This Guide is intended as a warning to all eBay sellers of Beauty Products, when sending out Brand New, Sealed and Unopened Items.

Firstly I will outline a previous experience I had with a "Lady" from West Yorkshire who tried to blackmail me with threats of bad feedback, unless I sent her another of the same product free of charge.

The names are real and have not been altered to protect the innocent.

charlottes1985 First complaint via my messages on 16-04-2007.

I have received the face wash and am not entirely happy! The product has already been opened and re-sealed and the expiry date scrubbed off (so i presume it is out of date). Would prefer not to leave negative feedback

My Reply.

Hi Charlotte, I can assure that the product is brand new, unopened & even more importantly unused, I was so surprised to hear your views, to try to answer your concerns, some of the gels which came in boxes of 6, had a round sticky patch on the outer packaging, where some of the circular foil seals had come adrift, which I presume happened during transportation, all the boxes were sealed, so even though the foil seals had opened on their own, it is no detrement to the product, as for the sell by date, none of the whole consignment (50 Boxes) had any form of best before, buy it now  use by or expiry date's on them, as they are made mainly for the French-French Canadian markets, I presume they do not need this info, where was in your opinion the sell by, use by or expiry date removed because a few of the items do dark smudges on the container which again I presumed was from the glue from the round silver seal, If after reading this information, you are still not happy, please return the unopened & unused item with a covering letter of your complaint and stating whether you would either like a refund or replacement, out of 60 or so of these items sold to date you are the only person to have any form of grievance. Regards Anita.

charlottes1985 2nd correspondence 17-04-2007

I am still not happy and will not be paying for the postage to send the item back to yourself. I have bought numerous items off  ebay and have never had a problem up until now. It has clearly been opened as i used to buy the face wash from boots when it was available. obviously none of your other customers have realised this. I require a refund or a sealed bottle otherwise i wont be leaving positive feedback.

My reply

Hi again Charlotte, So sorry to see that you are taking this stand, but as per the returns policy we published and to which you agreed to abide to, by virtue of your bid, which reads as follows.

As it is a direct skin product, for hygiene purposes, it must be totally unopened, unused, and complete in original packaging,  no exceptions, refunds will only be for the (item cost at the end of the auction), not including postage, and the (return postage will be the responsibility of the winning bidder), if the above returns advise is not followed, no refunds will be entertained.

I am afraid that if you do not return a faulty item for our inspection then as it says if the returns advise is not adhered to, then no refunds or replacement will be entertained, as we only have your word on the matter, and also as I am not in the habit of giving BOGOF's, (BUY ONE GET ONE FREE) and further more do not like to be bullied or threatened with negative feedback, so either comply with the terms you bid on, or forfeit your rights under that rule, as you are in breech of eBay policy. Also if you do not return the item and leave negative feedback, I will publish all your complaints and all my replies for all to see, because the negative feedback will then be totally unjustified.  Regards Anita.

charlottes1985 3rd correspondence 18-04-2007

That is fine, it is no great loss to me. You are fully aware that the item has been opened already and re-sealed. After all the probelms that we had because you changed your email address, I thought you would have sent a product that was described when i bid. Negative feedback will be left.

My reply

Hi again Charlotte,  The product I sent to you was exactly as described, sealed and brand new, unopened & unused, as I said originally, as you wont send the item back for verification, how can you prove that the item received was opened or that it was used, also if as you say that the expiry date was out, why would you want another product out of the same batch, surely that too would be as you say out of date, as far as I can see the only solution is that either you return the product so that any issue's can be resolved, or there is one other alternative, if you send me the original postage and packing fee of £2.40 and I willl send you another Evian Affinity Visage Oxygenating Cleansing Gel-Sealed but please bear in mind it will still be out of the same batch and possibly no sell by date or expiry date on it, if you look at the photo of the 2 gels the opened one on the right hand side is what I am personally currently using, I used it to show the product before being opened and after to illustrate how it was sealed by an outer pack if you look closely at the larger photo you can see clearly that the gel is a lot lower than the unopened one, so the little silver sticker is immaterial and is only an embellishment by Johnson & Johnson to enhance the packaging, it serves no other material purpose, I think this now will be my final word on the matter, if you want to take me up on my offer contact me and I will send you an ivoice for the above amount, if you do not contact me within 3 days, I will presume that you have declined my last & fnal offer, and no further correspondence will be entered into. Regards Anita.

charlottes1985 4th correspondence 19-04-2007

As regards to your last email, the product wasn't exactly as described. It was not sealed therefore it was opened so how can i know it has not been used. As regard to me sending it back for verification, why would i send it back only to have to pay again for the p&p to send it to you, to then pay another fee of £2.40 for you to send me another when i have already paid the original fee. I have checked the bottle of my last purchase and the expiry was on the bottom, these will not just rub off, they have to be purposely removed! Charlotte

My reply

Obviously you have not read what I wrote correctly, what I did say was as follows - or there is one other alternative, if you send me the original postage and packing fee of £2.40 and I will send you another Evian Affinity Visage Oxygenating Cleansing Gel-Sealed but please bear in mind it will still be out of the same batch and possibly no sell by date or expiry date on it, - if you want the extra gel as above for the sum mentioned, just say so and I will send you a paypal invoice for the postage amount. That will then be the end of the matter. Regards Anita.

