Ebay buyer returns box of USED parts

So I've been making and selling parts now for about 12 years. Been selling on Ebay all that time and have never had someone request a return and actually return used parts instead of the parts I had sent.

I had sent one of my steering column rebuild kits; Mopar coupler guts, Mopar steering bearing, DMT black coupler seal, DMT stainless coupler cover, DMT stainless coupler clamp/retainer wire and DMT rubber bearing isolator. I sell these for $69 plus free shipping.

On his ebay return request he said "This items are grossly over priced. The individual components can be purchased in separate auctions for less than $30 dollars." He included pictures of a steel coupler cover with the wrong orange seal for $18.99

Told him if he was disappointed to return at my expense (ebay allows him to print a return label on my dime) for a full refund. I saw that he returned and there was tracking showing it was on its way so I refunded the money before it arrived. Even if it had arrived and I didn't refund the money Ebay WOULD have because "the customer is always right".

I could see the customer shopping after the fact and seeing he could have bought some crap cheaper and returning the parts he bought. But if he bought the crappy couple cover and seal and guts; $18.99, a steel wire retainer $7.95, a Chinese bearing $10, and a rubber isolator $8 + 2.86 shipping (from me cause I'm the only one making these) it'd still be $47.80. Not $30 like he says. But in his defense he actually got the good stuff for nothing and I paid $3.50 shipping both ways for him. So my parts will look and work great on his yellow TA. He obviously used my parts. But who actually goes out of his way to insult me and return the used parts. What kind of scumbag does that?

like you said "a real scumbag". if he is a member here i would post his name so others dont sell to him.

Unbelievable, what is truly sad is the fact that this clown is probably proud of himself for pulling off a scam.

Dave

I hate to hear stories like this, one has to wonder how can someone enjoy taking advantage like this. I have dealt with your company and know you are a real class act.

I'd like nothing more than to do that but in this effed up world that we live in now people can trash you online and put you out of business literally. I really am glad I'm nearer the end of my life than the beginning. So many things AREN'T getting better.

Had that happen to me once with an NOS motorcycle carb.
Buyer pitches a fit with Ebay, long story short after the refund I get an old junk carb in the mail.
Some people really are lumps of [censored].

But that's once in over 1200 transactions, happened years ago.
Ebay does not do much protect sellers, and that's a risk.

I agree that crooked buyers should be exposed.

Even if it had arrived and I didn't refund the money Ebay WOULD have because "the customer is always right".

And that right there is the problem.

Shady characters are wise to the fact they CAN and WILL get money back just by saying there is a problem even when there wasn't one.

This played a part in me getting fired from my last job. For the longest time, if a customer placed a paint order with us, then claimed something was wrong after the fact, there would be a little investigating to determine if we did actually screw something up.or there really was a problem.

Not anymore.

Without a single question asked, if a customer claimed there was a problem and demanded a refund or replacement product, the blame would be placed on the store by upper management, and the customer would get what they wanted (usually paint). AND, to make matters worse, the customer would usually be told to keep the bad order. If they complained loud enough, they'd end up with their 'wrong' order, their 'correct' order, AND their money back.

Needless to say, certain people started taking full advantage of this.

It's still going on.

I am a firm believer in Karma. Might take a while but this individual will get what he deserves.

Can't you as a seller ad this link with these pictures to the feedback area to show what this guy returned?
Real piece of s^&t right there!!!
Your products have always been top notch and never have I had a problem with anything I've purchased from you in all my years!!!!
Just remember there are many more loyal and happy customers than this type!
Ron

I believe in Karma too. HOPEFULLY he will pull this stunt on someone who has nothing to lose and shows up at the address on the return label.

Nothing to lose Reminds me one time there was a butthead driver by me. I yelled out the window at him. At the next light he got out of his car. i got out of my Challenger. He yells "I HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE". Told him to have a good day and I got back in my car and waited for the light to turn green.

PS Thanks guys. I tell the wife every day how lucky we are to be dealing with such a great group of guys! That I look FORWARD to every car show. When we are at the shows and I'm busy with customers a guy will always walk up and pump my arm and say what great stuff we have. Almost looks like I pay them to do that at just the right time

what a no good, rotten trick !
hopefully, he will get what he deserves.
[and it ain't one of these !]

So who's the thief? Post his info for all to see.

Wouldn't ebay do anything when you sent them pictures?

