More eBay Madness

Gaslight

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So, a friend of mine bought an expensive item off eBay for her father in law, as a family club together present. She rang me today for advice, and sadly, she is now at the point of no return with eBay.

When the item arrived, it was a different model, same thing, but the lesser one (around £200 difference). She opened a return and they accepted, she sent it back, expecting either a refund to repurchase or the correct one being sent. Little did she know at this time, she was going to have to brace herself for a massive b***fudgeing.

As soon as it was sent , she began getting insanely threatening emails from the company calling her a liar, thief, a fraudster, saying she had switched the items. She responded once just to outline that the item she received was the one she sent back etc etc.

The emails kept coming. Next the return was delivered , and the seller contacted eBay and had the case 'put on hold' so they could provide evidence to claim she was 'lying'. She contacted eBay numerous times by chat (calling is near impossible at the moment as they have removed the function from the site) and was continually reassured that she would be refunded in due course, but they had to allow the seller the appeal.

The case was then put on hold for a further ten days. She got called by eBay, but was about to go into a Doctors appointment, so asked them to call back later. She then missed that call while in the shower. She called them back shortly after and spent over an hour getting passed from pillar to post trying to get through to the right department after calling back. The Operator then said to call back in a couple of days and the refund would be processed, there was nothing to worry about.

She woke up today to a message the day after saying her account has been permanently suspended and the refund has been declined. She contacted them and they said there is no appeal and she may never use eBay again.

She has had this account for over 15 years, has never even returned an item before, and has over 1000 buying and selling feedback at 100%...and on a personal level, she is the most god fearing pleasant and honest woman you could ever meet, I highly doubt she would concoct this plan to save a couple hundred quid.

Obviously Ive told her to explore the Chargeback route, which she is doing, but this is literal madness, no one is safe from the eBay abuse of power.

Ironically, this is the same week I had two empty box returns send to me as sale returns, and eBays response was ' we cannot comment on what is the parcel as we did not witness it being packed or opened, so we have to refund the buyer' , which is a very typical response of theirs.

Crazy.
 
If the Company she purchased from is a registered UK business, she is entitled to a no-questions asked full refund BY LAW. If this is the case, Ebay should be reminded of her legal right to a return for full refund within 14 days of receipt, regardless of whether the item was the wrong one or whatever.
 
This is why I'll only ever use ebay for buying low value items.
 
If the Company she purchased from is a registered UK business, she is entitled to a no-questions asked full refund BY LAW. If this is the case, Ebay should be reminded of her legal right to a return for full refund within 14 days of receipt, regardless of whether the item was the wrong one or whatever.

Indeed. Sadly, eBay no longer engage with any chat or discussion with her, and they refer her to contact PayPal (she paid by card directly through eBay, which is processed by PayPal but PP have said they cant intervene as it was eBays transaction). I suspect they are lying/passing the buck, but even getting through to PP at the moment is a mission.

This is why I'll only ever use ebay for buying low value items.

It's definitely been an eye opener for me, I am used to getting ripped off being a high volume business seller with the usual 'buyer is always right' policy eBay generally have..but to see this reversed is crazy.
 
...It's definitely been an eye opener for me, I am used to getting ripped off being a high volume business seller with the usual 'buyer is always right' policy eBay generally have..but to see this reversed is crazy.
That must be particularly perplexing for you.
Is there any way the mighty membership of AVF can make their thoughts known to the piddly little ebay company?
 
This is why I'll only ever use ebay for buying low value items.

i agrree, tho, i bought my mountain bike from ebay recently, but that was meeting up, inspecting the bike, and handing over cash... :)
 
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Wonder if it’s worth going to the press?
The fact she was banned puts an interesting slant to the story & the journalist would be intrigued (as are we all) as to why she was banned, & what evidence the seller provided that led to the ban.

thisismoney seems to do a lot of eBay refund woes/scam stories

Their eBay stories always seem to end
‘After This is Money contacted eBay with details, they said they would refund the money as 'a gesture of goodwill'.
 
When the item arrived, it was a different model, same thing, but the lesser one (around £200 difference)

As soon as it was sent , she began getting insanely threatening emails from the company calling her a liar, thief, a fraudster, saying she had switched the items. She responded once just to outline that the item she received was the one she sent back etc etc.
Were images of serial numbers; on the listing and on the item received, kept?
 
Were images of serial numbers; on the listing and on the item received, kept?

It's a new item with generic stock image on listing, and not something one takes or keeps when it's merely a simple honest return situation.

Wonder if it’s worth going to the press?
The fact she was banned puts an interesting slant to the story & the journalist would be intrigued (as are we all) as to why she was banned, & what evidence the seller provided that led to the ban.

thisismoney seems to do a lot of eBay refund woes/scam stories

Their eBay stories always seem to end
‘After This is Money contacted eBay with details, they said they would refund the money as 'a gesture of goodwill'.

It is definitely a process she could follow to potentially have her account restored. I will mention it to her.

eBay wouldnt give away much information, but is was along the lines of the seller providing documentation showing their stock control and supplier stock control showing the correct item was sent. Looking at the company, I cant imagine them fabricating this stuff, so other than a real genuine mistake/catalogue of stocking errors, my feelings are that a shop assistance swapped the item and made himself a little earner.

The bank have taken up the Chargeback though, so essentially she will get her money back, hopefully, they have also said not to reveal any company details until after the case is settled, but I will be glad to when that time comes.

Is it really getting to the point where I wouldn't even know how to shop anymore!
 
Looking at the company, I cant imagine them fabricating this stuff, so other than a real genuine mistake/catalogue of stocking errors, my feelings are that a shop assistance swapped the item and made himself a little earner.
My only thing with that would be
She opened a return and they accepted, she sent it back, expecting either a refund to repurchase or the correct one being sent.
Presumably when she asked for a return, she told them that the item she received was a different, lower model. They accepted her complaint & agreed to the return.
Only after she’d sent it (after point of no return) did they dispute her account & kick up a fuss.

If legit, they should have said no refund at the start of the return process - we know we sent the correct item, so don’t send anything back to us. But now they got their cake & eating it.
 
My only thing with that would be

Presumably when she asked for a return, she told them that the item she received was a different, lower model. They accepted her complaint & agreed to the return.
Only after she’d sent it (after point of no return) did they dispute her account & kick up a fuss.

If legit, they should have said no refund at the start of the return process - we know we sent the correct item, so don’t send anything back to us. But now they got their cake & eating it.

Exactly that. The return was accepted and sent off using the returns label they sent.

Now they have the incorrectly sent item and the grand, and eBay sided with them!
 
Now they have the incorrectly sent item and the grand, and eBay sided with them!
I had just realised that this was the case as I read this post, which makes it even more ridiculous that they haven't at least returned the incorrectly supplied item if they won't refund. That is simply awful; I hope they can get some resolution.
 

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