Epithet

After reading the above, I would just simply, ask you to make your own minds up. And be on guard against this type of encounter, after all to be forewarned is to be forearmed, as Abraham Lincoln was reputed to have said, "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you cant please all of the people all of the time".

See how easy it can be for people to try to commit fraud on eBay, at the end of the day all transactions are down to trust and Human nature, but Human nature being what it is, there will always be an element, who for reasons only known to themselves, want to buck the system and try to get something for nothing, whether it be a 10p item, a few pounds or maybe hundreds, it's still fraud, whether or not they live in Nigeria where most of the more unsavoury scams seem to originate or nearer home in the UK or even West Yorkshire, there will always be this type of element, a buyer from the wrong side of the tracks, most of us will escape this unsavoury element, but some of us unfortunately, at some time or another will come across this sort of buyer, who wants something for nothing, and who will go to all sorts of extremes and any length to get it, such as bullying and threats of sullying your hard earned 100% good feedback. "Threats of leaving BAD Feedback" just so as they can  get an extra product free of charge, so the moral of the story after reading all of the above, is to try to be as squeaky clean, as honest, "as me", describe exactly what the product is, "exactly as I did" and go into great detail what you will do as a seller if the buyer is not happy, obviously we are all giong to get the odd bad apple in the bottom of the barrel, but by following the above advise we can all minimise the risk. If the above advise helps anyone, please don't thank me for this Guide, thank charlottes1985. After all, she inadvertantly created it.......... anitrudy

FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE Received from eBay 24-04-2007

Dear anitrudy,

Charlottes1985 has informed eBay that they feel the item they received from you, Evian Affinity Visage Oxygenating Cleansing Gel-Sealed (280098813668), was significantly different from your description in your original listing.

People can sometimes legitimately view the same item differently. As a result, no action is being taken by eBay at this time. However, it's important to note that sellers have an obligation to deliver an item that matches the description provided in the original listing.

Most Significantly Not as Described disputes can be solved with direct communication between the buyer and seller, and we encourage you to work with your trading partner to resolve this situation.

Ebay dispute 24-04-2007 by charlottes1985

Item Significantly Not As Described: Evian Affinity Visage Oxygenating Cleansing Gel-Sealed (#280098813668)

Payment Method: Personal Cheque

Payment Date: 12 Apr-2007

Additonal Details: As discussed in numerous previous emals, the goods supplied were out of date and unsealed and therefore not as described "UNUSED - DOUBLE PACKED AND SEALED" The "threat of bad feedback" is actually a response to your "email with problems before leaving feedback". I regard opening up the guide,  http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/IT-WAS-OPEN-AND-HAS-BEEN-USED-ON-ARRIVAL-SCAM_W0QQugidZ10000000003425233 as inappropriate and intimidatory, and the dispute should've been resolved via the dispute console.

My reply

I tried and tried to resolve this matter with you to no avail, unfortunately you declined every offer I made, then you did the ultimate wrong by leaving bad feedback. I reiterate the item was exactly as described, Brand new, Unopened, Sealed & Unused. No mention of sell by/use by or expiry dates were ever mentioned in the auction advert,. If you were so concerned you should ask questions before the auction finished, not after the event, it's like closing the stable door when the horse has bolted. Anita

I think I was the one who was intimidated by threats of bad feedback from the very first contact, (See Above) The poor "Lady" will still not accept that we could do no more to help or resolve the situation, even eBay have said so. the moral of the story seems to be, ask questions first, then bid, not bid and win and ask questions later, When you purchase a bag of peanuts, it states on the packet that "this item may contain nuts", which seems to be a gross overstatement of the obvious, so why state it, because perhaps some nut in the past with a nut allergy has complained that there were nuts in the bag and it was not stated. I know in my heart of hearts that the product was sent out brand new, unopened, unused and double sealed, I wonder why she would not send the item back for our verification as stated in the returns policy statement in the advert, simply because she knows it not to be true, I REST MY CASE, and this will be my last word on the subject. IT IS NOW CLOSED.