ebay buyer false claim

mh219

Hi all,

Apologies for yet another one of these threads as I see a lot of members unfortunately encounter the same issues on ebay but each situation is different so here goes....

I sold a valuable computer desktop on ebay after having it checked by an IT specialist to make sure it was all in perfect working order. I stated on my ad that it was collection only. The bidder who won contacted me asking if they could arrange a courier and sent an email assuring all liability lay with them as they were arranging collection. Silly me, I agreed and packaged up the item carefully and had it picked up by the courier. I (thankfully!) took pictures of the packaged up item prior to it being collected.

A few days later while in work I received a phone call from the buyer who said that the item was badly damaged in transit and they wanted a partial refund for the item. I was surprised by this as I had packaged it so well. They said they were in a rush for a resolution as they had no space for the item. I asked about insurance and they said they thought they had taken it out but realised they had not, so I would not be covered by this (the realisation began to dawn on me I am now out of a great deal of money and have a damaged, unsellable item). They did not mention to me that they had opened a case on ebay. We left the call that I would get back to them asap after they sent the pictures and I had a bit more advice.

Later, I signed on to ebay to notice they had opened a case against me prior to talking to me saying I was unresponsive and my paypal balance was in negative as I had transferred the money to my bank account. The case stated that the item was not packaged at all. I then went on to this sellers 100% feedback and a grim feeling came over me when I noticed numerous comments about them defrauding sellers using this method (again, silly me!). I spoke with a few of the other disgruntled sellers who said they all lost cases against this person who became nasty and this is part of their operation - a well known scam I see - as they have a business which sells and repairs electronic items after receiving perfectly working items - stripping them of parts, and asking for partial refund or sending back faulty items.

I gave the seller the benefit of the doubt until they uploaded pictures and made false claims about my packaging. Of course I understand damage does happen in transit but the thing that really gets to me is this.... They have uploaded a picture of my alleged packaging - it shows an empty box. I included styrofoam and multiple layers of bubble wrap (of course!) when packaging and have evidence to show this. So I know they are lying, and they know they are yet as the saga continues in resolution centre they are getting agressive and accusing me of slander etc. They also uploaded other pictures and I have seen my alleged item, and I noticed in one of the pictures that I can see a component from the inside of my item next to it. Of course I cannot prove however that they have stripped my item until and if I receive it back.

So, in your trusted opinions, is it a case of my word against the buyer's or has anyone ever had a case where ebay managed to see through this, coupled with the fact they have a history of using the resolution centre in this way? I'm also wondering if they win, apart from appealing the claim is there ever any other action you can take considering I know for a fact they are acting in a fraudulent manner?

Sorry for rambling on and responses are much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

P3dro

Never let a buyer arrange their own courier, it opens you up to INR as you don't have proof of sending it.

Probably the best you can do is ask them to send it back for a full refund and hope that they don't take a hammer to it to "damage it". Have they sent a photo of the damage itself?

Of course if you believe the buyer to be committing theft of high value items then it may be worth speaking to the other sellers and all take them to the small claims court, as I really fear you won't win the Dispute

mh219

Thank you for your response. I know I have been totally naive with this one & I am extremely frustrated.

They uploaded pictures of the damage but there is nothing to show it is my computer and they actually stated in our ebay case that this has happened to them before with the exact same model. I have asked them, just to clarify, to show me pictures including the serial number on my item. To which they responded that I was accusing them of being words I won't repeat and the slander response occured. They also asked me at this point if there are any other distinctive signs on my computer that I want to see to put an end to the 'slander'.

Considering they have already uploaded false pictures & info I don't have much faith in the rest of what they are saying unfortunately. In the most recent response they are now suggesting that perhaps it was not damaged in transit at all and that I falsely listed a fully working item and sent them an already damaged one. I would certainly consider small claims court if the other sellers would too because it is unfortunate this is occuring.

Obviously_the_best

If you take it to small claims court it will cost you £25 and you should win as your buyers agent picked up the item from your premises, if I were you I'd definitely do small claims. You can get more information at http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/making-a-complaint/taking-a-dispute-to-the-small-claims-court/using-the-small-claims-court/

nothingventured

As well as small claims court, if you believe fraud is being committed, then you should talk to ebay by phone and, more importantly, report the crime to the police - especially if the other sellers will too.

Arguably the buyer's prior messages about the liability being theirs could be deemed to be part of your contract, so it would explicitly make it their problem, not yours.

Allowing a buyer to collect by courier can give lots of headaches but it shouldn't open you up to an item not received claim - you can still use the tracking information provided you get them to send you a label to put on the box.

mh219

Thank you for your responses on this, they are much appreciated. I am going to have a look at the link you provided. If pursuing the buyer in this way at least deters them from doing this again it will be worth it. nothingventured I am also going to follow your advice and speak to ebay about this so that they have it on record (I believe they already do from what the other sellers have said but one more always helps).They have gone quiet after I asked them to provide evidence showing that the alleged item is mine so I'm still unsure as to what is happening. I will post an update so that if anyone else is in the same position they may find it beneficial.