Protection against abusive buyer behavior
Summary: lidor3073 reports problems with buyers who demand refunds or justify unhappy returns even though the items were in good condition. In particular, lidor3073 describes a case in which it was claimed that pieces of crockery smelled of mold, which is denied. stubenkram agrees that the complaints may be made up and discusses possible cases of abuse of the return policies. Both participants are looking for ways to better protect themselves against such behavior. stubenkram mentions the difficulty sellers have in defending themselves effectively, and the issue of claims that are hard to verify against eBay.
Good evening,
Since I’ve come across a total of 3 “weird birds” lately who demanded a partial refund and wanted to keep the item because “it’s actually really nice,” I’m writing here now.
Had one return because of alleged restoration on the item - I don’t see it that way, it was most likely a small irregularity from the factory.
The last return was the most bizarre one. Supposedly I sold saucers that smelled like mold, so the buyer couple supposedly had an asthma attack and had to air out the place until late at night.
What they got was a set of 8 super-clean pastry/bread plates - that’s how the original manufacturer also named the size. Packed in a reused box, and that was definitely not moldy. My husband packs everything and he has a pronounced mold allergy. I’ve never seen or heard him react while packing, and I’m always there to help.
Question: How can I best protect myself from such buyers in the future (!) ? I reported the 3 cases to eBay afterwards with details.
On the help page
I discovered, among other things, prohibited behavior by buyers - see screenshot. What’s the right way to handle this so there won’t be any problems with eBay? What step do I need to take first here? I know eBay decides 99% of the time in favor of the buyer, and if they complain, I have to take it back despite selling privately AND provide a shipping label. With the above cases, I’ve lost about 50 euros (I know that’s not much for some, but it is for me).
I’m not prepared to go along with this ridiculous nonsense in the future.
By the way, I got the plates back and they stank so much of perfume that I nearly felt sick.
All 3 buyers also ended up on my blocked list.
Thank you all and have a lovely Sunday evening.
*sweet-melody*
·1 week agoHello @lidor3073 ! Hello @stubenkram !
False return reasons are often mentioned often enough.
Since not all reasons can be covered, I had hoped that eBay would set up a column for "other reasons"., which apparently already exists.
Here is my post to eBay:
Wishing you a sunny day!
https://community.ebay.de/forum/vorschl%C3%A4ge-und-r%C3%BCckmeldungen-zur-ebay-plattform-18/topic/zum-l%C3%BCgen-gen%C3%B6tigt-11632/
stubenkram
·1 week ago · EditedHello @lidor3073
A saucer, a plate, and a dessert plate differ in shape and size. Since the buyer of your pastry plates referred to these plates as "saucers," she probably doesn’t know these differences, or she overlooked the size stated in your listing and therefore got the wrong idea. Even if you had used musty packing materials: undamaged, glazed porcelain does not absorb unpleasant odors permanently. Any cellar smell disappears after a normal wash.
In my opinion, that was a return with made-up reasons because she "didn’t like it." The buyer would also have had to pay the return shipping costs herself with a commercial seller. She got the return acceptance and a return label out of you, but as long as she doesn’t threaten you with a bad rating because of it, there is no abusive buyer behavior.
If you had refused, you probably would have been guaranteed a bad rating. The buyer could still leave you a negative review now, even though you probably refunded her everything and even paid extra by providing the return label too.
I don’t know. But I’m afraid that as a seller you hardly have any ways to protect yourself against behavior like this. I’d probably give in as a precaution too.
stubenkram
·1 week agoHello @lidor3073
I’d better ask again, because I’m not quite clear on how it went with the pastry plates and the refund:
This buyer wanted to send the pastry plates back and get a full refund of the purchase price and shipping costs? So she wanted no partial refund and to keep the pastry plates?
lidor3073
OP1 week ago@stubenkram
She wrote that she would accept a discount and would want to donate the plates to the local women’s shelter.
stubenkram
·1 week agoWell, that is already borderline in terms of "abuse".
lidor3073
OP1 week agoShe had very strange views and matching ratings in her profile.
stubenkram
·1 week ago · EditedHello @lidor3073 So after the preamble about "musty smell, price reduction and keeping the item," a regular return took place under the motto "item does not match the description"?
That would be, in my opinion, an "abuse of the return option or eBay buyer protection". As a buyer, you are not allowed to "falsely claim that an item significantly differs from the description".
The buyer received undamaged dessert plates from you in the quantity and size described in the listing. If she gave as the reason for return that the item does not match the description because you had sent her saucers instead of dessert plates, then that is not true.
But no one will probably check that.
lidor3073
OP1 week ago · Edited@stubenkram
Yes, that's exactly how it was. She had brazenly photographed the plates in the return area