Ebay advised me to send item - I got scammed

Buster_Danog

twhitehousescat wrote: »

did they collect from sorting office?

No I'm guessing they might be concerned that I have contacted Royal Mail and that the Police might be onto them as ebay must have suspended their account before they got a chance to collect it. I will see what happens but I guess the scammer might be checking the tracking number as well. Hoping it will get sent back to me obviously but I will let you know what happens.

shapala

twhitehousescat wrote: »

YES you can have it redirected , if you are quick , and the redirect address will be yours , I did this a while back when I accidentally put wrong address on a parcel , and redirected it to customers home address

Yes, also did the same recently. You need the local RM sorting offices' phone number and since you can prove you sent it, request it to be sent back to you.

Hope it works out for you, op. But yes, only send something to the PP registered address - eBay CS is a (not funny) joke and take them with a huge pinch of salt.

geminilady

If you have the transcript saying you are protected then surely Ebay will refund you?

soolin

geminilady wrote: »

If you have the transcript saying you are protected then surely Ebay will refund you?

Not necessarily, it isn't them who are refunding the money it is PayPal- and eBay have no way of preventing PayPal from refunding. As above, all OP (or anyone in a similar position) could hope for is a goodwill payment.

Buster_Danog

soolin wrote: »

Not necessarily, it isn't them who are refunding the money it is PayPal- and eBay have no way of preventing PayPal from refunding. As above, all OP (or anyone in a similar position) could hope for is a goodwill payment.

That was the logic of the ebay CS representative I spoke to when I did eventually contact them. He said I was "protected" by ebay because ebay were not the ones issuing the refund. The logic defies belief when an item could have been stolen but it is more about covering themselves and their colleagues than anything else.

Stoke

First rule of eBay for me "I'm buying for my cousin Jenny, she lives at this address". Nope.

custardy

soolin wrote: »

I'm always shocked when I hear some of the things that ebay tell people just to get them off the phone! Only a couple of years ago they assured me, in writing, that I was safe to do something that would actually have got me suspended.

Your paypal payment explains your responsibilities as does the transaction page when you check the payment in your paypal account. We even cover it in the sticky postage thread on this board.

However, as you have assurances from ebay in writing I would use that to argue your case- it might not do any good though as ebay and paypal are no longer under the same umbrella company so ebay cannot over rule the paypal rules- if you are forceful and polite enough though there's a chance they will give you a goodwill payment to cover your loss.

A couple of other thoughts, firstly, can you intercept the package at all online? I know a re delivery can be arranged by the sender but are you able to have it returned to sender?

Secondly talk to paypal as well explain what has happened as there's a chance that not only will they return the funds to the buyer but they will charge you £14 as well for the privilege.

No. It works for both sides.
Once sent,the item is held for 18 days. flip it round. Innocent buyer and dodgy seller recalls the item before the buyer can get it.

twhitehousescat wrote: »

YES you can have it redirected , if you are quick , and the redirect address will be yours , I did this a while back when I accidentally put wrong address on a parcel , and redirected it to customers home address

No you cant. You can have an item redelivered within the original delivery offices delivery area.
So unless the OP lives near their buyer,its not happening

davemorton

So delivery to the local cop shop then was it op?

Buster_Danog

I thought of it or, Trading Standards. I can't say where yet although the good thing is when you have an item redirected the Royal Mail website doesn't state where exactly that is and removes the option for redelivery.

Unbelievably I just had an identical purchase on ebay. I occasionally sell electronic items with a value of around £150 - £200. I just had a purchase followed by a similar message. I told the buyer I can only send to the Paypal address.

Looking at the postcodes used I am suspicious that some people pull this stunt using their own Paypal funds and ebay account then tell Paypal someone else has accessed their accounts.

Anyway, I won't send the item this time but that's the second maximum £1 final value fee listing that has been messed up because of what looks like a scam buyer. Very annoying. :mad:

Buster_Danog

martindow wrote: »

Please come back to tell us how it works out and also if your tricky location ploy is successful.

Just an update on this for anyone who cares. I managed to get the parcel returned to me after 35 days. I could only use the Royal Mail redeilvery page to request it was sent to a local Post Office in the fraudsters area. Once delivered to that Post Office the Royal Mail redelivery page does not state where the item is, and the option for redelivery is removed.

Anyway some of the things I have learned:

Don't trust ebay customer service. Only Paypal count.

The Royal Mail, Police and Action Fraud will do nothing to intercept an item sent due to a fraudulent payment.

The small Post Office branches in shops and newsagents do not return items after 18 days as they should and I think the Post Office knows that their standards are slipping. Makes me think about local Post Office closures.

Royal Mail customer services seem to absolve themselves of responsibility for an item once it has been delivered to a Post Office even if the recipient has not collected it. This seems to be a grey area if you have paid for a service with the recipient's signature but only the Postmaster has signed for it.

--

Anyway, at least I got it back. I got lucky.