Ebay buyer abusive and nasty

[suziesue45]

Hi,
I sold 2 items to the same person on ebay last week, both vases, so I packaged them very carefully, loads of bubble wrap, extra strength box etc. he sent an abusive message today saying one has arrived smashed to bits, called me all the names under the sun for sending a broken item and demanded a full refund. I contacted ebay and they said to refund and move on but the photos he sent of the vase it was in one piece then another one of it smashed so he has broken it not me or the post. Anyway he's left negative feedback for both items calling me a liar, fraud, narcissistic etc and ebay won't remove it. Ive refunded the 1 item and contacted the royal mail but he's carried on messaging me. Ive been in tears about this today as I'm not in a great place anyway but this has knocked me right down. He is saying I've been deceitful sending a broken item but he sent a picture of it in his hand in perfect condition. Im so angry and really upset but ebay won't help. Any advice please?

You can ring ebay and you often get a much better response especially if hes sent a picture with it in his hand. You also need to report him further for the abusive messages he continues to send you. You can block them - just make sure you mark blocking them through emails as well.

Without a doubt ring ebay when they are open to discuss this further. How horrible for you. Please do not respond to those awful messages let them dig their own grave for when you report

Fight it, you need to escalate with ebay to review your case. If he has literally got a picture of himself holding it, in one piece, then your proof is there.

Do you Ebay much? If not just delete the app for a month or two and make you block him on all media. You could warn him " I have done everything Ebay has asked of me and you do not desist in threats I will report you to the police. Take this as a final warning to disist contact with me.

Then bloke him. He is a crazy arse hat. His problem. It's probably the highlight of his sad little life. Screen shot everything before blocking him. Then if he is stupid enough to contact you some other way. Go to the police with every screen shot

I did go onto ebay chat earlier today and they basically said to report him if I think he's being fraudulent which I have now done. The refund is pending but he's basically said he won't change his feedback because I shouldn't have sent a broken item but I didnt. I will block him, thank you. Im just feeling really fragile and needed to vent

One ebay have reviewed it and hopefully found in your favour (they should if hes holding it! Take a screenshot of it so he can't delete it!!) you can ask them to remove the feedback.

What has he said when you've asked how come it's in one piece when he's holding it??

Related:

For those who have called eBay in the past, how did you manage to get hold of a human on the phone? I've had no luck with eBay or PayPal.

For eBay disputes however, I have found PayPal more helpful than eBay via their automated ticket system.

I use ebay a lot and have 12 years of 100% feedback until today. Ive told ebay about the abuse and they are not interested. They've basically said that as the refund is still pending theres nothing then can do. Ive also told them about the picture of him holding the vase and they said to report him separately and they'd look into his account. Ive screen shot a few things but I'm really upset. Ebay really aren't for sellers at all

He said he knew it was broken as soon as he opened it as it had a chip on it (it didnt) then sent a picture of the vase, another of a chip then another of it smashed and its clear hes broken it on the front at the bottom, chip was on the side.

This is what puts me off selling on eBay.
I'm surprised eBay aren't taking the abuse seriously, I had an abusive buyer years ago, although not on this scale, and they looked into the messages and removed the feedback she'd left.
If they refund him can you dispute it through PayPal I wonder?
If you sell again always take photos of the item being packaged up to cover yourself for issues like this.

I was actually thinking today of taking photos of everything as I package it in future. Ive sent a refund for item only qnd not the postage as id posted another item with it, he accepted so its processing. It was £6 so not like it was a mega expensive item. Im hoping ebay can remove feedback once its over. It seems a few people have had problems with ebay, they really should up their game a bit to help us.

Don't you have a right to reply to negative reviews? If you responded with "Item arrived with you in perfect condition, as proved by your photo you sent to me; any subsequent breakages are beyond my control", all it would do would be to serve as online proof associated with his account of his idiocy and/or dishonesty.

Anybody looking at your feedback will naturally be drawn to the single negative and will instantly realise that it comes from a place of stupidity or lying and will have no bearing at all on how they see you. In fact, if anything, a purely factual reply might even go in your favour as it shows you care about your reputation and react promptly to any concerns.

Try and call ebay again and ask them to look at the abusive messages. IME the best time to call is 8 AM to 9 AM, you're more likely to get an Irish rep at that time rather than a Philippines one. The Irish reps seem to be better trained, the Philippines ones are notorious for giving misinformation.

