Return of sold item spare parts or defective
Hello everyone,
I sold an item worth €60 (two stereo speakers) as spare parts or broken.
The American buyer paid 60+110 for shipping
So far so good, they arrived on the 5th, on the 6th he opened a return saying the package arrived broken and destroyed, with more dents, he removed the casing from both speakers, (also because it would be impossible to remove it without force and proper tools) I’m wondering how I can proceed in this situation.. because I’ve understood that he’s playing on the fact that I would never pay €110 in shipping to get them back, IF the package arrived broken I imagine he would report it the same day, and you wouldn’t even remove the casings to see whether the inside is of interest to you or not, that would be unfair! Can I do anything? I’ve understood that he’s a scammer.
indici-snc
·2 years agoIf the package was insured and the buyer said it arrived
indici-snc
·2 years agoIf the package was insured and the buyer said it arrived, they should have signed for it with reservation.
Contact support and explain that the package was insured, that it was sold as broken for parts and not as new, and that from the buyer's photos you can see they took it apart ....
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agoI fully refunded the fraudulent buyer; unfortunately eBay replied that there is no rule requiring you to sign with reservation, it’s not mandatory, and photos of him were enough for them. I asked them to forward to the relevant people stronger evidence, maybe video from the very first unboxing, because otherwise anyone can scam people by opening the package, tampering with it, and claiming that pigs fly.
The Packlink assistant said they can’t refund me because it was not accepted with reservation, and it was clearly tampered with. Basically, I’ve understood what level we’re at.
There’s a need for action to protect both sellers and buyers. Because the world is full of scams, but this way you really don’t feel protected at all, when simple photos are enough to shut everything down. I could have refused the refund and closed the account, but for now I’m still selling products at low prices.
So be careful.
sika700
·2 years agoThat wouldn’t really have been possible; if you have active transactions, especially claims, you can’t close the account and, moreover, even if you had challenged the dispute, you would only have wasted time and worsened your sales performance.
You simply have to factor in the possibility of running into a “less than honest” user if you want to keep selling online... not just on eBay, but everywhere!
Kind regards.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agosorry to contradict you this time, but the dispute was closed, through Intesa San Paolo I could deny the transaction without any problem. 🙂
But then they would have banned me.
So I chose to let it go.
sika700
·2 years agoSure... but then ebay would have sent you to debt collection... as well as suspending you!
It's not that easy to evade payment requests from ebay!
Kind regards.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agoHope we get each other! 😄
Thanks for the many replies!
And I wish you a good day!
heavenwelkin
·2 years agoGood morning
Assuming that shipping to the United States means taking on the risk of having to give up the item and the payment, so you need to think VERY carefully about what to ship and what not to ship.
The international selling option should not be used lightly; in my opinion, these international options should only be chosen in certain cases because it is better to sell an item for a lower price but in Italy than to embark on similar adventures, especially if you do not fully understand the mechanisms behind how everything works.
The eBay case for an item not as described would have been a separate case that would have run its course.
If the shipment was insured, the buyer should have opened a claim to request compensation from the courier and started a whole procedure that would inevitably have involved the buyer as well.
A buyer who could have cooperated or NOT because these procedures in such cases are very long and require more and more interventions from the parties involved.
Basically, there is a lot of bureaucracy to comply with.
Then it is not certain that you will be reimbursed because you are also asked to keep the original packaging with the shipping label, which is generally thrown away.
The courier also assesses whether the packaging was adequate, so it can easily happen that after 15 days spent dealing with all this bureaucracy, the claim is rejected because suitable packaging materials were not used and/or the packaging was not done properly.
Unless it is hard-to-find spare parts or rare collectible items that are not excessively bulky and/or fragile, I personally would not recommend selling outside European borders.
Kind regards.
actar80
·2 years agoUnfortunately, in this situation it’s your word and your photos against the buyer’s word and evidence, and almost always the buyer gets the upper hand.
But try contacting eBay support (have them call you) because first of all, as you say, if you sold the speakers as spare parts or broken (so non-working) and he sent you photos of the tampered speakers, you could make a case based on tampering, but it all depends on how support interprets it.
In any case, even in the lucky event that you came out on top, if the buyer paid with Paypal he would have 1 more way to file a claim within 180 days, and if he still didn’t get satisfaction with Paypal he could open a chargeback procedure and would have 12 months to do it.
Next time, if you want 1 piece of advice, avoid selling to far-off countries and ones where shipping is so expensive, to avoid running into sellers again who might repeat the “it’s not worth getting the items back” game!
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agoI sold them as spare/broken parts (but I know perfectly well that they worked) so as not to run into situations, I basically gave them away for free; if I sell something, obviously I specify everything. If I wanted to scam him, I’d have sent him bricks, not the cabinets. Unfortunately, I realized that he’s a scammer. I made a mistake shipping to another state (the shipping cost more), but back to us, the package was insured, so I’ll open a claim with the post office for damages, but I imagine they’re not so stupid either as not to understand that both shells don’t come off by themselves, magically ...
actar80
·2 years agoExactly, anyway contact eBay support by phone and explain what happened, asking the operator to look over the exchanged messages and the photos. You never know, you might get the upper hand; it happens sometimes. But never leave everything to automated procedures.
Then see what you can get from Poste.
actar80
·2 years agoPS: consider that if the operator tells you that you have slim chances of winning, maybe it's better to accept the return to limit the damage. But another problem could arise here: if the person is really fraudulent or malicious, they could put everything completely destroyed and unusable in the return package or send you other material.
sika700
·2 years agoHello,
unfortunately, if it opens a return request for you, the only two options you have are:
It’s up to you to decide what you’d rather do and what’s more convenient for you.
Best regards.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agotaken apart the speaker parts, sorry but if you receive the item
dented, shouldn't you give it back in the same condition you received it?
He opened the speakers and did everything himself..
sika700
·2 years agoThe problem is that you can’t prove it... to eBay... the photos wouldn’t be of any use and in cases like this the buyer is always deemed to be in the right.
Kind regards.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agoWhat can't I prove? He opened the return, with the photos of the opened crates. They don't open by themselves,
Thank you for the replies!
sika700
·2 years agoYou may have shipped the open boxes too... can you prove otherwise?
Kind regards.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agoSure, I have photos where the boxes are perfectly closed in the box, then I also have photos of the box closed again.
They're big boxes, to open them you need the right tools.
They don't open from a hit.. it's hard plastic.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agoHe removed the actual housings that protect the plastic speakers themselves, and it’s a fairly complex operation
sika700
·2 years agoIn any case, photos can’t prove anything, you may have photographed one thing and sent another.
If you stand by what you believe, you’re only risking losing money and the item; if the buyer asks ebay to step in, ebay refunds them with your money.
So reread my first reply.
Kind regards.
mondofantasy1
OP2 years agophotos, who can verify that? There is no protection for sellers
then..
It’s not a matter of money, but of fairness and loyalty.
sika700
·2 years agoIf your buyer is a "morally challenged" type, you know perfectly well what happened to loyalty and fairness.
If you sell online, you also have to factor in situations like this; things don't always go smoothly.
As I already wrote to you, since ebay can in no case verify the truthfulness of both, it naturally follows that the buyer gets the benefit of the doubt.
Have a good evening.