Regarding the guy with NOTHING TO LOSE, you could have replied, "Yes you do... your health and your life".
Morons like him are why I don't carry. I DO have too much to lose over some worthless POS.

Your company, and you as people, are among the best to deal with in our hobby.
Sorry you had to deal with this low life.

Hardly something to murder someone over, or even sending threats via the Internet, which can also put you into legal trouble. I'm also glad you don't carry if that's what sets you off.

To the OP, your return process seems to be overly generous to the buyer. If he stated in writing his reason for the request was because he found it cheaper, did you state the return would only be granted based on the return of new unused parts? Even if eBay would grant a refund, why send the money before you had parts in hand?

If you have his responses in writing and your stipulations on the return, would eBay really ignore a box of junk being returned?

One of the many reasons that selling on Ebay is almost not worth your time. My buddy sells quite a bit of stuff on there. The other scam is they will order something, claim they never received it (even if you have tracking information) and Ebay will refund their money and deduct it from the seller's account. Hard to make a go of it on there anymore.

Ebag is the wild, wild west. I try my best NOT to do any business there. But occasionally I have to hold my nose and buy there. I certainly don't sell there anymore.

Why o' why in this day and age is there not a viable alternative to that place.

How much did he scam you for?

my sentiments exactly ! [even though i buy and sell there]

Mail him a box of dog crap, or a glitter bomb, or better yet, see if he sells on Ebay, buy whatever it is, and then leave him negative feedback.

WOW, I say the same thing, after 46 years in business it is getting worse. I am glad 99% of customers are a dream to work with, the 1% are real asshats and always think they are right, and will beat you out of your cash. We have raised the prices to just stay even with the credit fraud, it is all you can do.

Ebay now allows a return because the buyer feels the widget was overpriced?

Huh ?

"He obviously used my parts. But who actually goes out of his way to insult me and return the used parts.'

A sign of the times I'm afraid, and another indicator of a slow return to the survival of the ruthless.

When the killer whale tosses around, in apparent play, the soon to be eaten seal, do the other observing seals tell each other confidently, "I believe in karma"?

And to the OP, that behavior sucks.

Sorry to see this happen to you but we all know creeps like amongst up. What gets me is some guys come across like they do no wrong but turn around and steal from PayPal (friends and family) or some of the other shady deals some have claimed cause no harm. I guess it just depends whose getting screwed.

I would out this D’BAG with his real name and eBay ID as warning to members here...just as a FYI of course😉...any member here who has bought from you in the past - including me - knows the effort and quality product you supply - hopefully he’ll get his one way or the other...

Make sure you block this scumbag so he doesn't bid on more of your stuff

About 3 years ago Ebay shut us down for a week because we had logo's on our product pictures. THAT was costly. I spents weeks trying to remove most of them. Now logos are OK I guess cause everyone has them. When they did that I started our own online ecommerce website and now nearly 75% of our sales go through our website. If Ebay pulls a stunt like that or I get too many guys like the one I posted about I'll probably leave ebay entirely. Im sure a large percentage of the Ebay buyers would find us and buy direct. I'd rather offer a "thank you" discount for buying direct than the 12% ebay gets. I never minded paying for Ebays platform but it is SO BAD now. People copy my pictures. Copy my listings. Return opened/damaged items and I have to pay for the return. Ebay refunds the buyers now EVERY TIME no mater the circumstance. Oh and the best one. Chinese sellers can ship from CHINA for less than I can ship First Class Mail to my NEIGHBOR. Thats not really Ebays fault I guess.

At least post his eBay name so we can block him as a bidder.

Actually, Ebay now has a template where they provide an existing ad to copy for selling your item.

I've run into that for the last few things I listed, and am categorically opposed to it.
Makes no sense if they expect legitimate and honest sellers.
Only makes sense if all they're after is collecting fees, and placing any resulting financial burden elsewhere.

Exactly why I would never sell on there, OR accept Paypal. I have heard so many stories where sellers (in the right) got burned by them. No seller rights - it's all geared for the buyer even if they pull an obvious scam.

I've bought something from you, but can't remember what lol. I've purchased SO much!!!

I'd open a case with ebay. You have nothing to lose. Ebay does suck now but I'd give it a shot. Explain your case with ebay and provide the picture. Maybe with some contact from Ebay the guy will pay. It's about the principal, not the money.

