Scammed via eBay and PayPal

[RichE73]

Good Morning,*
I wondered if anyone can give me some advice on the below.
the facts are as below*

1. 05-11-19 Mobile phone sold on eBay for £648
2. 12-11-19 Buyer opened a case claiming damage.* Seller responded asking for further information – None received
3. 25-11-19 Buyer escalated case to a claim - £648 debited from seller PayPal account. Seller contacted PayPal via telephone and was advised by a PayPal advisor that the buyer would have to supply a legal* 3^rd party report from Samsung showing the nature of the faults.
4. 06-12-19 PayPal find in buyers favour – advise buyer to return the item with a tracking reference and proof postage before funds will be released. PayPal advise a 3^rd party report was received but not from Samsung.
5. PayPal advisor tells seller that full tracking reference showing the tracking number and address must be sent by the buyer to PayPal to verify item has been returned
6. 12-12-19 Buyer supplies tracking reference SE085203616GB*which shows the item delivered on 10-12-19 and signed for by ‘Mandy’. PayPal accept this and release funds.* The item was NOT returned the return address supplied to the buyer by PayPal and Royal Mail has confirmed the postcode of the return address does NOT match the postcode linked to the tracking reference and advised to speak with the buyer for resolution. Royal Mail will not confirm the address to where the item was sent.
7. Seller sent 4 messages to the buyer using the eBay account to confirm which address the item was sent to, and no response was received.
8. 13-12-19 buyer contacts PayPal who advise that they will open an appeal and the buyer has to supply a proof of postage
9. 17-12-19 PayPal close the case as a response was not received within the timeframe this was found for the buyer (!!)*
10. 19-12-19 seller contacts PayPal via telephone and speaks to ‘Darragh’ who again advised they will reopen the case, request proof of postage and contact me via telephone on* the 27^th December with an update.
11. 30-12-19 PayPal again close the case – Seller contacts PayPal via telephone asking to speak to ‘Darragh’ advised that they could not transfer me but an internal email would be sent asking ‘Darragh’ to contact me

*
There is proof both on PayPal messenger and in recorded telephone conversations that PayPal has NOT received proof of postage despite 3 requests , and has NOT received a genuine fault report from Samsung from the buyer. This has left the seller down by £648 and also without the item that was sold. PayPal has refused to share a copy of the report, and a PayPal advisor confirmed to the seller that proof of postage was not received.
Seller has provided proof the buyer did not return the item to the seller, therefore PayPal should NOT have refunded the funds back to the buyer.
A complaint has been lodged with the Financial Ombudsman Service
A complaint has been raised with Action Fraud
It is my view PayPal has facilitated this fraud, as the buyer contacted eBay before the item was sent advising there was a concern. The buyer has also advised PayPal on numerous occasions that they believe a fraud is being perpetrated but PayPal has at no point taken this on board or taken action to protect the seller.
*
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.*
thanks in advance.*

[luxardo]

A very similar thing happened to me except that eBay failed to update my address after I moved house so the buyer returned the item to my old address.
I contacted eBay and they told me it was my responsibility to update my address for every single transaction not just on my account.
I checked their terms and there was no mention of this but they wouldn't budge.
I issued a moneyclaim which they ignored so I got judgement by default and they eventually paid up after I threatened to send enforcement agents to their office.

eBay always finds in favour of the buyer and action fraud will do nothing, they have too many cases and won't even bother acknowledging you. Your claim here is with eBay not PayPal though. They should have provided the correct return address.

I think you have done all you can and hopefully the ombudsman should find in your favour. If not do what I did.

[RichE73]

A very similar thing happened to me except that eBay failed to update my address after I moved house so the buyer returned the item to my old address.
I contacted eBay and they told me it was my responsibility to update my address for every single transaction not just on my account.
I checked their terms and there was no mention of this but they wouldn't budge.
I issued a moneyclaim which they ignored so I got judgement by default and they eventually paid up after I threatened to send enforcement agents to their office.

eBay always finds in favour of the buyer and action fraud will do nothing, they have too many cases and won't even bother acknowledging you. Your claim here is with eBay not PayPal though. They should have provided the correct return address.

I think you have done all you can and hopefully the ombudsman should find in your favour. If not do what I did.

Thanks
Paypal gave the buyer my address which is registered to my PayPal account as the return to address, which is correct, however Royal Mail has confirmed the mail was sent to a different address as the postcodes didn't match.*

[luxardo]

I think you have a good chance of the ombudsman ruling in your favour as the tracking system has the postcode and eBay should have checked it matched.
PayPal simply accepted eBay's word that the item had been returned. I think that's all they ever do.

If they rule against you then you may have to deal directly with they buyer who has obviously either scammed you by sending something to his mate's address and getting it signed for. Or made a genuine mistake in addressing the parcel.

[RichE73]

I think you have a good chance of the ombudsman ruling in your favour as the tracking system has the postcode and eBay should have checked it matched.
PayPal simply accepted eBay's word that the item had been returned. I think that's all they ever do.

If they rule against you then you may have to deal directly with they buyer who has obviously either scammed you by sending something to his mate's address and getting it signed for. Or made a genuine mistake in addressing the parcel.

eBay aren't involved at all. the claim was raised via PayPal and they are the ones accepting the buyer has returned the item.* PayPal are now saying that as it was delivered by my local sorting office it is classed as delivered even though it wasn't sent to me.*

"if we receive valid tracking information showing an item was been delivered within your location we can't grant a case and issue a refund"*

So basically just send an empty envelope to any address within the vicinity of the seller and it is classed as returned!!!*

[luxardo]

eBay are involved as it's them who do the tracking for PayPal and PP may well try and palm the blame off to eBay with the ombudsman.
I doubt they will succeed though as ultimately it is PP's responsibility to check the tracking and if their method is to rely on eBay then they will have to take it up with them. Your case is with PP. I'm fairly confident the ombudsman will find in your favour.