Refund fiasco on EBay

[Stealth Aquatics]

I do not know how Cory is so matter of fact and no questions asked he just refunds the person. I guess he has done this a few times. 
 

I sell RCS on eBay to fund my hobby. I had someone buy 2 orders from me (60 shrimp). I figured out how to combine ship and gave a partial refund for shipping costs. The buyer asked me over a dozen questions about how to care for them and I responded quickly and gave all the advice and instructions. 
 

my shrimp arrived all alive and on time. The buyer gave me a positive review. 4 days later the buyer filed a claim stating they received the wrong item from what was listed and they got their money back. They claimed that 30 of the 60 shrimp died. I literally paid 20$ to ship my shrimp to them. Not counting all the time I spent talking to this buyer. I filed a claim with eBay and they wanted the buyer to ship it back to me. I said that isn’t appropriate and I shouldn’t be punished for selling the correct product in a timely manner. 
 

it still is in dispute, but the buyer got all their money back (from me) and I feel so gutted against this fraudulent claim because I raise the shrimp and I truly love the hobby. I’m not a huge business doing this, it’s a side gig to pay for some aquarium stuff. 
 

idk how Cory can do this so gracefully. I have rage building hahaha 

[WhitecloudDynasty]

It happen a few time to me before, not much you can do but move on, that's the risk of shipping online. But I do mark their email and address as "no ship". 

 

Their are alot of great hobbies out their don't let these bad apples ruin it for you.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I hate to say it but that's been a pretty common scam on eBay. Dishonest people making claims. Hopefully since they communicated all those things to you eBay will reverse the payment. 

Even seen where people do "returns" but it's just a copy of the original item bought. Their return claiming the item sent was a "fake" where in reality what they sent back was the fake and they keep the real thing. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
1 more thing.

[Cory]

Ebay sides with buyers often, doesn't have robust any fraud checking. If they make it through our custom fraud rules. Then it's usually flagged as a high risk case and we require verification. If they get through all of that, and then do fraud. We'll just refund, move on, ban every piece of info we can from them, submit them to the directories and show proof it was sent to everything.

 

When you have your own website you can see so much data and make decisions.

How many times have they been to the website? What ips were they using. Is their IP different than their zipcode, does their billing address match their card. What is the order value, do they have a similar name to anyone who has purchased. Have they purchased before? Check databases of known fraud users etc.

Repeat purchaser, unhappy? Refund and try harder to please them. First time buyer doing fraud after getting through our system? Refund and go mow neighbors lawn to make up the lost revenue.

[CT_]

On 6/20/2021 at 6:57 PM, Cory said:

Repeat purchaser, unhappy? Refund and try harder to please them. First time buyer doing fraud after getting through our system? Refund and go mow neighbors lawn to make up the lost revenue.

Cory mowing his neighbor's lawn needs to be a member's video for the YT channel. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Stealth Aquatics I don't know much about the seller side but I wonder if Etsy would be better?

[Stealth Aquatics]

It just feels terrible. I get that this will happen sometimes, but I just feel taken advantage of and eBay is going with the buyer because they want them to spend their money there. Sigh 😔

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I’d say Aquabid or Etsy might be a better choice. 

[Stealth Aquatics]

On 6/20/2021 at 11:11 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I’d say Aquabid or Etsy might be a better choice. 

You bet when I get my leopard frogs to breed I’ll be selling them somewhere else. 

[lefty o]

there's a reason its called evilbay! i wont get into the reasons i dont use ebay/paypal.

[Tanked]

This is the fourth case of Charge Back I've heard of in a week.  It must be the new entry level for wannabe fraudsters, or those suffering from buyers remorse.  If the event is still in dispute, you stand a chance of getting your money.  Good luck

[gardenman]

I've only ever had one issue with an eBay purchase and that was the fault of Fed-Ex, not eBay or the seller. Some snails I'd ordered earlier this year with two day express shipping, ended up taking nine days to get here and were dead upon arrival. I'd kept the seller informed the whole time and the money was refunded by the seller. There are people out there who will try to cheat though. It happens in retail a lot also. Someone will buy a new laptop computer, carefully remove it from the box. Put their old laptop back into the box and return it to the store and want their money back. If the clerks aren't careful and just look inside to be sure there's a laptop there, the store can be out hundreds or thousands of dollars. They'll do the same with HDTVs, and other devices. If caught they'll swear that was what was in the box when they bought it and that's why they're returning it. It's not an uncommon game among the less ethical people out there. It costs stores a lot though.

[sudofish]

I've never sold on ebay. Do you get the buyer's IP address? That would be nice since you could just ban it and enforce a zip code matching IP policy to prevent them from using a VPN.

[Stealth Aquatics]

What’s tough about this is that it was 2 orders, I had to figure out combined shipping and send a larger box. The buyer was asking all of these care questions and I was trying my best to teach as much as possible. Questions about buyers ph and food ect. And they all get their fine. 4 days later the buyer complains that about half have died and files a case. eBay wanted the buyer to send them back to me. I said that wouldn’t work because over half are dead now. And they took the money and gave it back to the buyer. So I literally spent 20$ shipping my shrimp to the buyer. 

[Shenandoah Aquatics]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:56 PM, Stealth Aquatics said:

What’s tough about this is that it was 2 orders, I had to figure out combined shipping and send a larger box. The buyer was asking all of these care questions and I was trying my best to teach as much as possible. Questions about buyers ph and food ect. And they all get their fine. 4 days later the buyer complains that about half have died and files a case. eBay wanted the buyer to send them back to me. I said that wouldn’t work because over half are dead now. And they took the money and gave it back to the buyer. So I literally spent 20$ shipping my shrimp to the buyer. 

I sell on eBay and usually immediately you know the people who are going to be troublemakers. In that situation, I would make them ship them back to get a refund. 

Also, make sure your descriptions are very clear and to the point. I.e. clearly lay out your DOA policy. For example, I say that after one hour of delivery if you have not messaged me, then I will not provide a refund. Protect yourself in those ways. 

But keep on trying. I have sold over 250 orders in the last several months on eBay mostly live fish, and have only had 2 or 3 bad apples.