Ebay does a terrible job in site upkeep, and policing the site as well. Unfortunately it's the biggest source still.

Dirtbags everywhere.

I do a fair amount on ebay and other places. A name, address and user name would be appreciated. PM if you like.

Problem is he can't prove that's how he got the parts returned. the scumbag will just claim that's not what he sent back. Ebay only cares about the buyers because that's where the money comes from.

You can't win if you don't try. Who knows Ebay might get it right.

A guy in Malta (island south of Italy) bought a 35 spline 8.75" spool from me on eBay and picked the least costly shipping method (USPS international shipping for $70). I shipped the part the same day he ordered. After a couple weeks, he threw a fit due to the long transit time. I agreed via eBay message to ship him another spool at MY EXPENSE by FedEx Express if he refused delivery on one. Of course, the first spool was delivered the day after I shipped the replacement. Of course, the customer signed for and accepted the second spool and left me negative feedback for "slow shipping". The only thing eBay did was remove the negative feedback.

Another guy ordered Timken 8.75" wheel bearings, gaskets and seals on my web-site. My stock order was delayed, so I robbed a pair of NOS Timken wheel bearings from a complete service package I had at the time. The guy sent an E-mail accusing me of shipping a used pair, because they were "covered in grease and missing the Timken wrap". I explained the bearings were covered in Cosmoline, and taken from a Mopar box, but he could keep the first pair and I will ship 2 current production bearings, regardless. The guy posted a thread on FBBO, calling me a thief. Of course, he failed to mention I GAVE him another pair.

Malta? I had 2 great older neighbors from Malta. Sucessful small business owners. But how many MOPARS are rolling around Malta?

Cass (Dr Diff), sounds like you and I take care of our customers the same way HOPING they are like the %99.99% great people we deal with every day.

Just a couple months ago I stopped shipping internationally on Ebay and only ship to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and northern Europe on my own website. The last 5 shipments to Europe "never arrived". Now I tell Europeans to go through The Mopar Shop in Germany. Speaking of Germany. For some reason that has become a black hole for my shipments except when I shop UPS to The Mopar Shop. Also Spain and France nothing ever "arrives". I dont care what the reason now, I cant ship there anymore.

PS ANYTHING that looks suspicious like odd address, apartment, forwarding company/storage place I use signature confirmation now.

You have more restrain than I do......

200% this may not be the first time this dirt bag has pulled this stunt and if so they will know.

I was stiffed two weeks ago on a 2400.00 repair by a 72 year old Vietnam Vet. Nicest guy you'd ever meet until it was time to pay the bill. It wasn't until he left that I realized the check was for $900 and said PAID IN FULL on it. I voided the check, and have sent him a couple of professional emails inviting him to discuss the amount and try to come to a mutual agreement. He he is not responding to them.
I am pondering whether to put a lien against him (that's the way Neb. does the mechanics lien). That in turn goes on his credit report.
If he doesn't pay up then I have do the small claims court to enforce it and collect.

Not sure if it's worth the BS.

BTW
He took the car from here to a classic car dealer here in Omaha and I should mention he is not disclosing the known problems with the car of which there are MANY. Somebody is going to get stung a lot worse than I did if they buy that POS

I just looked again and the dealer no longer has the car, they may have heard about its problems and decided to disassociate themselves

Put a lien on the car and then tell the dealer it can't be sold until you are paid.

Doesn't work that way here I have 60 days to file with the State Attorney generals office. They will then notify him and place a lien on his credit report. I then have to try and collect via small claims court or other method? They do not put the lien against the car

Are you going to name the guy so that others can avoid dealing with him?

Please do. Not like the a-hole is worried about making you mad. What kind of feedback does this jacka$$ have?

And is he from Tennessee?

That sucks. Here you go to court and place a lien on the car for the cost of the work done and any parts used. Then after a certain amount of time you can go get the car because of the mechanics lien on it.

File a complaint through ebay. Send them a pic and explain what's going on. They will contact him and question his actions, you could get him suspended through ebay and get a credit for your loss. Don't let him get away with this or he'll do it to others.

This is what I suggested. Maybe some contact from ebay will worry him enough to pay. At least open a complaint. It takes very little time or effort. I had to do it once. He may fear losing his account and find it's not worth chancing, and pay up. It's worth trying.

