eBay claim...

dee.

Hey everyone.

So I'm not new to eBay but have been dealing with a rather rude customer lately and need some advice.

On sept 6 a UK buyer paid for two tops from me, when I sent the invoice I gave the option for economy/standard or express post. This was a Sunday and I posted the items Monday evening (they most likely didnt leave the PO til the following day) the following Saturday I log onto eBay and see a case is opened for one of the tops (as they were separate auctions) and buyer is claiming they haven't heard from me and want their money back, even though I had emailed them the day after posting to let them know I shipped it.

Buyer also claimed they sent me multiple emails which I never received so I asked for screenshots and she replied "let's wait and see if they turn up"....ha, caught her out. A few days later I get an email from eBay saying they closed the case automaticallly because the buyer had reversed the transaction with their bank and received a refund from them.

All is fine until a few days ago (29 days after transaction, you have 30 to make a claim) and she opens a case for the other top, claiming she still hasn't received them. I posted them together and securely and I posted 15+ items that week and everyone else received them. Anyways she claims AGAIN to have emailed me and says I never replied. I reply stating I didn't get emails/ask for screenshots/say I feel as though the buyer hasn't got good intentions considering she claimed for the top after 7 days, received a refund from her bank, now wants another refund.

She then replies saying I'm calling her names and I'm nothing but an arrogant fraud scammer (pot..meet kettle) and she goes on about how she emailed me some more and she wants the tops. I explain standard post can be slow sometimes but like i stated in my listing, I'm not responsible for missing packages. I also explain that I offered her express post and she picked the cheaper option. In my listings I wrote how standard post isn't trackable and can be slow.

Now she has replied again saying she no longer wishes to communicate with me and if I really did post it I should post a tracking number so eBay can check it..except there is none since she picked standard post! To make things worse, the day i posted the items I had about 15 other packages and the lady in the PO marked them all as "destination: Ireland" because it was quicker - and it shows this on the receipt. So I'm basically screwed right? It's only €27 and if I felt she was genuine I would refund her out of kindness but i really don't think she is.


I looked at her feedback left for others and within the space of a month (around the time she purchased from me) she claimed FOUR items were missing or damaged even though sellers had proof of postage, she got refunded for all! And she bought a top from someone and said it was damaged and too small yet has pictures of her wearing it in a photoshoot on her Facebook (I googled her email address and found it)

Is there anything else I can do?

dee.

Another thing, she uses an alias as her "modelling"/online name which also happens to be from a song. Anyways I googled her alias and found another eBay account that could have been hers.
Let's say her modelling name is Lindsay Lohan, her current account is officiallindsay, and the other account is *.*lindsay.Lohan*.*
Now I know it's possible this could be a different person but the account is also based in the UK and they sold gothic/alternative clothes which is how she dresses too.
Her current acct was registered in june 2009, the other account was suspended in July 08 (they had pages and pages of bad feedback for scamming people)

Should I mention this account in the eBay case at all? Or is it pointless?

I feel like she's going to win the case and I'm out of pocket because i even undercharged her for postage and had to spend an extra €6 out of my own pocket to send them

allthedoyles

Is there anything else I can do?

Yes there is ........send all future packages by recorded / tracking delivery .

If you can produce proof of postage to Paypal , you will win your case every time .

The Lovely Muffin

dee. wrote: »

i stated in my listing, I'm not responsible for missing packages. I also explain that I offered her express post and she picked the cheaper option. In my listings I wrote how standard post isn't trackable and can be slow.

This incorrect, you are responsible for the item until it get's to the seller.

It doesn't matter that you sent it via standard or registered post using An Post or a courier, it is your responsibility that the buyer gets the item they received.

This is the exact reason I never, ever offer standard shipping. It doesn't matter how cheap the item is, I will only ever send via registered post.

If she has a dispute opened, then yes you are screwed as PayPal always side with the buyer, especially if you cannot provide a tracking number.

You could send PayPal all the info you gathered about this person and the accounts you think are hers. You could also send them the link to her Facebook with the pics. I don't know if they'd take any notice of it, but they may do, it's worth a shot, I think anyway.

It's a shame she has done this, but unfortunately she will most likely get her a refund and her tops and you are out of pocket

dee.

Thanks for the advice all. I guess I will just have to accept shes going to win and not post by standard post any more.

