Ebay no longer protecting sellers in fraudulent return cases - Ebay customer service inept

[thelatelydeal]

Recently had a buyer return an empty brow pencil box without the pencil in it, the envelope was sealed so I know it wasn’t postal theft. Since I've been selling on ebay for 25 years and had this issue occasionally in that time, I thought I would report the fraud and be protected by ebay. WRONG. 

I called 4/6 to report the fraudulent return the day I received it, ebay stated "don't refund buyer, block them, you will then appeal and you will be protected".  Simple enough, then the case closed with a refund to the buyer, I called up and appealed it. Well it was denied by the system immediately, and I suspect a human never laid eyes on it. I call ebay again 4/10, CS said the appeal was denied because I didn't send the buyer a photo of the empty box, which seems stupid, but I sent the buyer a photo of the empty box, and the CS agent seemed confident this would be approved. Appeal denied a second time. I called 4/15, CS said this is a seller protection case and that previous agents appealed the case under a returns case. So she appealed it under a seller protection case, and that too was denied. The denial I got from the appeals team was not even related to a fraudulent return, this is what they messaged me:

Focusing on what we can do, I’m here to help and to inform you of all the possible ways to get your item.  

1. There are some instances when a neighbor or housemate accepted the parcel on your behalf – you may check with any people who may have been home on the day your parcel was delivered.

2. There are some carriers who leave the parcels in a safe hiding place, for instance at the side of your house, in a bin or in your porch – we encourage you to look in any likely hiding places for your parcel.

We also encourage you to contact your carrier for more information about where they exactly delivered the package. In any case that they were not able to locate your item, we recommend you file a claim for a lost package to get your money back.

We do not want this to happen again in the future so, we also encourage you to always make sure your return shipping address is up to date. Remember to include the apartment or unit number, if applicable. Also, for your additional protection, I would also recommend verifying your address with your local post office to make sure that you get your future purchases, and that it will be delivered to the correct address.

I hope that I explained everything clearly and that you find the guidance helpful on the resolution of your concern. 

Kind Regards,

Jenin A.
eBay Customer Service

—————> EBAY - GET IT TOGETHER!!! You don't have the ability to comprehend that the buyer did not return the item to me? Instead you are getting it confused with a lost package that shows delivered? This is the third appeal, I explained it to 3 different agents, so the issue has been clearly documented 3 times, yet your team can’t get it straight? 

My next step is the FTC to report the buyer and ebay. Maybe cancel my store? Maybe I accept that ebay customer service is pure garbage and continue to sell anyway? What are you all doing? 

[ebooksdiva]

As you found out the hard way. The reps you spoke to over the phone will tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone. Their advice is oftentimes incorrect.
When eBay is asked to step in, whether the buyers asks or the seller, eBay will always side with the buyer.

You could have handled the return yourself and avoid all the phone calls, Since you're TRS you could've deducted up to 50% from the buyers refund since they returned something other than what you originally shipped.

What do you think the FTC will do? They will read the MBG policy the part where it says (see image below)

[thelatelydeal]

Thank you for supporting my claim that Ebay customer service knowingly gives false information which in itself, is fraud. However giving a 50% refund on an item I did not receive back is wrong, that is only for damaged returns, so that would be misusing the policy. The seller protections page states this:

 

What is more abusive than my buyer returning an empty box? 

It's important for every seller being scammed on Ebay to report this fraud to the FTC. 

[jjddmwi]

I'm confused as to why this wouldn't qualify for a 50% refund?    Buyer returned the item that was not in the same condition as you sent it.  You cannot re-sell it.  I think that should be a 50% reduction.  Fraudulent buyer.

I'm sorry this happened to you.  I just had a similar thing happen to me but I had "no returns."  I have since updated my policy to allow returns / buyer pays shipping so that I can deduct the appropriate % the next time a shady buyer tries that on me.   I've had 3 buyers do this in my selling career... all 3 of them were in the the healthy & beauty category.  Makes me consider not selling that stuff anymore.

As for Ebay CS.... that is beyond wrong.  How can Ebay keep getting away with their agents straight up giving false info!!!!!  Baffling....  Are you going to be charged $20 per appeal?  

[old_gray_senior]

This is becoming prevalent due to the economy, Americans have become dishonest. I sell coins, DVDs, and books. In the past, only l of 100 people claimed their DVD, sent via 1st Class Mail without tracking, wasn't received. Now it's 1 out of 20.

Today I received a complaint on a lot of 4 coins. The customer claimed I sent the wrong coins and refused to return them because he didn't want to go to the USPS. I sent the right coins as I keep this lot in a box and have sold hundreds.

Nearly every day, I receive a complaint and believe it to be fraud 75% of the time.

ebay has become time-consuming with no support and the threat of negative feedback always pending.

[kitschy*loot]

I know people will stoop to just about anything, but wanting to keep a brow pencil that costs $16.95 so badly makes no sense to me. In the negative they left they claim you are the scammer, but if that were the case it seems like they would have said you sent them an empty box in the first place and they never said that which makes me suspicious of them.

[robbie31415]

If you make the decision not to use the protection then that's on you.

Saying 50% is too much is meaningless. They are going to most likely refunded in full always. 50% by you and then eBay will refund the rest once they complain.

Now it's do you retain the other 50%? Or do you retain 0?

You decided 0.