eBay refuses buyer protection in an obvious fraud case with a fake UPS tracking link
Summary: The discussion revolves around issues with eBay's handling of buyer protection in cases of apparent fraud, where items are marked as 'delivered' without proper verification. konfusestapir mentions experiencing a similar issue and is advised by perfect-sally to provide the article number in a new thread for further review. kometenhuhn comments on the inadequate checks in eBay's system allowing fraud cases to be overlooked. Additionally, fuxl shares a similar experience involving shipments under incorrect names. The conversation highlights widespread dissatisfaction with eBay's response to these situations.
Good evening,
unfortunately I have gotten the impression that ebay, by refusing buyer protection, is protecting the fraudster and, despite the evidence presented that should have made it clear that the seller is a fraudster, is actively depriving the buyer, who has not received any goods, of their right to a refund.
In my case, I bought from a seller with overwhelmingly positive reviews (approx. 98% at the time of purchase): a mini PC for approx. €260.
Unfortunately, the first signs of fraud quickly appeared: after the purchase on 17.5., the seller first sent me a Deutsche Post letter tracking link, which made me suspicious. On 23.5., another partial delivery with a new UPS tracking link was added, according to which the shipment had already been delivered on 21.5. I doubted the accuracy of this UPS tracking link, which said "received by MOHAMMAD". No one with that name lives in my house, so I took a closer look at the seller and found numerous negative reviews in the last few days for all higher-priced items in the €100-€500 range, where buyers warned about the seller and reported false UPS tracking links like mine.
At that point I wasn't really too worried, as I expected to be covered by ebay buyer protection. So I opened a buyer protection case with ebay, described the situation, including the false tracking link, that I had not received the item, and also referred to the user's negative reviews.
Unfortunately, this was quickly rejected, and I used the appeal to make it clear once again that this is clearly a fraud case if you just look at the user's negative reviews from the last month.
Unfortunately, I only received a meaningless rejection of the appeal, which suggested that I check with my neighbor again and that the person responding was sure the package would still turn up. Unfortunately, that has not happened to this day and I was no longer able to pursue my appeal, so I filed a report with the police.
However, I am almost even more disappointed by how ebay handled this case, whose employees actively protected the fraudulent seller and ignored all negative reviews. Even a good week after my complaint, the seller was still active and was able to keep scamming with his scheme.
I criticize ebay because:
1. Seller protection is worthless if, in case of doubt, you cannot rely on it and ebay employees simply reject cases without any research. This gives customers a false sense of security when buying, but when problems arise, they distance themselves? Ebay can also reject cases very quickly and then you can no longer return the item. And other customers are also paying the price because they keep becoming victims of the scheme since the fraudster is not stopped.
2. The validation of the UPS shipping link was inadequate; technically it should be possible to evaluate this more precisely, both in terms of item weight and the name and destination address. Apparently only the recipient region is validated at most and nothing else? UPS confirmed to me that the tracking link does not match my address. With DHL tracking, I don't think that would be possible.
3. I had spoken on the phone with a nice employee from customer support. Although she had no way to change the assessment of my case, after I made it very clear that it simply cannot be that ebay just keeps letting customers buy from the fraudster, she decided to open a case with the specialist department so that the seller would be blocked. And she said that they would get back to me with a solution, but that was 5 days ago now and I haven't heard anything since.
I will no longer use ebay because of these experiences and am even considering reporting ebay as well as the seller; I find the refusal of buyer protection almost criminal...
tolls-king-2018
·1 month agoThat is NORMAL on EBAY
fuxl
·1 month agoIt was similar for me. Articles sent under false names. Ebay doesn't understand this fraud.
fuxl
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 month agoHi @fuxl
What was similar for you? Did you also wait until the eBay buyer protection had expired?
Just give the item number so we can check the background of your case.
Best wishes from the Baltic Sea
Peter
oskar_der_wikinger
·1 month agoHello @fuxl
please start your own thread and ideally include the item or order number right away.
This topic here is two months old and has already been run into the ground.
sunrise1605
·3 months ago@felix_merkel
This is a scam where someone uses a foreign shipping label that has already been used to trick Ebay.
It works really well at first because Ebay of course only sees: "delivered".
The fact that the shipment wasn’t even sent to you — wrong name, wrong address, wrong weight, sometimes even wrong shipping date (before the purchase, for example) — you have to painstakingly explain to them.
Maybe you can find out more with UPS; sometimes they at least tell you which postal code the recipient had, which proves that you were not the recipient.
It would be great if you had that in writing.
phantomiason
·3 months agoHello @felix_merkel
Would you describe how you had reported the case? After all, this can happen to anyone.
However, I usually steer clear of sellers who have a good 98% standing.
I see, in the case of a report for non-receipt, the problem that you can't provide anything further. Or am I mistaken?
For reports about an item that differs from the description, you can and must upload photos and evidence. In that case, you could in principle upload the screenshots from the detailed shipment tracking, but then you're faced with the dilemma of not being able to give anything back at all.
Shouldn't Ebay be a bit more alert by now when shipping with FedEx and UPS? After all, this scam is nothing new.
felix_merkel
OP3 months agoHello @selina_b@ebay , thanks for the quick response already. Thanks also to Oskar!
selina_b@ebay
Hello @felix_merkel,
Thank you very much for your post.
I’ll check with the specialist department here. They’ll be reachable again starting tomorrow. You’ll then receive the information from us by email.
@oskar_der_wikinger Thanks a lot for tagging 🤗
Kind regards
Selina
konfusestapir
·2 months agoThe same thing happened to me, please help. @selina_b@ebay
perfect-sally
·2 months ago@konfusestapir
please don't just randomly tag any ebay employees who aren't even present, so this won't be seen by employees.
Explain what it's about, mention the corresponding item number, then we'll see what happens next.
konfusestapir
·2 months agoThanks for the feedback. I started a separate thread and explained the case there in detail. It’s the same scam. The item number is 407035718978
perfect-sally
·2 months agoThen please mention the article number in the new thread if it isn't mentioned there. Thanks
kometenhuhn
·2 months agoIt’s a new scam that, thanks to eBay’s intelligent AI, is getting more and more traction.
Apparently, an “delivered” is now completely enough for the decision to be made in the seller’s favor, no matter where the goods are delivered. Because the review doesn’t seem to be happening anymore. It’s a total disaster!
tolls-king-2018
·1 month agoIt’s EBAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
voli-maus
·3 months agoHello @felix_merkel ,
could it please also be shorter?
schrank11
·3 months agoSure, in simple language for everyone.
voli-maus
·3 months agoI meant shorter, not a "novel", @schrank11
tolls-king-2018
·1 month agoDo they understand that? I DON'T think so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oskar_der_wikinger
·3 months agoHello @selina_b@ebay could you take a look please?
@felix_merkel the eBay employee will stop by here, please have a little patience.