I have recently had a dispute with eBay about negligence and charges that I think the public should be aware of. This is going to be shorter, because I have written this once already but somehow during writting this, my internet page went back and now I have to rewrite everything. I recently sold an item on eBay, an Antminer S1 with a power supply, for approximately $850. After the transaction had been complete I shipped the unit to a man in Tanzania, username, tz161. Before shipping the unit and power supply both were tested and worked perfectly fine. Upon receiving the items, tz161, claimed that neither the power supply or the unit worked as stated. He and I talked back and forth through email, some of it heated, and some not so dramatic. After about a month, tz161, decided that it would be best to use eBays money back guarantee program to get his money back. Let me take a moment to explain this program. First the buyer must issue a dispute. During this dispute period we can talk back and forth, through eBay, to try and resolve the issue before eBay gets involved. If we do not come to a resolution which we did not, eBay gets involved. If eBay gets involved they take the evidence and decide whether the buyer or seller is right. In this case, eBay sided with tz161. Who then had to ship the unit back to me. Let me make clear that the eBay policy clearly states, The buyer must return the item in the same condition in which it was received.. Going back to the dispute period, tz161, admitted several times to altering both the unit, and the power supply. Which should have been seen by the eBay investigator in the situation. However, I am starting to believe that it was ignored due to the fact that he has such a high eBay rating, 3000s, and mine is only in the 20s. I contacted eBay several times through the correct channels during this whole ordeal to report this buyer, because he was obviously misusing the money back guarantee program. As of writing this I have yet to get a response from eBay. When I received the unit, my equipment was destroyed, in unusable condition. Tz161 did not alter my units, he destroyed them. I took pictures to ensure I had evidence. Again, I contacted eBay through their report system, and again I receive nothing. I then get an email from eBay stating that if I do not go pick up my unit, mind you I had already picked it up, they were going to refund the buyer in the amount of $850. I again contacted eBay and told them that I have the unit, and I contacted the shipping company to also have them tell eBay that I had the unit, per eBays request. Yesterday I had money taken out of my account in the amount for the value of the unit. This led to a very large amount of overdraft fees, as I did not have $850 in my account. I had about half of that. I immediately called eBay. They said that I would have to call back in the morning, which is today. When I called today, I spoke with an eBay representative about what was going on. I told him that this, tz161, admitted to altering my unit, and I re-informed him of eBays policy. He asked if it was in emails through the eBay system. I answered yes. He then put me on hold for about 10 minutes, and came back and basically said, sorry, you are right. He said that they would refund my paypal account in the amount of the valued unit and power supply. This was great, however, I still had over $200 worth of overdraft charges because of eBays negligence. However, eBay refuses to reimburse me for my overdraft charges, stating that those were my fault. To be clear, I have a negative account balance, and overdraft charges because of eBays negligence. It clearly stated in several of the dispute emails that he had altered the unit and power supply. Like I said before I think that eBay ignored these facts due to his high 3000 rating and my low 20s rating. It only took the person I talked to this morning 10 minutes to see that I was right. Even though I contacted eBay several times, through the right channels, with evidence that I was right, they still sided with tz161. Now I am stuck with a negative balance and rising overdraft charges until I can get the money from ebay, 48-72 hours, then from paypal to my account, another 48-72 hours. To sum this up. I sold a unit on eBay. Shipped it. Tz161 receives it. Holds it for a month. Alters the unit. Starts a dispute. I then report tz161 for abuse of the program. He admits to altering the unit and power supply, which is clearly against the eBay money back guarantee program. Ebay investigates the issue and sides with tz161 for an ungiven reason. Tz161 ships the unit back to me. I receive 2 destroyed pieces of equipment. I take pictures as evidence. Ebay threatens to take money out of my account and pay him if I do not collect my unit, which I had already collected. I tell ebay that I have the unit, and I also tell the shipping company I have the unit per eBays request. They take the money out of my account causing the account to go negative, and incurring overdraft charges. I call eBay, and explain, and they realize that I was right the whole time. Even though I had contacted them 3 times before this, now they want to recognize that I was right. EBAYS NEGLIGENCE IS COSTING ME MONEY AND EBAY DOESNT WANT TO STEP UP AND PAY ME BACK FOR THEIR OBVIOUS MISTAKE! Now I am stuck with a still negative account that will continue to incur overdraft charges until I can get the money from ebay, then from paypal, and finally into my bank account. I will never use eBay again. What do I want? I want all my money back that eBays negligence has cost me. But I also want the public to know that if something like this happens to them, they can know what to expect.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 14:44:18 +0000