eBay sided with my dishonest buyer. Do I have any recourse?

lorihmatthews

A taste for the arts
O.G.
Oct 7, 2006
32,303
11,116
I sold my old iPhone 3G to a buyer in Russia last month. I just upgraded. The phone was in perfect condition and worked just fine when I sent it to him. He had the phone in his possession for about 2 weeks, then he contacted me to tell me it wasn't holding a charge. Quite honestly, I think he's lying. He messaged me through eBay's messaging system and demanded that I refund him $35 for repairs otherwise he would leave me negative feedback. He did not provide me with any proof of this allegedly necessary repair.

I contacted eBay each time he messaged me and demanded that I send him money. When he did in fact leave me negative feedback, eBay said that was feedback extortion and they removed the neg immediately.

Unfortunately, this dishonest buyer was not deterred. He opened a claim against me, stating that I was a liar and the phone was faulty. He sent me another message saying that he "demanded" that I pay him. Even though he was found guilty of feedback extortion AND eBay was going to contact him a second time for sending me threatening messages, eBay still found in his favor.

I am livid. Now my PayPal account is negative too.

Do I have any recourse? Can I do anything except hope that this guy doesn't pay to have the iPhone shipped back to me?
 
Is there any chance that the phone truly isn't holding a charge? With electronics, issues can crop up literally overnight with zero warning.

Honestly, there is nothing you can do at this point. If you do not receive the iPhone back, or if you receive it and its condition isn't congruent with what you sent, you can appeal the decision...... That is if he has escalated the claim to a dispute and Paypal has found in his favour. Has he escalated at this point?
 
Is it that it is not holding a charge, or that he has several apps running at once that are draining the battery. I have an IPhone and this happened with me, the battery was running out really quickly(like a few hours). Turns out that apps like Pandora run down the battery unless you close them. Could that be the case? If so, that is not the phone...
 
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Make sure he sends back the phone you sent him and that he did not open the case.

BTW, I don't ship anywhere but US & Canada. I will allow bidders from other countries on a case by case basis - England, Austrailia, Japan...
 
Is it that it is not holding a charge, or that he has several apps running at once that are draining the battery. I have an IPhone and this happened with me, the battery was running out really quickly(like a few hours). Turns out that apps like Pandora run down the battery unless you close them. Could that be the case? If so, that is not the phone...


would ask the buyer this question... why not?? you have nothing to lose

at this point....
 
I have had customers state an item was not as described... which is basically what he is saying.

EBAY said NEVER offer a refund until you receive the item back and in the condition that of which you sent to him.
I hope you have a serial number so you know it is the same phone.

Unfortunately EBAY does own paypay and they put the money on hold until the case is resolved, they run the show by their rules. no exceptions.

Perhaps as hotshot suggested he is running the battery down and not even know what he is doing.
 
I work in cellular and at a warranty centre in fact. Every day I get so many claims of faulty phones. Most reasons are because people dont know how to use their phones or dont know how to take care of the phone. If a customer wants a warranty exchange, we actually need to see the proof of the issue!

In your case, I dont think PP and eBay was right in giving the refund just like that. There's no way of justifying the battery problem with the phone because PP and eBay have no way of seeing the problem physically. They decided the case based in the buyers words!! Did this guy even show you receipts for the repairs that hes claiming??
 
I am terribly sorry you are going through this. I have no idea if this will help you or not but I am going to tell you how I had a case overturned for my side. The buyer I could tell was as scammer and looking through her feedback she was a good one. Playing the same game with other sellers.

I thought the case was going in my favor and all of a sudden it showed that she won. This is when you appeal it. You have the right to appeal their decision. If the money is still there they will put a hold on it again but you need to appeal and get on the phone immediately. Never e-mail, talk directly to them. You will get much farther. I called them 3 different times to discuss, fax proof etc. They overturned the case and sided with me. They gave her time to repay me the money and when she didn't they simply took it.

So appeal then get on the phone and do whatever you can to show them your side is true. Even if you have to be a pain. It took me nearly a month to deal with this horrible person but whether it's 5$ or in my case over $200 you deserve a fair decision. :smash:
 
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Our ebay store has been running for 5 years now XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX unfortunately once this becomes a dispute it comes down to what Paypal's resolution team decides. From experience I can tell you that they will decide in the buyers favour. Your best outcome will be to have the buyer return the phone, this will be at the buyers expense as paypal does not cover return shipping, the buyer will also be required to prove that the phone has in fact been returned, with shipping receipts or alike. Once you have the phone back, paypal will issue the buyer with a refund for the initial cost. You can then sell the phone to someone else.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
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GOOD NEWS!

I just got an email from eBay. My buyer decided to close the case because he said the cost to send the phone back costs more than the repair. YAY!

I'm not quite sure why he decided to do this, because eBay said I would have to give him a full refund. Nevertheless ... I'm so glad this is over!
 
GOOD NEWS!

I just got an email from eBay. My buyer decided to close the case because he said the cost to send the phone back costs more than the repair. YAY!

I'm not quite sure why he decided to do this, because eBay said I would have to give him a full refund. Nevertheless ... I'm so glad this is over!
Congrats!

The full refund you would have had to issue wouldn't have included his return shipping, though. That would have been on his own dime and with signature and insurance (if he chose to get them), it might have cost more than the repair. And maybe the repair wasn't necessary after he realized that his apps were draining the battery.
 
Congrats!

The full refund you would have had to issue wouldn't have included his return shipping, though. That would have been on his own dime and with signature and insurance (if he chose to get them), it might have cost more than the repair. And maybe the repair wasn't necessary after he realized that his apps were draining the battery.

Thanks! Yes, I know he would have to pay for return shipping. I still don't know what the issue is, but in all honesty I'm sure it's user error. I'm just thankful this is over!
 
Quite odd that eBay would side with them. Seems quite ridiculous. Glad it all worked out though. I've had a couple occasions where eBay sided with the other party and it was ridiculous.