eBay Scam?

[ButteMT61]

Reply from eBay:

"Important: This is an automated message. Your email hasn't been read.
Please contact us using the phone number below..."

With all due respect, you have phone numbers available to you. I don't get why you spend so much time posting here and avoiding calling? The few times I've had issues, the only way to get it resolved - and I did - was to call. It's worth the cost, if any, of a phone call. Just my 2¢. Not trying to sound like a jerk...email isn't grand for all problems - esp with businesses. Time to get this behind you.

 

[asiamiles]

With all due respect, you have phone numbers available to you. I don't get why you spend so much time posting here and avoiding calling? The few times I've had issues, the only way to get it resolved - and I did - was to call.

But would you keep making international calls to, say, Japan? And the problem with calling is that no matter what eBay say to me I will have nothing in writing to fwd to the buyer. If I tell him I called eBay and they said he needs to pay for the item first, he'll probably just say "that's not what eBay told me." And then what do I do? Oh yeah, call eBay again. And what can eBay do? Nothing. They can't make him pay the tax nor get the USPS to return the jacket. All they can do is refuse to refund him IF he applies for Buyer Protection.

 

[RCSignals]

Miles did you use the link to email eBay I gave, or that address the buyer gave?

They should reply to the contact eBay link but I think that address the buyer gave is a canned do not reply address.

 

[asiamiles]

Miles did you use the link to email eBay I gave, or that address the buyer gave?

They should reply to the contact eBay link but I think that address the buyer gave is a canned do not reply address.

I used the link from the eBay page.

 

[RCSignals]

Miles did you use the link to email eBay I gave, or that address the buyer gave?

They should reply to the contact eBay link but I think that address the buyer gave is a canned do not reply address.

I used the link from the eBay page.

Then i would reply to it and explain telephoning is difficult for you and they should respond by email.

Your buyer apparently gets email replies

That is a strange response to that email eBay system. I haven't experienced that myself using it. Why say you can email us then send an automated reply claiming the email wasn't read and to telephone.

 

[asiamiles]

Then i would reply to it and explain telephoning is difficult for you and they should respond by email.

Your buyer apparently gets email replies

That is a strange response to that email eBay system. I haven't experienced that myself using it. Why say you can email us then send an automated reply claiming the email wasn't read and to telephone.

They didn't even read the first message, and this message included the wording "Note: Please do not reply to this email, as replies to this email won't be read." The bottom line seems to be that whoever eBay are employing to handle their customer service are now only accepting phone calls. I don't know why eBay have decided to go this route...well, presumably it must be cheaper to pay people to answer the phone than read an e-mail. Yes, the buyer did (supposedly) receive e-mails from eBay but he contacted them by phone.

 

[ciddu]

It seems that they give you no other options, sooner or later you'll be forced to give them a phone call (unless you wait for the buyer filing a formal ebay / paypal report for "item non delivered" or whatever, and that happen to be handled by email).
Anyway it's quite weird to see the buyer setting up such a mess for about 20 USD...
as a seller I understand and agree with your decision to hold on.

 

[RCSignals]

Try emailing the customer service reps he mentioned by putting their first name followed by @ebay.com. That used to work.

 

[RCSignals]

Try " [email protected] "

 

[dmar836]

Try telling this clown that you are getting no such confirmation from Ebay about his claims and end this thing. This guy is a real sissy. I honestly think he has some reason to delay this but what scam that would be I'm not exactly sure.

Fact: You have received full payment including the agreed upon shipping amount.
I would tell him that as far as you are concerned it was purchased by him back on XX/XX date and by his admission the item has arrived but he refused it. Remind him that this sale, from your perspective, is concluded. I would add that he may pick his purchase up if he wishes but you are not involved either way. It is now his property to abandon. Tell him you have blocked him from further bidding on your items, that further emails will be ignored, that you have reported him to Ebay for harassment with a copy of this latest email, and that any further contact will be forwarded to Ebay unopened. And really do these things to cover yourself. This way when he later runs his scam, Ebay has documentation from you before his claim was ever filed. You are likely to fair better.

