Tag Archives: return request

Dear eBay Queen: Return Request Can Be A Pain BUT So Can Craig’s List Scams

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Dear eBay Queen:

I haven’t been selling for very long, but I have sold 100 or more items on eBay.  My next door neighbor’s son asked me to sell his handheld game console for him.  It came with the console, 2 games, a carrying case, charger and rechargeable batteries.   I shipped it off quickly and within a few hours of receiving it, the buyer contacted me saying the console does not work with her games.

I responded to this person’s message, and they sent me a pretty rude email. I ignored how rude they were to me, and asked them what they would like for me to do.  I get NO response for 5 days, and then just this morning I received a return request for the item, saying it was not as described!  It was as described; I stated that it worked with the 2 games I sent them!  I have no idea what this lady is talking about.

I called eBay customer service, and they say that I have to pay for return shipping. I sold it for $227 with free shipping .What should I do? I don’t want to pay to have it shipped back esp. if there is something wrong with it. Do I just give her a full refund? Will I still get a defect?

Oh, and did I tell you she left me positive feedback already?  What should I do?

TRG

Dear TRG:

Electronics are a high fraud category anywhere, just not on eBay.  I don’t know the story, but maybe what the guy said was true, and only those games worked.  Either way you are obligated by eBay to accept the return.  The good thing is, you won’t get a negative.

Have you spoken to your neighbor’s son about this? Are there any identifying marks on the item that would let you know it was the one you sold once you get it back?  I would talk to the neighbor and ask them if they knew if the item only worked with the games that you sent, and let them know that the buyer will be sending the game console back for a refund.

 

Dear eBay Queen:

My mother in law passed away last month.  Since I sell on eBay, and I live in the same town where my mother in law’s stuff is, I was asked by my husband’s siblings, (who live out of state) to sell off her stuff.  I wanted to take some of the big stuff to a consignment auction, but thought I would try my luck with the “non-shippable” items on eBay.  I received this message regarding an antique hutch and dining room set.  Do you think this person is FOR REAL?

“Thanks for messaging me. I want to buy this from you. I hope you will withdraw your ad from Craig’s List and let me buy this beautiful set. I am going to have my partner FedEx our payment to you. We will be sending you a certified bank check.  Please send me the following information so I can send you the check…  I would EVEN be willing to send an extra 150.00 if you can get this to me ASAP.
Name
Address: Not Po Box please
City………..
State and Zip Code…………..
Final Asking price…………..
Cell phone # to contact you …………….

My partner will be calling you to make arrangements for the pick up as soon as the check clears.

All the Best

Cynthia Trueman

I messaged them back, telling them I prefer cash at time of pick up, and they responded with this.

I’m terribly sorry.  Because of my work schedule, I will not be able to come with the cash to pick this item up.  Please accept my check, as I have already FedEx’d it to you.

What should I do?

Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth:

I believe this is a slightly different version of a Craig’s List Scam.  You could always take it to your bank, and they could call the bank it is drawn on to see if the funds are available and that it is a real check.  In a situation like this, I am pretty sure that I would not accept it, and move on.

 frenchhangers

Strange eBay Item of the Week: Item #331509094273. How much would you pay for a pair of vintage clothing hangers? Some people will pay quite a bit! Pair of Divine Decadent Vintage French Silk Coat Clothes Hangers Pink Blue SOLD: $373.48.

 

 

Sometimes an eBay Buyer Steals Your Pictures and It Turns Into a Return Request

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  ** A little background info.  I have a bazillion of this particular item. I fully expect that a buyer who buys this item in the multiple lot I'm selling them is most likely going to re-sell them or modify them and resell them. I do not expect that they are going to steal my photo in the process….

stolenpicremove2  Last Thursday I had an eBayer message me saying that someone has stolen my pictures to a unique item I am selling.

stolenpicremoveI go check, and sure enough they DID steal my photo.

AND because I know how to use "The Google" on the Internet machine… I found their website where they are also are using my photo.

 

removednametg1

Please note the tiny print.. It will be important later in this tale of woe… "condition: New, no signs of wear, No defects, stains, holes or tears, no missing or loose sequins or beads"

I contacted eBay, and the buyer.  The buyer was pretty belligerent and not so apologetic, eBay removed the item.

