Ebay: threats and harrassment after making a claim

I cant for the life of me think why Ebay did that

What purpose was it meant to have when they decided only one side of the story could be told?

 

Exactly. Once upon a time, I used to sell the odd few things, now I wouldn't even think about it. It's far too much hassle in which ever way you look at it, and the fees, make it not worth doing...Especially Paypal fees...If high street banks started charging you to put money into your account there would be uproar. (Mind you they probably do in some circumstances)...But that's another issue.

Without doubt Ebay favours Buyers rather than Sellers when disputes occur . But it has to be said there are probably more dishonest Buyers than Sellers . At one time Ebay allowed Sellers to give negative feedback to Buyers which was much fairer for everyone in my opinion . Some unscrupulous Buyers use the feedback option as a weapon against Sellers in order to get their undeserved own way .

Look up "feedback extortion" on eBay. Set procedure for it, works well (I've used it twice as a seller, each time successfully). As a seller, there is also a whole raft of parameterising options for your listings to keep the (statistically-likely) riff-raff out of them: no zero-rated (new) Buyer, no Buyer who left a negative and/or with more than x cases opened in the past 6 months, etc, etc. You can "profile" your Buyers very easily with these tools.

 

eBay skewed the Seller-Buyer relationship balance in their quest to emulate and surpass Amazon. They haven't been the online auction site for 2nd hand goods of their youth for years and longer (I was a member of eBay.com long before the .co.uk even existed, my eBay.co.uk profile goes back to 1999!)

 

These days I just use it (very infrequently) like SF Classifieds-with-a-broader-audience (because more locals use eBay than SF). Pick up only (so local buyers only), cash on collection only (no Paypal whatsoever, unless the buyer is confident enough to do a PPG - which I'd only decide to accept after checking the buyer's feedback), no exceptions.

 

And I'll use anyone else but eBay to buy anything online, as my voting-with-my-wallet option (in disgust and protest at how they 'broke' the system of yesteryear).

 

Given any particular item new or used (for what I tend to buy), these days Amazon is way better on the order/delivery interface and security - and frequently as not cheaper.

Edited November 30, 2015 by L00b

I've just had a very unpleasant experience on eBay and was wondering if it is a common occurance, or am I just unlucky?

 

I bought a pair of boots and had them delivered to my office. They were advertised as 'worn once'

They arrived at closing time on a Thursday and I just took one out of the box to try on.

I noticed that it was obviously worn more than once, but that's what you get from buying on eBay, right?....right??

 

I put it back in the box and left them in the office.

There are only 2 of us in the office, and the other person works shorter hours than me, so security isn't an issue. I'd bought a bunch of things, so I filled out all the feedback at the same time. With the boots, I simply wrote 'good' and left 3 stars for 'as described ' but I dint generally leave negative or neutral feedback.

 

On Monday, I arrived at work, popped both boots on and found they were not just 'worn once', but they were pretty trashed snd the sole was coming off one.

I contacted the seller straight away, but she became quite unfriendly about it and called me a liar.

 

I opened a case with EBay and after seeing the photos, sided with me and provided a returns label.

 

I've been receiving the nastiest, vile emails (through eBay) from her. She has told me she has many friends and family who know the business estate my office is on 'very well'.

 

I actually feel quite threatened by her behaviour and what I take to ve veiled threats.

 

Is this something that happens often, and am I overreacting about being concerned for my safety?

 

Call the police. This kind of intimidation and threats is a criminal offence.

ring ebay and tell them about the messages. if they came through ebay, they can read them and act. this kind of behaviour is against ebay rules and they can suspend/close their account. what usually happens with scammers like this is that they promptly open a new ebay account. speak to trading standards if you can. send the goods back using the label. GET A RECEIPT! it drives me to despair that ebay often seems to be supporting the criminal networks operating on its site.

print off and keep paper copies of the transaction and all messages for any future police investigation.

good luck.

Without doubt Ebay favours Buyers rather than Sellers when disputes occur .

 

I sold an item at the end of August, and initially received positive feedback - no faults, worked fine, "very happy with nice wee item...."

A whole three weeks later, and out of the blue, I had notification from eBay that the buyer had lodged a recall claim, due to the item "reeking of damp" and "stinking her house out".

I replied to her, querying how this could be - I had checked the item before sending in order to make sure all was well, parcelled it up securely and sent it by courier....and why had she waited three weeks to "notice"?

Anyway, you have a limited number of options available, courtesy of eBay rules : full refund once the goods are returned ; full refund, but with no need for the goods to be returned ; a partial refund after consultation with the buyer.

A bit of email to-ing and fro-ing then took place, with me agreeing to issue a full refund - plus return courier charges, don't forget - when I'd checked the returned item. I was not only annoyed at the delay, but equally intrigued as to the description of the reason for return.

eBay told me that the buyer was sending the item back, but here we are, three months later, and I'm still waiting for its return.

The buyer has ignored my last three requests for information, and my PayPal account - or at least the funds within to allow for a refund if/when - are still "frozen".