what would you do?

pinkgem

i'm not going to go in to too many details but basically:

i sold an item, it was paid for, sent it same day

item received by buyer who claims not as described

i apologise and offer full refund on return & original and return p&p if not as described

item received back today and i am very confused to receive item back exactly as described and pictured. it can and will be re-sold in exactly the same way as it was originally.

we're talking a lot of postage here btw, 2 x £8.25 special delivery, that seller expects me to refund for no reason

i tried to contact the buyer by phone as soon as i received the item back, but the number given was her mothers number and she is at university and her mother would not give me her daughters phone number.

i have emailed the buyer to say i am very confused by her claims as item is exactly as described and pictured in the listing. i said i can refund item cost but don't see why i should be out of pocket for original and return costs when it is as described.

buyer was very rude in original email when complaining about item, capitals to emphasise certain words and demanding refund. so i am expecting negative feedback and/or a paypal dispute.

zenseeker

You do not have to refund the return postage.

Did they say what exactly was wrong with the item or did you just accept it back blindly without asking?

pinkgem

zenseeker wrote: »

You do not have to refund the return postage.

Did they say what exactly was wrong with the item or did you just accept it back blindly without asking?

yes they stated about 10 things wrong with the item and none of these are true!

i just thought the buyer was telling the truth and that i had somehow not checked the item before sending it and missed all the problems with it

i am very confused

pinkgem

had it been just a small amount of postage i would have just refunded as a gesture of goodwill/just to put an end to the matter but we're talking nearly £17 of postage here!

at the moment i just can't bring myself to refund the buyer all this postage for no reason as a matter of principal as there is nothing wrong with the item.

i am so confused and angry!

zenseeker

I think that you will just have to relist the item on eBay and refund the seller for the cost of the item and the original postage, but do not refund the return postage as there is no eBay rule that states that you have too.

You will have to explain that, as far as you can tell, there was nothing wrong with the listing, and that eBay rules state that the buyer is responsible for covering return postage.

Contains_Mild_Peril

If she takes it to a Paypal dispute you'll probably have to give her a full refund including the outward postage, but not return postage. You may as well offer this now, since it's likely to be the end result, and if she has to open a dispute to get outward postage refund then you're more likely to get negative feedback. It's not fair but it's how eBay works.

pinkgem

yes i was considering that, through gritted teeth, but don't think buyer will agree since they demanded i refund return postage costs as well. i have only had one message from them so far, and not heard from them for 5 days, then received the item back this morning.

only thing that concerns me is as soon as she complained and asked to return, i replied and said this was fine, and then i started a dispute stating buyer wanted to cancel transaction due to returning item for a refund... she has not replied to this, and i have a feeling she will select the wrong option so i don't get my fees back. we are talking £6 in fees here.

if i refund her original postage cost and she doesn't agree to the mutual, then i will still be £8.25 out of pocket plus £6 fees!

pinkgem

although if it goes to a paypal dispute there is a chance i may win, because there are lots of clear photos in the listing of the actual item showing nothing wrong with it.

the problems she is claiming with the item are not anything that could have been caused by damage in the post. well, there are no problems with the item, it is exactly as described and pictured in the listing!

pinkgem

buyer has just agreed to mutual, that's something i suppose.

i'm now awaiting an angry message...

zenseeker

Annoyingly, you may get a negative because some people can be asses like that

pinkgem

zenseeker wrote: »

Annoyingly, you may get a negative because some people can be asses like that

i've been fully expecting one since her first message