesterday, I received my first return request, and I’m kind of confused. I received the following message from eBay:

You can issue a full refund or offer a partial refund.  In either case the buyer keeps the item.  If there is a problem you can ask us to step in and help on (date.)

I don't understand this. In the request details it says buyer pays return shipping. What am I missing? I don't want to accept return until I know what I am agreeing to.

The buyer selected “wrong size or didn’t fit” and left the following comment:

“I received the item and it’s a really cute dress, but it is too small for me.  Thank you for sending it so quickly.  How do I return it for a refund?  The tags are still attached.”

Why can’t I just get the item back and refund her money?  Why would I want to give the buyer a refund and let them keep it?

Paula

 

Dear Paula:

I am assuming you are looking at this return request on your phone.  I had a similar thing happen to me too, when I was trying to respond to a return request on my phone.  When you look at this on a computer you’ll see a different layout.  There are a couple of options when you view this from your computer you should see:

  • Accept the return. Buyer pays for shipping wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.
  • Refund the buyer, you fully refund the buyer to close this request.  The buyer keeps the item.
  • Offer a partial refund.  You fully refund the buyer to close this request.  The buyer keeps the item.
  • Send a message.  Communicate with your buyer.
  • Ask us to step in and help. If there’s a problem, you can ask us to step in and help on  (date)

This will not give you a defect since the buyer said that it was too small. I would simply accept the return and wait for the buyer to send it back.

 

Dear eBay Queen:

I’m not sure what is going on here. I seem to be having a TON of grumpy or irrational customers. Is this just the way that the first of the year goes?  I’ve only been selling full time for 6 months or so, and I have been really happy with my sales on eBay and Amazon, but handling these grumpy customers is about all I can take.  Here is the worst one:

“What a horrible eBay person you are!  Your customer service is the worst!  It’s like I’m shopping at Dollar General!  I ordered this dress for my daughter’s school recital and it has not arrived.  The tracking shows that it went to California, and I live in Texas!  I am leaving you a negative feedback for your poor customer service!  I also will be telling everyone I know that you can’t put the proper address on a package.  How stupid can you be to send it to California?  I’ll be waiting for your excuse to see how negative my feedback will be.”

I messaged this lady back to let her know that it was sent to the address in Texas, and that it was misrouted by the post office.  She still left me a negative.

Just yesterday I had a customer open an item not received case and it was just sent 3 days before that!  Do you have any advice for me?  What am I doing wrong?

Grace

 

Dear Grace:

I’ve always thought that customers were a bit grumpier in January and February than they are the rest of the year.  The best way to handle a grumpy customer is to kill them with kindness.  No matter how unfriendly they are to you, be kind to them.  It’s hard I know, but in the end when you have to call eBay, the grumpy buyer will look bad and you will be the seller that kept your cool.

I think I would contact eBay about the negative.  You just might be able to get this removed since it was not your fault the post office sent it to the wrong place first, and there is a veiled threat of feedback in her message.

eyeglasses

Strange eBay Item of the Week: Item #351238783836  Looking for some unique eyeglasses? eBay might be the place to look! The Worldwide Most Populare Vintage Eyeglasses by Philippe Chevallier Paris N92 SOLD: $3990.00.

Dear eBay Queen: My American Girl Doll Buyer Is Not Very Nice What Should I Do?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I had sent you an email one time and you really sold me on using Best Offer on my craft patterns.  I had an American Girl Doll set that I did not sell over the holidays, and I put it on Best Offer.  I had 350.00 on the set, and the buyer offered me $320.00.  When the offer came in, I was not home, so I checked her feedback on my phone before accepting it.  The buyer had 100% positive feedback, I always check feedback before I accept a best offer.  When I got to my house, I looked over the transaction only to see that I forgot to look at her “feedback left”, I only looked at the feedback received.  I am slightly freaked out to see that the buyer has left 12 negatives and 1 neutral out of the last 25 feedbacks she’s left!  A week has gone by, and she has not paid for the doll set.  I thought about opening a non paying bidder on her, but perhaps I should just cancel?  That’s what I would really like to do.   The buyer has not responded to the cancellation.  Do you think she’s going to object?  What do I do if she pays?

 I went through all seven pages of feedback she’s left other people, and I cannot believe that she continues to be allowed to buy on eBay!  She has left a TON of bad feedback for a variety of reasons; most were that the item was not received.  Most of the sellers responded with the delivery confirmation number, and when checked the item shows delivered.  eBay should be aware of this, & ban her, since she obviously is a scammer.

I know this is kind of stalkerish of me, but I looked this person up on Facebook, and Googled her address.  She lives in a FANTASTIC house, and based upon my deductions of her Facebook and her home, she doesn’t need to be stealing from eBay seller.  What can I do?

Pat

Dear Pat:

I think the best thing you can do is wait for your time for the cancellation to be up.  If she doesn’t respond in seven days, then go in and cancel.  If she pays, I would do several things to protect yourself:

  • Add signature confirmation  and insurance to the shipping
  • If you are worried about her saying something is not as described, I would video or photograph the stuff as you wrap it. 

I would also use the “report this member link” to let eBay to know about the way she handles herself on the site.  I hope that you come out of this with positive feedback and a happy customer.

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been enrolled in hassle free returns for about 2 months.  In early December, a buyer contacted me via email, then started the hassle free return process saying that the item did not fit quite right. It’s been almost 5 weeks, and the buyer has never shipped the item.  I figure the buyer decided to keep it. I messaged them at the beginning of January to see if they had sent it, and I did not get a message back. 

I received an email from eBay that asks if I received the shirt back.  I thought I could cancel the return, but the only resolution I saw was to give a refund, OR have eBay step in.  I clicked on “have eBay step in” and sent a message that pretty much says what I told you.

About 24 hours later, eBay sends me a message that states "We're issuing the buyer a refund for this case. You don't need to do anything else. This case won't be included when we evaluate seller performance. Note: It may take up to 24 hours to update in your Seller Dashboard.
Final decision:  You were not found at fault. Transaction summary: Any remaining funds from this transaction are available"

Have you ever had this happen?  Why would eBay just give the buyer their money back?  It doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.

SD

Dear SD:

I am not sure why eBay give a buyer’s money back to them when they do not follow the rules.  I have had similar things happen to me, and it seems about fifty percent of the time eBay will refund the buyer without them returning the item. Slowly, eBay is teaching me that there is not much reasoning to their madness.

tervisglitter

Strange eBay item of the Week: Item #271640980795. I love drinking out of Tervis tumblers. Some of them are quite collectible. Check these out: Tervis Insulated Glitter Confettie Tumblers Lot of 6 SOLD: 99.00.