This, as much as anything, will encourage him to pay the freaking $20 and leave you alone. That is the biggest issue now. Scams often work with slow, subtle changes in communication. The longer you interact the more his scam might work.

JMO,
Dave

 

[269sqnhudson]

Then i would reply to it and explain telephoning is difficult for you and they should respond by email.

Your buyer apparently gets email replies

That is a strange response to that email eBay system. I haven't experienced that myself using it. Why say you can email us then send an automated reply claiming the email wasn't read and to telephone.

They didn't even read the first message, and this message included the wording "Note: Please do not reply to this email, as replies to this email won't be read." The bottom line seems to be that whoever eBay are employing to handle their customer service are now only accepting phone calls. I don't know why eBay have decided to go this route...well, presumably it must be cheaper to pay people to answer the phone than read an e-mail. Yes, the buyer did (supposedly) receive e-mails from eBay but he contacted them by phone.

Seriously, you just have to call them. I've called Ebay US from the UK before about a weird transaction. What's it going to cost? $10? Maybe $15?

 

[ButteMT61]

My son (new to ebay) had an issue yesterday. Took him the better part of an hour, number transfers and eventually got someone at Paypal. They resolved his issue completely. The phone is the only way to get this done. Period.

 

[FtrPlt]

If you have the eBay message from "Karla C" in e-mail form, I would forward it to "[email protected]". This used to be the vehicle for reporting imposter eBay emails.

IF, and big IF, your communications between buyer and yourself were done through eBay messages, eBay can access/view those messages. They will prove invaluable as defense when the "item not received" claim is made.

I would agree that a phone call is definitely in order. I don't know if you have access to Vonage or Skype (or discount calling cards) but certainly you can make a call for reasonable cost -- i.e. a few cents a minute. I call Ireland from the US pretty regularly using a discount card and I think I pay 3 cents/minute -- roughly US$1.80/hr. I can't see this as being more than a 10-minute call.

I've called eBay on several issues over the past year (China deadbeats, mostly). Never more than 10 minutes.

 

[asiamiles]

From the USPS Track & Confirm:

"EG159891662JP
Express Mail International®
Delivered
January 13, 2012, 4:47 pm
WINFIELD, IL 60190"

 

[RCSignals]

So he picked it up. No further word from him?

 

[asiamiles]

So he picked it up. No further word from him?

Not heard from him since he said "thank you" after I said I was contacting eBay as he requested, but that was after the recorded collection date, so he must've already had the jacket in his possession and was just trying to rip me off for $28. I'm not sure if to just let it go or if to report him for attempted fraud, if that's what his actions can be called. The thing is that by opening a case I may end up putting myself through a heap of unwanted bother, and probably having to pay for International phone calls - and then you never know how eBay will judge the case at the end - though I hate the thought of him getting away with it. Of course, if he writes again and continues to try it on then I guess I will have no choice.

 

[deeb7]

I would just leave it alone, and treat it as a lucky escape ... there's obviously somethimg wrong with him.

 

[HHjackets]

leave it alone (for the time being), why do you want to cause yourself unecessary stress?
it's all finished now (for the time being) and you'll forget about it in a couple of days when you find other things to worry about!

 

[dmar836]

Yeah, he was probably trying to recoup some of the expense of shipping/customs he hadn't accounted for. He likely went to pick it up and found he owed money and thought, "What a ripoff! I 'aint payin' dat!" Being a faultless type, he sought a way to get you to compensate him for that. He's the type of irresponsible loser that instead of learning a valuable lesson from such things(by asking first, planning, etc.), chooses to always blame the other guy. These kinds of guys are bulletproof and he will not likely learn from this but continually be a nuisance to other sellers. America is full of such hotheads and bullies. It's what often gives us a bad rep.
Vent over!
Glad you got this out of your hair.
Dave

 

[RCSignals]

I'd leave it for now but keep everything until his window to file a claim is past. Download all the correspondence that is on eBay now. It has a time limit too (for your access anyway, eBay has it forever)