Can anyone help with problem buyer (eBay)?

Zoology_Dragon

Hi, I'm new to MSE but have been reading the forums for a while and there seem to be a lot of knowledgable people on here so I hope someone can advise me on this.

So... I've been listing lots of stuff on eBay and had a number of items finish today. One person won five items and asked if she could collect as she is local. I agreed and she turned up as arranged. She checked the items before leaving (I asked her to) and paid cash.

An hour later and she has sent me a message saying that one of the items has a few marks but is ok as she will still use it and that the others are ok and she will leave me positive feedback for those items. However, the final item (a pair of shoes) she thinks are "very worn" and "not in good condition" and has asked for a refund. Now, she checked everything before she left and it's quite clear from the listing that they are not new. Where do I stand on this? I'm not happy giving her a refund as I think they were fairly described but the insinuation is that she'll give me a negative if not. She paid 99p by the way so it will surely cost her more than that in petrol to come back for the refund (not the point I know but it does make me wonder why she would bother). As far as feedback goes I have over 500 positive but one negative from a buyer who complained about an item unfairly (in my opinion). I agreed to a refund, against my better judgement, they then failed to return the item and neg'd me anyway. So I can't help but wonder if I'll end up with a negative anyway.

Aside from all the factual stuff I had sort of a bad feeling while she was here and I really don't want her to come back to give her a refund. I could send her the money but I don't really feel a refund is warranted in any case.


Any advice would be gratefully received, I'm so annoyed and wishing that I hadn't agreed to her collecting. It's silly of me but I feel very strange about her having been to my house.

Thanks

Smart_But_Casual

Zoology_Dragon wrote: »

Hi, I'm new to MSE but have been reading the forums for a while and there seem to be a lot of knowledgable people on here so I hope someone can advise me on this.

So... I've been listing lots of stuff on eBay and had a number of items finish today. One person won five items and asked if she could collect as she is local. I agreed and she turned up as arranged. She checked the items before leaving (I asked her to) and paid cash.

An hour later and she has sent me a message saying that one of the items has a few marks but is ok as she will still use it and that the others are ok and she will leave me positive feedback for those items. However, the final item (a pair of shoes) she thinks are "very worn" and "not in good condition" and has asked for a refund. Now, she checked everything before she left and it's quite clear from the listing that they are not new. Where do I stand on this? I'm not happy giving her a refund as I think they were fairly described but the insinuation is that she'll give me a negative if not. She paid 99p by the way so it will surely cost her more than that in petrol to come back for the refund (not the point I know but it does make me wonder why she would bother). As far as feedback goes I have over 500 positive but one negative from a buyer who complained about an item unfairly (in my opinion). I agreed to a refund, against my better judgement, they then failed to return the item and neg'd me anyway. So I can't help but wonder if I'll end up with a negative anyway.

Aside from all the factual stuff I had sort of a bad feeling while she was here and I really don't want her to come back to give her a refund. I could send her the money but I don't really feel a refund is warranted in any case.


Any advice would be gratefully received, I'm so annoyed and wishing that I hadn't agreed to her collecting. It's silly of me but I feel very strange about her having been to my house.

Thanks

For 99p I'd refund her, with an extra 1p and tell her to drop the shoes off at the nearest charity shop.

Hardly worth getting stressed about is it?

Zoology_Dragon

I wouldn't say I'm stressed but I really don't want her to come to my house. It does sound silly I know, I promise I'm not normally the type to jump at shadows

I suppose I'm just annoyed that she can do this and worried that I'll get a negative regardless what I do. If I do decide to refund her I'll send her the cash and tell her to keep the shoes.

cally6008

Refund her, in cash, when (and if) she brings the shoes back to your house.

cyril82

Why is she complaining over £1...:rotfl: But actually it's not funny, i had a similar incident last year, a woman bought a sat nav from me, now as a business seller i had a 14 day return policy which stated faulty items could be returned for a full refund including postage, non faulty items would be refunded without postage costs.

Instead of just returning it as a non faulty item in line with the returns policy she started to complain about it not having speed camerea alerts, this feature was not mentioned in the listing, nowhere did it say it had this feature but she kept claiming it was not as described and "she only bought it for this feature"....it's a SAT NAV!! you buy a sat nav to navigate to and from places YOU LIAR :mad: ....sorry for the rant...

But the point is in the end i gave her a refund with postage, (loss to me £18 inc ebay fees) and you know what? she still neg'd me and i suspect this buyer may well neg you too no matter what you do but if i was you i'd giver her a quid and hope she is mature enough not to neg you, unfortunately there is little else you can do now ebay have removed your right to respond, you, like all sellers, are now entirely at the mercy of these difficult buyers every time you list something..annoying but not much you can do i'm afraid..

Zoology_Dragon

Thanks Cally, part of the problem is that I really don't want her coming back to my house, although saying that it would give me some small sense of satisfaction to make her come all the way back for her 99p.

sunnysea83

personally i would just ask her to either pop them back round and give her a quid or ask for the paypal account details and send her £1 paypal payment.

For 99p i wouldnt be fussy.

Zoology_Dragon

Cyril82 - thanks, sadly I think you're probably right. It just annoys me so much that buyers can now get away with this. I honestly have never had a single problem buyer until eBay stopped allowing sellers to leave negs and now they seem to pop up all the time.

This woman has unnerved me a little as she followed me into the house when I turned round to get something then picked up a bag she bid on but didn't win (I was in the middle of packaging it) and started admiring it, asking how I could know I wouldn't ever use it again (?). It took me completely by surprise and freaked me out a bit, I think I had visions of her running off with it :rotfl: Nevermind, IF I offer her the refund (and I guess I don't have much other choice) I'll make my husband answer the door with strict instructions not to let her get past him

Zoology_Dragon

Sunnysea - you and the others are right of course, I suppose I was ranting as much as asking for advice :rotfl: She seemed a bit of a looper as well, which is why I didn't really want her coming back, she already knows where I live though so that's probably a bit irrelevant. Thanks!

Errata

Wrap a pound coin inside a lavatory paper cardboard tube, stick it in an envelope and post it to her. Job done, and you can feel smug about it :A

sunnysea83

she would worry me slightly too, you def dont want her in your house, she could be sussing it out!