They are competing with Amazon and let customers return anything for a full refund, even if the auction is marked No Refunds. I rarely sell on ebay, but we are downsizing for an out of state move and some things got zero interest on CL, so I tossed them on. I did well, but also had a couple of jerks that demanded their money back with me paying return shipping.

Knowing the item wasn't worth me paying return shipping, I just gave them a refund and they kept the item. These were mainly vintage Schwinn Stingray parts. They said "item not as described", yet I had plenty of good clear pictures. So I'm out the part, shipping plus ebay and paypal fees. One still gave me neutral feedback and me complaining to ebay about it did nothing. Burnt me up, but what are you gonna do?

That sucks.
I would also lodge a complaint with ebay. Some people just plain suck.
I've cut way back on ebay purchases mainly because their search is constantly getting worse and comes back with tons and tons of chinese crap and not the actual stuff you are looking for, because I've been f*#$ed over one too many times with their global shipping BS and more recently because paypal now double dips and charges extra for no aparent reason and you can't even dispute it because there's no way to contact them about it.

Amazon is just as sneaky. I had a seller from overseas send me something in a frekin bag so of course it got damaged. Then when I applied for an exchange they sent me the info but expected me to pay shipping which was going to be as much as the item was worth. Then when I went to leave feedback about the item and seller Amazon wouldn't post it!!

I would contact his local law enforcement and file a complaint with them on this fraud Same thing with the U.S. Post Office for his mail fraud also
Ask them both for feedback and their decision to prosecute or not
There many ways to discourage future actions like that beside sending Guido to his house

Local and Federal LEO's aren't going to do a single thing here. Prosecute?

Since when is buyers remorse grounds for a return and refund? Are you responsible for his piss poor shopping skills?

Post the scumbuckets user name.

Did the buyer not know the price before the purchase? I assume nobody forced him/her to buy these parts. Or was this a case of too much money for the quality received, in which one may not know before having the parts in hand?

Sorry to hear about that. I will spare you the story of a collectible doll I sold on eBay for my wife to a guy in Italy.

I do want to add that I've bought from you several times on eBay and always been happy with price, quality and service.

right now, i'm having trouble getting a company to send me an invoice for a product they mistakenly sent me that i want to keep !
when it was received, i contacted them, and they quickly sent out what i paid for, so that was a great company response, and service !
however, i decided to keep what they sent because i have found a use for it. now, i can't get a response for an invoice to PAY, and i don't want to order and pay for the first item, and have them send another.
just the opposite of the OP !

For the record, I sold my yellow T/A a couple years ago. It is indeed amazing what some people will do. I would like to know if that person owns a business or in a service in which customers would patronize him. If I had an employee who did something like this, I would do a complete background and audit on him. Chances are you will find some criminality.

Don't you have his credit card information? If so, CHARGE HIM! He took your parts and returned crap to you. Make him pay.

I ALWAYS take a video of me putting the item I am selling into the final packaging and walking in and dropping it off at the post orifice AND when I buy something take a video of me opening it and noting any damage on the package before opening to make it easier to tell if any damage or wrong missing... was done before or during shipping.

Something funny was one time my dad sent my son a .243 and completely disasembled the rifle through the post office (they told him that was how it had to be done)before packaging it up and sending it to me, when it got here there were huge holes everywhere and the cardboard box was barely hanging on to the rifle butt somehow every single nut bolt and screw and everything was found somewhere in that box!

I returned something to Home Depot one day and they looked to make sure what it was. I said do you have trouble with that? Guy said we had someone buy a new water heater and try and return the old one!! He heard water sloshing around and the guy took off.

I worked for a short (very short) time in a parts store in the ghetto. I have stories. Old parts being cleaned up, painted and returned as new, stuff destroyed by the idiots try to install it and returning it, half empty cans of brakleen being brought back. Very depressing dealing with that day after day.

People just suck.

If you call the local police and report it they will check on it. Some fat clowns from California came to a show here with a bumper rechrome service and took my brothers bumpers and never sent them back. Had to call the cops a couple times, but he did pay them a visit and told them to complete the transaction my brother paid for or get arrested. Took months, but it did get settled.

Not sure how it works "long-distance", but there was a machinist in my area who decided he preferred operating liquor bottles to his shop equipment. He had close to a grand worth of my parts and ignored all phone calls, notes on his shop and house doors... so I filed a theft report with the city PD. Within hours he called me and asked if I'd like to pick up my stuff.

