Ebay problems: Buyer opened a return and sent back a different item

I sold someone a Supreme x North Face jacket at the beginning on the year on eBay. 

I took photos of the item I was sending as I packaged it up and sent it via Royal Mail Special Delivery, as the jacket was worth more than £400, on 5 January.

On 9 January, the buyer asked me to give him positive feedback. As he sent the money instantly I didn’t have too much of an issue with this and obliged.

An eBay user sold a jacket but the buyer sent back an old jumper, keeping the pricey item

However, on 11 January, the buyer then opened a return request claiming I had sent the wrong item and attached some grainy photos of a jumper I had never seen before.

They returned this jumper to me on 18 January and the money was taken out of my account. How can I prove they are in the wrong and get my money back? L.T., via email

Grace Gausden, consumer expert at This is Money, replies: You weren’t bidding on being scammed in this less than supreme scenario but unfortunately, that is what happened.

Posting a Supreme x North Face jacket on eBay, you were happy when you sold it for £414.50.

The process went through smoothly and you received the money quickly. 

However, you did think the situation was a bit strange as the buyer didn’t use a real name on their eBay and PayPal accounts and the address was a commercial unit in Slough.

Although you were a bit worried, the address was confirmed on PayPal so you thought you would be protected if anything happened – plus they had already paid. 

You gave the buyer a positive review, as requested, but were then alarmed to find out they had opened a return request just days later – claiming an old jumper had been sent instead.

The buyer sent an image of the jumper which you had never seen before.  

You contacted eBay customer services straightaway who told you to attach the photographs you took of packaging the jacket along with a message to the buyer in the hopes they made a mistake in opening the request.

It was fortunate you had the foresight to keep evidence of every part of the transaction including multiple images of the jacket being packaged and sent as well as a receipt of tracking.

You didn’t hear back from the buyer but received a message from eBay to say it had sided with the buyer and the item will be returned.

The money was taken back out of your account and straight into the buyer’s, meaning he now had your jacket for free.

Raising suspicions: The buyer didn’t use a real name on their eBay and PayPal accounts

The jumper turned up on 18 January and you filmed yourself opening the package which, to no one’s surprise, was not the item you sent.

This can be confirmed by the weight of the packaging on the label which was half the weight of the jacket you sent. 

You decided to do a bit of digging and found a number of red flags. Firstly, the buyer did not use a real name.

Secondly, the location you sent the jacket to appeared to have pallets of streetwear boxes outside, when you looked it up on Google Maps.

While it is hard to confirm if this is part of an elaborate ruse, it certainly seems like a strong coincidence.   

Thirdly, the returned item was sent from a post office in Cardiff when the unit you sent the jacket to is in Slough.

You were also contacted by a seller on eBay who is in a very similar dispute with the same buyer.

The whole scenario was incredibly frustrating as you felt you were left with no leg to stand on, despite documenting the sale of the jacket meticulously. 

I contacted eBay about your situation as it is seemed completely unfair you were being punished for something you had no control over.

Fortunately, it understood your dilemma and agreed to give you a full refund of £414.50.

An eBay spokesperson said: ‘We’re sorry that Mr T has had this experience selling on eBay. Under our eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, if a buyer opens a return case, sellers must facilitate this.

‘However once the seller has received the item back, eBay can then step in and review the evidence to make a decision regarding the refund.

‘After reviewing the evidence provided, we have closed this case in Mr T’s favour, providing him with a full refund. We have also fully investigated the buyer and taken appropriate action on their account’.

The auction site said it has ensured there will be no negative record of this on your account so this will not impact your use of eBay in the future – should there be any further usage. 

There have been several people who have had issues with buying and selling items on eBay

Fortunately, your case has been resolved, but this is not the first time I’ve been sent  problems with eBay in recent months. 

A couple of weeks ago, Grace on the Case told the story of an eBay buyer who bought a Dyson hairdryer online.

However, it turned out to be a counterfeit item and was destroyed after he sent it to the firm to be repaired, leaving him out of pocket and without a hairdryer. 

A few weeks before that, I reported on a seller who was left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after a buyer complained about the packaging, opened a return request and received a full refund despite holding on to the items sent. 

Whilst eBay can be a great website to find bargains and unique items, consumers must be careful when shopping online. 

As it is a third party platform, there is only so much the auction site can control.  

It said ways to tell if a seller might be a fraudster is if a listing has a short duration as scammers will want to close deals quickly.

It added customers should be wary if a seller has lots of high-value items at suspiciously low prices, or a stock of hard-to-find goods that are sold out everywhere else. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Users should also avoid contact out of the eBay platform. If a seller asks for your mobile number or email address, this could be a red flag.  

Fitbit replaced a faulty device for free after the user noticed it wasn’t counting steps properly

Hit and miss: This week’s naughty and nice list

Each week, I look at some of the companies that have fallen short of expected standards as well as those that have gone that extra mile for customers.

Miss: This week, reader, Noel, said he had issues with getting a refund from Amazon.

He ordered three items on the site, including two SD cards and a hard drive installation kit.

However, when the parcel arrived, just two of the three items were enclosed with the installation kit missing.

Noel contacted Amazon customer services and was told he would be refunded but within minutes of finishing the conversation, he received an email stating Amazon wouldn’t be returning his money for the missing item.

After I contacted Amazon, the firm apologised to the customer for the miscommunication and refunded him for the missing item.

Although Noel was driven mad by Amazon’s customer service, he has now received the £16.18 back in his account.

Hit: In more positive news, we have heard from a reader, who wished to remain anonymous, about the service they received from smartwatch firm, Fitbit.

The reader said: ‘My Fitbit recently started acting up a bit. It wasn’t charging properly and sometimes wouldn’t count my steps.

‘I contacted Fitbit as the device was just over a year old and asked for some help. After following the troubleshooting guidelines and still having no luck, I went back to the customer service team and said I was still having issues.

‘They sent over a postage label and asked me to send the Fitbit to them and said they would replace it for free.

‘I sent it off and one week later a new one arrived, in perfect condition. I was concerned I would have to live with a temperamental watch or fork out for a new one so it was a welcome relief to know I could rely on them to fix the problem.’ 

It seems like dealing with Fitbit was a walk in the park.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk