eBay protects fraudsters

(re eBay order #293778496447-1848987997019 )

October 13

I ordered a pair of Apple Airpods on behalf of my son.

November 2

Before the product arrived, eBay sent a warning email, intimating that the email I received from the seller might be fraudulent.

Since I hadn't given any personal information to the seller, I wasn't alarmed by the warning, which I expected might have been a simple, common, precaution on eBay's part.

The product arrived in mid-November. After a few weeks, my son found that the "airpods" were defective.

November 27

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to reset the defective "airpods" following Apple's documentation, I booked on appointment with the Apple store at their first availability.

December 6

My son brings the "airpods" to the Apple store, where the representative inspects them and notes that they are fakes. As such, they were (obviously) not covered by warranty.

Following eBay's policies, I contacted the seller

eBay dutifully chimed in

December 9

After three days with no response from the seller, I contact eBay, noting that their website contains incorrect information, since there is actually no link to "Ask eBay to step in".

eBay tells me that since I initiated the return request on a Sunday, the clock only started for the seller to respond on the Monday, so I have to wait another day.

December 10 (early evening)

I contact eBay again. This time, the eBay rep says that the "three days" the seller has to respond don't count the first day, so I have to wait until December 11. "But don't worry", I'm told, "if the seller doesn't reply, your purchase is protected and we'll issue you a refund." I repeatedly ask the rep to point me to the URL on the eBay website they explain that the three days doens't include the first day. The rep refuses to provide the URL and just keeps talking over me until he hangs up.

December 11

I contact eBay again, this time reaching "Sharon", to whom I recount the status. Sharon then connects me with "Grace" in eBay's escalation deparment. Grace tells me that eBay is now contacting the seller and giving the seller five more days to reply. If the seller doesn't then eBay will either issue me a refund directly, or send me a return label to return the product to eBay for my refund. I tell Grace that after all the fun I've had with the previous calls to her company, I don't particularly relish the thought of needing to contact eBay yet again after five more days to find out about the progress of the refund. Grace assures me that "although we don't ordinarily do this, I'll call you personally by December 17."

December 17

December 17 comes and goes. No call from Grace. <sarcasm> I'm... shocked. </sarcasm>

December 18

I contact eBay again. This time, I speak with "Martin", who tells me, "It is actually past the 30 day period^* and it's not covered by the EBG there's nothing eBay can do... it's actually not covered." When I ask for the call to be escalated, Martin at first tries to give me the brush off. Eventually, he escalates the call.

"Shine" from eBay's "return escalations" department takes the call. I tell Shine that the call is being recorded and give her instructions to safeguard all the past calls I had made with eBay's representatives, in particular, those from the previous week.

Naturally, Shine tells me that I purchased the product on October 13 and that "the product is only covered for 30 days" so my "request isn't covered by eBay's money-back guarantee". I suggest that Shine re-check the call history, in particular, the promises that were made to me the previous week by eBay's representatitves. She agrees to do so and puts me on hold.

Shine returns half a minute later to tell me that she's putting me on hold again. I encourage her to take her time and suggest "you probably should listen to the recordings of the calls."

Shine returns to the line a few minutes later and tells me, "Just to be advised, sir, we are not allowing you to record the call, because we are also recording it on our end for quality and training purposes." The rest of the conversation is equally amusing.

December 20

I make another appointment with the Apple Store for their first availability to obtain documentation in preparation for a small claims court action.

December 22

Hi! We're sorry to hear about you recent experience but we’d love to take a closer look into this for you. Please DM us confirming your full name, email and registered zip/postcode and we'll review this for you. Thank you. ~ Shannon

— Ask eBay (@AskeBay) December 22, 2020

December 24

We're here to help in any way we can. To review this further and actions taken, we would require you to send us a DM containing your information. We take account safety seriously and comply with data protection processes. We look forward to your DM. ~ Shannon

— Ask eBay (@AskeBay) December 24, 2020

December 27

My son goes to the Apple Store and obtains proof that the "airpods" were fake.

From the report, it appears that the fraudsters re-used a valid serial number from a product that had been sold originally in July.

January 1, 2021

Happy New Year, eBay!

Hey @eBay. Rather than DM you (as if you really needed this to review the #fake product you allowed to be sold), I've provided all the details at https://t.co/4utFyg7v6l for everyone to see how your company conducts itself when it comes to #fraud. #smallclaims coming.

— Jeremy Cooperstock (@jcooperstock) January 2, 2021

January 17, 2021

Letter of demand sent by registered email.

February 21, 2021

Small Claims filed with the court, seeking $313.93 plus filing costs.

April 10, 2021

Email from eBay's lawyers:

We represent the interests of eBay Canada Limited and we have been mandated to communicate with you in regards to the small claims court matter described above in the subject line.

April 14, 2021

My phone call with eBay's lawyer in Quebec: they evidently have to settle so many cases with other eBay customers that she needs to verify which of the many "Jeremy Cooperstocks" I am.

April 15, 2021

Email from eBay's lawyers:

We were instructed from eBay Canada to offer you the sum of $419.93, representing to total claim of $313.93 as well as your cost fees ($106), payable via transfer to your PayPal account in exchange of a full and final release against eBay. As such, eBay would require the signing of a confidential Settlement agreement and a Notice of Amicable Settlement to be filed into the Court record.