Are you kidding me! So he's suppose to do this on ALL his future orders he sells? Maybe for a $500 or $1000 order; but not worth it for anything <$100. Besides: have you ever WON a case with ebay using that defense? I highly doubt it. Most times the CSR's will just say "Well that's the cost of doing e-commerce".

Their ebay Usernane should be posted. Nothing sacred about that.

one of the main reasons why I STOPPED selling on Ebag -
I too have been burned sending out nice good parts.
to get bad remarks = feedback with old parts sent back to me!@#^%

to top that off - after all the ebay follow ups - still had to pay in full both ways and absorb the loss they gave him a FULL refund pulling
from my paypal account + 3%

Agreed, too many scumbags on Ebay have made on line selling and buying a 50/50 gamble nowadays, and Ebay ALWAYS sides with buyers right or wrong, straight or crooked, suck up the dollar loss in this situation, out the scumbag so others don't fall into the same fate

And most recently: now paypal keeps the fees BOTH times (payment & the refund) that the seller loses in addition to 2x shipping if returned. You Can't even give a partial ebay refund (minus PP fees). to recoup your sale fees. Must be a full refund. So to recoup sale fees you must lose those PP fees. As stated on the community forum: "Don't sell anything thing on ebay you Can't afford to lose" .

It depends on the circumstance. I just gave a partial refund to an eBay buyer who mis-ordered and returned incorrect parts, less 1 component lost in transit due to insufficient packaging on his end.

PayPal kept the fees I paid on the original transaction and ADDED sales tax eBay charged the buyer. In other words, I paid the customer's sales tax on a part that was returned in addition to all the PayPal fees.

exactly why I stopped selling - they only care about the FEES that THEY - EBAG Collects - same as PAYPAL = same B.S.
I just figure them now as Electronic scam Mafia types who by their own Made up Laws protect Them - not us as Sellers.
So I don't buy or sell - for those reasons.

I Refuse to patronize to any of their efforts.

many other places to go now -

I left ebay as a seller such a long time ago I lost count of the years. (At least 15 maybe?) Not because of buyers being dirtbags, but because of ebay screwing up several of my auctions & trying to get me to pay to relist after they admitted that it was their fault.

As much as people complain about buyers, most are okay people. Having sold many things over the years, when I buy I try to treat sellers decently. One time about 6 months ago I purchased multiple items from someone. One of the items was damaged & had to be returned, but since the invoice was set up as one item/payment, the site refunded me for all the items screwing the seller. When I sent the returned item I included a check to cover the rest of the things that I kept.

this is a regular scam at most auto supply places. return the junk one in the new box for a full refund. people are scum.

Worked at Advance Auto in college. Had a guy try to return used oil filters. He was so cheap, and cared so little about his fellow man, he was willing to damage someone else's vehicle for $6.

Yep, been happening for awhile.
So I don't understand why this POS hasn't been outed yet.

All one can hope for is that the D bag improperly installed the steering components, and loses his steering with an on coming 18 wheeler barreling in his direction! Karma can be a b*tch!

apparently he doesn't want him outted, and or is their more to this, this asssss would have been outted instantly if this would of been done to me....posted this thread and poof .....gone yeah flame me for the truth......

I agree 8 pages I read and all I know is he has a yellow T/A......

Would that be fair to the driver of the truck?

No, not at all.

That said, I can think of three yellow T/A owners right away that are much less than nice people.

It is a very common T/A color though too.

I have another version of that. I am in an ongoing dispute with a club that my wife belonged to. For months they have been billing us for merchandise that we already paid for and I have been sending them multiple letters stating that. Suddenly we get a refund check from these clowns. I call customer service and tell the sweet young thing that we don't owe them anything and they don't owe us anything...what do they want us to do with the check? She cheerfully says to cash it and she'll put a note in the file stating she told us to do that. After arguing with her for about ten minutes I gave up...and we cashed the check. A week later we got another invoice from them.

That'll have you pulling your hair out!
Seems to hold true: "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"

I had a set of Porsche wheels that I sold on eBay, different sizes, front and rear. One bidder asked if I would sell just the front pair, I declined. He bid on the full set, which I shipped him. Then I received a complaint that the rear pair never arrived. I refused refund and he complained to eBay. eBay sided with him and required a refund. Why do I suspect the pair of rears are behind his garage?