Vendor Protection against Scam Attempts

I can always fully understand and sympathize for all the hard work and business management they must go through. Albeit these instances are less common, they still do happen and pretty much any vendor whose been in the game long is more than likely to have any of the following occur.

Buyer disputes order stating that it is not what they expected or item did not arrive even though it did

As I stated, there are far more awesome and honest buyers than bad apples. But sadly, it does happen mainly with either low life's, or kids thinking they can pull a fast one. I cannot stress this enough, when creating a new listing be sure to give as much detail as possible. This will prevent any confusion and if a dispute occurs, you can refer the buyer and staff telling them that sold product is in accordance with the description. Plus, when you have 50 customers before them saying they were satisfied with the item received, you will have much higher chances winning a dispute.

When a buyer claim the package is a no-show, make sure you do either of the following to prevent this. Place tracking on all of your items that you ship. For security, try not to give it out unless it is necessary. This is great proof to show staff that you did indeed ship out the item. If you do not use tracking, make sure it is known in your profile that this is the case and you cannot give refunds on lost packages. It would be to the buyers discretion whether or not to order.

Buyer Threatens to Leave Negative Feedback Unless Given a Refund

I've actually had this happen to me. This was a plain and simple case that he was looking for free stuff and wanted to be an ass and go this route. It really frustrated me because I was very nice and polite to the dude and he decided to pull this shit on me. Well, I handled it in a professional manner and backed off. This is what I did and what you can do too in this situation. I basically called his bluff. I explained to him that I have 40+ customers before him (which is true) buy the same product and every single one of them was completely satisfied. Given that information, I told him that I wasn't going to give him a refund, and to go ahead and leave the negative feedback if you wish.

If he had left the negative feedback, I would've retorted that this customer was just a troll looking for free stuff, and given my positive track record with this item I did not feel a refund with in order. He never did leave the feedback and released the escrow, which I'm happy :) Also, depending on your market, staff will remove negative feedback if it was unjustified. Just report to staff and see what they say.

I actually know a vendor who was in the same situation. He actually refunded the buyer and the asshole buyer still left negative feedback. Man, did that vendor throw a fit. Thankfully the staff took care of it.

Competitor Attacks

Occasionally, you will have a unethical and disgruntled vendor that is jealous of your booming business and wants to do something to sabotage it. A lot of the times they will make multiple buyer accounts, buy the cheapest product you sell, and then turn around and either call you a scammer or the product and service was bad. If you are a victim of this, report it to the staff and your customers as soon as possible. Let them all know about the situation and given your track record, they will be understanding. Most customers can determine if you have either a troll or competitor attacking you and will not think bad of you with the given false feedback. Often staff will recognize the attack and ban the shill accounts and remove the feedback. It's sad to see vendors sink that low to do such an attack.

Trolls/Disgruntled customers

Often times you will come across these when when discussing products and prices about your product. What generally happens is that you'll get a buyer that is not happy with your price and then offers some low-ball figure, or you can have buyers that want a freebie tossed their way. You tell them no and the price stands as is. Most are understanding of this, while you do have some that act like children and throw a temper tantrum because they cannot get their way. They end up going to the forums and posting false statements calling you a scammer and that your service is terrible, blah, blah, blah. To handle this, just politely and professionally explain the situation that you never even done business with this clown and how on earth could you be a scammer when no coin was exchanged? Also explain that their behavior is ridiculous and just wanted something cheap or free. Then everybody will realize what an ass this buyer just made of themselves and will easily join your side on this situation.

Well that's all I have for right now. If any vendor would like to add on and share any of their experiences, I would love to hear them. Thanks for reading and stay safe everybody :)


Comments


[1 Points] Big_Daddy_Trucknutz:

I can appreciate that vendors are rightfully worried about their own money but at the same time I think they might be a bit irrationally paranoid about buyers scamming them. Most of the time when everything goes well I don't need to contact them at all. It's only when I have a problem that I need to contact vendors and a lot of them just aren't there at that point. Some vendors have stood by their reputation and fixed and issues but at least twice as many haven't in my experience.


[0 Points] SteveLurkell:

Vendors should just send the shit and always use tracking.


[-1 Points] None:

There are always flaw's in the system, it will never be 100% fool proof.

What I wish could happen:

Vendor: No FE for Vendors, EVER.

Even if you have a vendor with 50+ feedback he can just decide to stop selling whenever and just take peoples money. Anytime, anywhere, it doesn't fucking matter because there is no way to get back at them.

Customer: Upon arrival of the product un-packaging must be video taped (then destroyed if there is no issue). If there is an issue the vendor with verify the tracking and return label on the package with support and support will take care of the dispute instead of false accusations going back and forth. I know it seems like a lot of work but I really feel like this is something that can come in handy.

Release as soon as received.

I feel like just adding those few things into the original escrow system can just solve these issues that keep popping up. My ideas might sound stupid to some people, and I'd like to know others thoughts.