eBay seller trying all the tricks??

GadgetGuru

Bear with me on this one!

- Purchased a console game from eBay. Seller has 3800+ feedback. 98% positive.
- Waited over 2 weeks - no item arrived. 
- Contacted seller (all contact via eBay of course) to ask when the item was dispatched etc - waited a few days - no response at all. 

- Started an item not received claim via eBay and waited. No response from seller.
- A week later - a day before I could escalate the claim to eBay - I received an update with a tracking number stating item had been delivered the day before!?! Even though I hadn't received anything. 
- Luckily later the same day I received a call from someone I know further down my road to say he has a letter for me.....
- Popped round and was given a thin letter-type package. 
- I live at number 22, it was addressed to number 2. It did not have my full name, rather the first few letters of my name as its first name, and the last few letters of my first name s the surname! Luckily I know the person at number 2 and he recognise that it must be for me - as sometimes the postie has delivered mail for my house (number 22) to number 2 instead!
- Postage showed item was from a Birmingham PO Box address, whereas the seller is in West London.......
- Took images of the package before and after opening...

Inside the envelope was a Lyca Mobile Sim Card!!

- The tracking number matched the tracking number supplied by the seller. 
- So made me think - the tracking on RM website shows delivered, but not to which address. Just that a package was delivered by my delivery office! So what the seller has done is send a sim card to a random house on my road (lucky for me it was to someone I know!) just to get tracking information to upload to eBay, hence I would lose the item not received case.

- Contacted eBay via phone. Explained the situation. 
- Was told to close the item not received case, and the eBay rep opened a 'Wrong Item Received' case for me straight away, requesting a return for refund. 
- I uploaded the images I had taken of the sim card package.
- Told to wait 3 days for a return label, or a refund.

- No response from seller in all this time. 
- On second day, I received an update to the case. No return label was sent to me. Instead seller states:

"please return in same pack we sent you in just mark RTS and drop it in letterbox as its free and tracked not post office, alternatively, you can pay at post office if you dont with to use free returns process"

So I contacted eBay again and asked what to do, since I had the following concerns:
- The return address on the package is not the sellers listed return address on eBay. Hence the seller will just say they have not received the item. 
- The tracking number already shows delivered - if I just write RTS and pop it in the letterbox as seller suggested, I don't think the tracking will reflect this.
- Why is the seller telling me not to take it to the Post Office?

Seems to me like the seller wants to update the case to say Ive dispatched the item, but will then later say he didn't receive it?

eBay advised me to wait as seller still had another day to send me a returns label, and if not, then to contact eBay again.
Hence I now need to contact them again tomorrow.....

theonlywayisup

When you contact Ebay tomorrow be clear that you have no label and you want them to escalate the claim.  Once escalated Ebay will either refund you in full or supply a label for the return which they will bill to the seller's account.  Only do what Ebay tell you, do not close the case or do what the seller asks.  

pinkshoes

DO NOT just pop it in the post box with RTS as it will have no tracking and you will not get a refund.

INSIST that a tracked return label is provided. If they don't provide it, hopefully eBay will then force a refund.

Don't forget to leave negative feedback detailing the scam.

soolin

All of the above but also report seller using as many options as you can, these sellers need to be stopped. 

GadgetGuru

Update : Contacted eBay who have refunded my money.

I asked what would happen to the seller - he said the seller would keep the money from the sale, and eBay refund me from their buyer guarantee. All I can do is report the seller - which I have just done......

custardy

"- I live at number 22, it was addressed to number 2. It did not have my full name, rather the first few letters of my name as its first name, and the last few letters of my first name s the surname! Luckily I know the person at number 2 and he recognise that it must be for me - as sometimes the postie has delivered mail for my house (number 22) to number 2 instead!"

This screams scam seller without the rest.
They use the vague address/name to get a delivery scan near your property showing same delivery office

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Sounds like a hacked account, with managed payments it must be a bit more tricky for scam sellers to syphon off the funds before cases roll in. 

I'm surprised eBay allow daily withdrawals, if they held funds for 2 weeks they'd lose far less money, although a lot of sellers might not be happy with eBay holding the money for so long.  

GadgetGuru

Left the seller negative feedback simply stating item wasn't received and had to go via eBay for refund due to lack of communication and playing games - a couple of days later it seems the seller has managed to get the negative feedback removed??

In the corner of the feedback history it shows 8 revisions have been made in the last 12 months?

How and why was the feedback removed??
Is it really that easy for sellers to cover their tracks like that??

theonlywayisup

IftiBashir said:

Left the seller negative feedback simply stating item wasn't received and had to go via eBay for refund due to lack of communication and playing games - a couple of days later it seems the seller has managed to get the negative feedback removed??

In the corner of the feedback history it shows 8 revisions have been made in the last 12 months?

How and why was the feedback removed??
Is it really that easy for sellers to cover their tracks like that??

Your feedback is against policy as it refers to an ebay case and that is grounds for the seller to ask Ebay for it to be removed.  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-misuse-policy?id=5030



Revisions are only made when a buyer is happy to revise and cannot be done unilaterally. 

anotheruser

So if ebay allows the seller to keep the money and refunds the buyer out of their own pocket, sounds like a good way to scam ebayz.

RFW

anotheruser said:

So if ebay allows the seller to keep the money and refunds the buyer out of their own pocket, sounds like a good way to scam ebayz.

In theory but they'll have systems in place to stop anyone taking the mick. Plus we don't know if Ebay chase the seller for the money. The Ebay guarantee just means that the buyer gets the money from Ebay rather than hanging around until the seller decides to cough up. Long gone are the days when Ebay left it up to the seller.