Scammed as a seller

[kittykarate]

I mostly buy on ebay, don't sell often. I listed some ice skates , they sold fairly quickly. Sent them via parcelink/ebay and now the recipient is claiming that instead of skates they only got an old jumper.

I'm just fizzing because I can't see a way out - they'll get a refund and will get to keep the skates.

The parcel proof of delivery doesn't fully show the parcel so perhaps it was tampered with in transit..

Do you have the paperwork for the postage? Skates will weigh significantly more than a jumper, so you can try providing proof of what you sent that way, perhaps.

Dropped off at an evri parcelshop, so no weigh in, unless done behind the scenes at the depot.

You said in your OP that you used parcelink, but further down that you had dropped off at an Evri parcelshop, I do know Evri have form for "losing" things - I read in a national newspaper only today about someone who sent their son a smart phone and a watch value £250 by Evri and the son got an empty box. Ver convincingly re-sealed. Evri at first said he was trying to scam them and called him a liar but after the newspaper got involved they coughed up £200.

Parcelink are the company that ebay send you to, who then subcontract to other couriers (evri) .God I wish I'd sent via parcelforce where it would have been weighed in in front of me.

My point is that the buyer might be telling the truth when the say they only got an old jumper. an Evri worker might have nicked the skates and stuffed some old thing in instead. They have a poor record for this kind of thing.

I used Evri to post a baby highchair and they managed to lose the legs even though it was all packed in one big box.
I refunded the buyer fully... Never got anything from Evri. Sorry!

Boxes split in the trucks or depots, they aren't exactly gentle with them, all on zero hours contracts, things don't always get put back properly, even if there aren't any thieves involved.

Evri are shite, I don't why trading standards haven't clobbered them, or more importantly why people use them. " Parcel delayed due to major event" is their current modus operandi translated as "bad luck your parcel will never be seen again" I have no idea how they survive as a company as they must payout more compensation than any other courier company.

I send through EVRi and other couriers. I still weigh my parcels - otherwise how do you know what weight to buy?

I know what my parcel weighed (approx 3.6 kg) so was sent on an 'under 5kg' label, what I'm saying is that this weight hasn't been recorded by anyone other than me.

It provides you with weak evidence - in that a jumper weighs less than 2 kg so you would have bought 0-2kg if sending a jumper.

Be polite with the buyer - ask for full photos, including all packaging & box (all sides). Then look at your insurance with EVRI.

As you will be only registered as a private seller on eBay you aren’t forced to accept a return, unless of course the item was not as described, etc.

Insist that the buyer opens a return case on eBay - they will have to provide photos to do this.

While you’re waiting, have a look at their “feedback left for others” to get an idea of whether you’re dealing with a scammer.

Ebay will more than likely force the return, but the buyer will only get their refund if they send the item back. If they’re scamming you they’ll probably run out of steam and just close the case. If not, you’ll receive the old jumper back and at this point, before you issue a refund, contact eBay and complain that they’ve sent you back an item different to what you posted and that you suspect foul play. EBay will more than likely refund you out of pocket (even if the scammer gets refunded too).

Best way to get ebay on the phone is open a chat and type in “speak to an agent” - it’ll ask if you want a call - yes. Don’t bother with the chat service, it’s rubbish. Get an agent on the phone.

Don’t bother trying to claim from Evri, you’ll never see a penny. Just leave them a bad trustpilot review.

Good luck!

This is common with Evri and inpost. They put incorrect labels on parcels. There's Facebook groups dedicated to reuniting items with the intended recipients.

In this case you should both be refunded.

I've started the claim process with Packlink, who are quite impressively hard to contact.

Yes maybe the item was swapped before it arrived at the buyers meaning you've both been conned

I only ever use Royal Mail if I'm sending parcels

My husband sold a mobile recently on ebay £1000.00 and thought he'd been paid, buyer was hassling for proof it had been sent etc. Was collected from a PO box and it hadn't been paid for so husband 1k out of pocket and ebay don't want to know as the buyers disabled their account. Not too sure why husband thought he'd been paid I think he received an email telling him to send the phone (I believe)

Other websites are no better believe me, its what you can get when you sell or buy from a regular person. sellers and buyers can be scammed. I was scammed as a buyer on vinted

Tara336 I'm afraid thats a scam. The email was fake, they look genuine unless you know what to look for.

Don't respond to an email telling you to send the item, always log into Ebay and check there.
Never send valuable items to a PO box. You can add them to your list of locations you dont send to, using the postal settings.

@Thelnebriati thank you that makes sense as he's normally very on the ball, he doesn't sell on ebay normally and nor do I and tbh I gad other stuff going on and wasn't taking much notice when he was saying phone had sold etc you live and learn I guess.

I know Royal Mail get some bad press. But I would never post with any other company when selling on Ebay.

So obviously Ebay pushed me into refunding the buyer. However, she was willing to help me with my claim to Packlink so either she's also been a victim and the skates were snaffled in transit or she's a non-professional scammer. Packlink have adjudicated as a 'loss of goods' and now it's with their insurance department, where I imagine they'll stick crayons up their nose until I get bored.

I keep stalking ebay/vinted/depop/gumtree/facebook market place to see if the skates appear as they are pretty distinctive.

Final update - the Packlink insurance has paid out! Absolutely gobsmacked. It's been a weird process with many photographs, forms and invoices, but the money is back in my paypal account.

I'm still peeking on Vinted/FB to see if the skates show up as they were fairly distinctive, but no sign yet.