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eBay customer service is not responding to an alleged scam
Summary: josefine1179 reports problems with eBay after a buyer claimed that a smartphone that had been sold could only be charged up to 65% and requested a return. Despite an objection and further investigation, the amount was debited by eBay even though the return had not been received. The case dragged on for weeks, including several attempts to contact eBay and the filing of a criminal complaint. In the end, after an internal review, miriam@ebay was able to secure a manual correction, and the amount was credited to josefine1179’s eBay account.
Hello everyone,
I sold a new sealed smartphone on eBay. The buyer from Bulgaria claims it could only be charged up to 65% and started a return on eBay. In reality, the buyer had already sent a registered letter to Germany 3 days earlier. The shipping data was apparently passed on to eBay by the buyer, with the status delivered. The shipping data does not show the address, only the postal code. On the proof of handover (available via the tracking number on DHL), there is a different name than mine, and it is not a parcel, but a registered letter. eBay opened a case and closed it the same day and refunded the buyer the money. Now eBay wants to get the money from me. That is absolutely frustrating and just insane. Despite the cancellation of the direct debit authorization, eBay debited the amount (>600 EUR) from my account. I reversed the charge. eBay is announcing once again that it will debit the amount. They are also ignoring an inquiry request that proves I did not receive the shipment. By now I know that the shipment ended up at a car dealership in the neighboring town. But nobody there wants to know anything about a smartphone. They get around 20 parcels a day...
The hotline with 1st-level support is also not helpful. I have definitely invested 10 hours of my life into this topic by now. eBay and its automated processes are ignoring these facts.
miriam@ebay
Hello @josefine1179 - I have good news for you. We were able to review your case and all the evidence submitted once again thoroughly and make a manual correction. As I can see, the amount has now also already arrived in your eBay account.
I’m glad that we were finally able to bring this issue to a good conclusion 😊.
Best regards
Miriam
josefine1179
OP6 days agoThank you so much for your help! Amazing that you were able to sort that out! I’m very grateful to you for that!
josefine1179
OP1 week ago@miriam@ebay I got the tip from another eBay member to reach out to you. I filed a criminal complaint with the police on 29/08/2026. I contacted eBay by registered mail on 07/09/2026 - no reply yet. eBay isn’t backing down, and I’m being threatened by eBay via email with a debt collection agency. It would be great if you could help.
miriam@ebay
Hello @josefine1179 ! Thanks for flagging it and for the additional information. I'm happy to check whether we can forward the case internally for review once more. I can't promise any change to the previous decision, but I want to make sure the circumstances you mentioned are taken into account by the teams in the US. As soon as there are any updates, I'll get back to you here.
Best regards
Miriam
josefine1179
OP1 month agoWhy does my post have the status locked?
Is the post uncomfortable for anyone?
oskar_der_wikinger
Mentor1 month agoHello @josefine1179
you opened your question in the Members helping members area.
Here only you can write, along with a handful of members who have been enabled for this area by eBay.
You can recognize them by the mentor badge next to the account name.
josefine1179
OP1 month agoHello Oskar,
should I have asked the question in a different section?
I keep getting messages from eBay saying that I supposedly owe eBay an amount of money. Any attempts to contact them have so far come to nothing. I was hoping someone here could help. I probably have to accept now that I’ll then have to explain the whole mess all over again to a debt collection agency. eBay's processes are absolutely ужасное.
bootyooty
Mentor1 month agoFor one thing… there are 3 phones, which exact one is it, item number?
On the other hand, why sell abroad? The customer service of the website it was bought through decides that. ebay does not open a case on its own, that must have been the buyer
Did you file an appeal against the case decision?
josefine1179
OP1 month agoIt’s about item number 307098222137. I wouldn’t have thought that selling abroad would cause problems. Yes, I filed an appeal, actually several times, once for the return, once for the case decision, and again yesterday because I didn’t receive the shipment and according to Deutsche Post it wasn’t sent to my address. The terse reply was that eBay is sticking to its decision. I also called the hotline several times, but they only take down the details and pass them on to a "specialized department", which then sends back AI-generated English text snippets. NI doesn’t seem to exist in the process. Today I sent off a registered mail item with proof of posting. I’m completely frustrated by eBay’s ignorance; the facts are on the table and are being ignored...
bootyooty
Mentor1 month ago@nina@ebay do you still have time before the end of your workday to take a look at this, please?
josefine1179
OP3 weeks agoHello, were you able to achieve anything else? There has been no response yet to the registered letter sent to eBay Germany.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
Mentor3 weeks agoHi @josefine1179 ,
unfortunately no one from Bevy is reachable this weekend. Unfortunately, you’ll have to be patient until Monday.
josefine1179
OP3 weeks agoAll good, it’s been running for about 3 weeks now already, thought there might be something new to report in the meantime. During the week I often don’t have time because of work…
josefine1179
OP2 weeks agoIs there anything new on this topic?
voli-maus
Mentor2 weeks agoHello @josefine1179 ,
did you contact US support?
@nina@ebay , could you maybe take another look so close to the end of the workday?
nina@ebay
·1 month ago@josefine1179 Hey. 🙂 I was happy to take a look at this. Unfortunately, this is a US case. We don't have access to those.
Please contact US support directly once again.
@bootyooty Thanks a lot for tagging me. 💖
Best regards,
Nina
josefine1179
OP1 month agoHello everyone and thanks a lot for your help. Were you able to get anywhere with US support? Best regards
josefine1179
OP1 week agoUS support has already received everything from me, including a copy of the criminal complaint. They only respond with English-language boilerplate text and say that they are sticking with their decision.