Controversy: knowing what to do | Questions and answers among users

maubla · 2026-04-07T17:29:15.038000Z

Hello, I sold a mechanical watch movement with super-protected rigid packaging, and the next day the buyer told me with photos that he had received it broken. I carefully examined the photos and realized that it had clearly been tampered with, as the wheel bridge tightening screws were missing, and they could not have been removed except by unscrewing them; then one wheel was out of its seat where it was held by the central axle and function bridge, all documented by a long conversation full of my photos. So I sharply replied to his false claims and he asked for a return with a refund, which I indignantly refused. He opened a dispute and eBay instructed me to send a return label, which I refused, considering it an admission of guilt on my part without analyzing my counterarguments, and I urged them to have an expert assess whether such defects could have been due to unsuitable packaging (which, incidentally, I had done 6/7 other times in other shipments). I also phoned 2 eBay operators to express my indignation at this shameful scam, and they reassured me that the case would be taken seriously, highlighting the photographic evidence I had sent to my own detriment. After a few days, an email informed me that because I had not sent the label for the return of the item, I was charged the full amount. At that point I requested a phone conversation with eBay, who told me that I had already lost the dispute and could not make any appeal, since an appeal could only be made if I sent the label and the return of the item, and once it was confirmed that it had been visibly tampered with I could have appealed and reopened another dispute against the dishonest and unfair buyer, with a possible chance for me to get revenge. So this clever buyer, in addition to being refunded the cost of the item, gets to keep it for his own use and consumption. If I had known in advance about this procedure and practice in the event of a dispute, I would have acted in the most appropriate and fair way to establish the truth of what happened.

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