I also figured out that the buyer had tweeted about their fabulous new item.. that they were using stolen photos to display…

stolenpicremove3

So I retweeted them.  Which ticked them off, and they opened a return request.

In the return request they say they don't need the item any more… and "there were missing sequins".. but on eBay and their website the item was just perfect. eBay wants me to accept the return, because I have a return policy… The buyer/seller of the item sent me a message asking me to remove the tweet, and gave me a sob story of how their business was not doing so well.  I removed the tweet.. because well.. I felt bad for them, and maybe they didn't know they shouldn't steal photos.

What I don't understand.. is they have listed the item on eBay and their own website with STOLEN photos… when they get called out on it, they open a return request, and I am suppose to accept the return because they've opened it. **I've blurred out this person's information to protect their reputation… although I don't really feel someone that is this dishonest deserves it.

How would you handle this?

 

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: I was Blocked from Buying on eBay!

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Dear eBay Queen:

I am super confused, and I don’t even know what to do.  I tried to bid on an item yesterday, and I was told that I was blocked from buying from this seller. This is a seller I do business with, and has many of the items that I really like.  All of a sudden, my seller has become angry with me. I contacted eBay, and they said that he has partially blocked me because I can still send emails to him. eBay told me that he didn’t have to answer the  messages, because the messages are not tied to any eBay item. I sent him a message, and asked why I couldn’t purchase these parts that I have been purchasing from him for years.  It took him several days, but this is what he responded with:
Hi, thank you for messaging me, I appreciate your kind words about being a good seller, but they have come too late for us.  You have been a fantastic buyer, except as of late you caused some issues for me as a seller on eBay and my account can’t afford this kind of issue.  Here are a few of the examples of the problems you created.

  1. 1-10-2015 you opened a return request without contacting me first.  You selected that there was a problem with the item, and this gave me a defect.  When I messaged you about the problem, you told me that you ordered the wrong size adapter.  This isn’t an issue that is my fault, so in order to get the defect removed, I called eBay and was on hold for 2 hours then they transferred me to someone else where I was either on hold or waiting for 45 minutes.  I got this defect removed, but it would have been so nice if you would have just messaged me or called me instead of opening a return request.
  2. 1-17-2015 you left neutral feedback that said “Thanks for the fast shipping, adapter wasn’t the right size” This left a defect, and I had to call and get this removed, which was another 45 minute phone call with eBay.
  3. 1-25-2015 You contacted me via eBay’s messaging system (thank you) but complained that you thought my buy it now price was too high on the CD drive for the Dell laptop.
  4. 1-26 you purchased the above mentioned CD drive, and then before you even received it, you left me a neutral feedback. “Price was higher than competitors I like the Seller”  (defect received for neutral)

I understand you like me, but you are hurting my business, and costing me a lot of time in the process.

This happened over NOTHING as far as I can tell. We had a small argument about item details but even there the seller started the argument.  I’ve messaged him several times since I received this message, but he will not respond to anything I send him. I'm just trying to find out what the heck is happening! He won't allow me to bid on anything, won't allow me to subscribe to his newsletter, and I can't even ASK anything about the items he has listed. This seems wrong: he owes me an explanation. With this going on, how I can buy from him or even trust him? He's angry for no reason and has done all this to me. It actually hurts me.

 

Tim

Dear Tim:

I think your seller gave you a pretty good explanation in regards to what they are angry about.  eBay has made some changes to the way sellers are evaluated, and it is just not by neutral or negative feedback.  This defect system is sometimes a scary, not-so-well oiled machine to be up against as a seller.  This seller is afraid that you will create more problems for him.  It seems like you might not have understood how an eBay seller is evaluated based upon the innocent comments, or moves a buyer can make.

I don’t know if this situation is repairable between you and the seller.  If I were you I would message them again and let them know you did not understand that they were being given defects, or even being secretly evaluated by eBay in this manner. I would ask them to please give you another chance. All you can do is wait for them to decide.

mardigrawreath

Strange Item of the Week: Item #:171629243567.  In honor of Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, I found a festive wreath on eBay: Mardi Gras Wreath with Mask Jester Feet Beads Fat Tuesday Carnival Celebration SOLD: $164.95.