If she gets a refund, can she still leave me negative feedback?

The Lovely Muffin

dee. wrote: »

Thanks for the advice all. I guess I will just have to accept shes going to win and not post by standard post any more.

If she gets a refund, can she still leave me negative feedback?

Yes, she can leave you negative feedback.

I have had items not arrive to me before and the sellers refused to refund me, so like your buyer, I had to start a dispute to get a refund, after I was refunded I was able to leave negative feedback and did so.

You can 'follow up' any feedback left for you and reply directly to it, as far as I am aware.

dee.

Okay, thanks. Seems a bit unfair really. She chose economy post and I don't believe for a second that she didn't receive the item (based on her feedback she claims a LOT of items aren't received or damaged to get a refund) if I thought she was genuine I would have offered her a refund in the beginning. Now she will have the tops, a refund from her bank and a refund from me. I get...a loss on money, loss of the tops and negative feedback. Oh well, hopefully karma will get her. Cheers for the advice, a mod can close this thread now.

allthedoyles

Don't think that you should really sit down and accept this ....if there is a pattern of behaviour whereby this buyer is using non-delivery as an excuse to get items for free , then Paypal /eBay should see this pattern.

why not outline your case to them , explaining all , and you never know , it just might result in your favour .

dee.

allthedoyles wrote: »

Don't think that you should really sit down and accept this ....if there is a pattern of behaviour whereby this buyer is using non-delivery as an excuse to get items for free , then Paypal /eBay should see this pattern.

why not outline your case to them , explaining all , and you never know , it just might result in your favour .

Thanks. In every page of 20 or so feedback, there is 2-3 times when she either leaves someone a negative for an item not showing up/being damaged - or she leaves a positive stating she got a refund. I looked at one item (a dress) she said was damaged when she received it..yet shes wearing it in a photoshoot on her facebook. It was a handmade dress, so its hardly like she went out and bought another one exactly the same! I will be 100% honest with ebay/paypal and tell them to check her feedback, but they probably won't care. It seems like this girl buys lots of things then claims back for the more expensive ones. Even when she sold things, if a buyer had a problem, she resorts to name calling which she has done with me too. A really awful person.

dee.

Okay so I logged onto paypal and notice my balance is 0.00 (before this, it was -€27-ish because the money was on hold) and my recent activity says..

06-Oct-2011 Temporary Hold For eBay Buyer Dispute Removed

So I went to my transactions and looked at the one involving the girl and it says..

14-Sep-2011 The funds that were placed on temporary hold are now available for use Removed
15-Sep-2011 Update to Reversal Canceled
06-Oct-2011 The funds that were placed on temporary hold are now available for use Removed
11-Oct-2011 Update to Reversal Canceled

The first time they cancelled it was because they found out she got a refund from her bank. Im not sure why it was cancelled the second time, the case is still open on ebay and I haven't received an email. I updated the case including the details about her shady history with transactions and i'm going to leave it at that. The dispute will be closed on the 14th I think, so she has the chance to end it or bring it to ebay, so if they decide to refund her then so be it. I sent them the link to the other case in my first response to her, so hopefully they will look at that and see she already got refunded from her bank. (shes now claiming ebay lied and she never got refunded from her bank.....) I am not going to give her a refund because I don't think she is an honest person and by the looks of it, paypal are catching onto her. If they still side with her and give her a refund then so be it.

Beside the transaction on paypal it also changed to "shipped" which wasn't there before.

allthedoyles

Looks like you are on a winner there - Dee

If you work with Paypal , they will work with you too.

dee.

Just thought I would update - I received an email from the buyer yesterday (the last day of the claim before she could close it or have eBay decide the income)

"AT LAST the tops are here. I am really upset with the way you have spoken in your correspondance. However, now they have arrived I can close the case."

IMO she had them all along. Very fishy that they would happen to arrive on the very last day of the case, a Saturday, a month and a half after I posted them (all other buyers received their items in 2-5 days) she probably knew eBay would see she claimed a refund from her bank and side with me. I think she was just trying her luck to get a refund off me as well. She has the hoodies and a refund from her bank anyways, I'm just glad I'm not out of pocket now. I'm sure she will leave me a negative feedback for calling her out on her shady behaviour but I'm not too concerned.