I've had a bad experience on ebay before as a seller - got scammed for nearly £100 and eBay would do nothing about it. I do take photos of absolutely everything before I send them now and send nearly everything by registered post. You have to do everything you can to protect yourself from assholes like this because eBay and Paypal don't care about sellers.

I don't sell anything over £20 on ebay anymore. Scammers know exactly what they can get away with.

Do ring ebay customer services and tell them about the abusive messages. If they won't remove the feedback, tell them you want to open a "defamation case" as he has called you a liar, fraud etc. Tell them it will affect your sales if people think you are a fraud etc.

They should send you a link to download a form that needs to be completed, item no, your ebay name etc. You them need to scan it or take a clear picture and upload it. Here is some info

www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/defamation-claims?id=4706

Good luck

This why I won’t sell on eBay anymore. I was bullied and harassed by a buyer, over Hermes damaging an item in transit.

She was abusive even though I refunded the item minus shipping which she agreed to. It went on for 3 days. I was in tears and spent a lot of time calling Ebay to try and get them to block her. I subsequently found out from them she had form for doing this to sellers and she got suspended from there and I got my negative feedback removed and she was blocked from contacting me etc.

If I was buying on eBay and saw that someone had 100% positive feedback over years and then one person leaving aggressive unpleasant feedback, I wouldn’t read much into it. Expect if the seller responded firmly and politely disputing the feedback. Future buyers will believe you. Everyone knows that you get chancers like this guy. Your track record is good and people will see that.

I both buy and sell a lot of ceramics on ebay. Your packaging sounds good. Bubble, extra strong box - perhaps in future if higher value double box? But well done - that was a proper packaging.

You mention 2 vases? Sent in the same box? So are they the same vase in shape, pattern etc, so is 1 vase broken and the other not? I wonder if he was holding the good one, to show 1 arrived, then he is holding the other in pieces.

You dont mention value or how you sent the vases? No courier (unless very expensive) insures against damage or loss (probably due to damage fraud). So frankly for low value - I would have taken the hit - ie refunded without questions after pictures were sent.

But the ongoing emails not OK.

I find ebay Ok as a private seller. But I photo everything and describe to a tedious degree. A chip, or hairline, or crazing on ceramics impacts the value. Sometime a glaze loss on an edge might be exactly that but look like a chip to someone else. I dont want to get into that so I describe. You may want to just think back - were there paint/glaze losses? Porcelain less so, but pottery more likely.

You need to keep calling them, or getting them to call you, and keep reporting the abuse which should result in him getting banned and get the negative feedback removed. It might also be possible to get the fraudulent refund stopped and your money returned.

The ebay staff are very polite but are obviously strictly following a script when you speak to them. It's possible to escalate things and get them to act outside of the script but you have to be very insistant and persistant. Ask to speak to a manager if the person you get can't help.

Things like make ebay very stressful at times.

@suziesue45

Sadly despite all the evidence in your favour eBay will probably find against you. I am assuming that the buyer has opened a "not as described" case and if so you would be well advised simply to refund through the case. EBay's customer service is based in Philippines and is on total lockdown. It is almost impossible we hear to speak to someone though "live chat" works and they will sometimes call you

The items I sent were 2 vases both completely different, the one that he broke is a small celtic knot design, the other was a halloween glass vampire thing as a prop. Both were £6 so not a huge amount. Its the attitude he has taken with me and total aggression and abuse thats upset me.

I did live chat with ebay but I will ting them next week, thank you for the advice as I didnt realise they actually took calls.

Makes me do mad when people do this. Ive had items arrive damaged in the past and contacted sellers explaining and it never ever occurred to me that they packaged it like that, always assumed it was broke in transit so I know he's completely unreasonable.

Thanks to you all for the advice, at least I know I'm not alone here

Ive tried 3 times to upload the photos he sent but it doesn't seem to want to work.

I used ebay for years had over 2000 feedback with about 3 negatives, I stopped using them after I had a problem with a buyer, they were so unhelpful, they are not at all supportive of sellers, which is stupid as its sellers who make the money, they have taken the seller is always right to a whole new level. I use facebook selling pages, gumtree and Vinted for clothes far better no fees either

buyer is always right not seller

Hello

I sold a few low value items over 10 years - less than £50 per item. Then I sold something for nearly £200 and the buyer was so horrible that I wouldn’t use ebay again. I knew they hardly ever back sellers and it’s not worth the hassle. I’d rather give stuff away.