Please help...Sold an item on ebay and now buyer is complaining.

Louisdf

sharnad wrote: »

Im sure that there would be a lot of buyers who would love it is sellers did this then they could use the product and return it without them costing anything

Seller only refunds org price of item with postage they dont normally return price it cost seller to send back

Its a way to try and cut down on the dodgy buyers

I do agree with you if the item was as described, but if it's not then good ebay sellers should refund the buyer's cost of sending it back, although they are not obligied to by law.

miss_clarabelle

Grrr blooming troll trying to cause trouble. As I said before I'm quite stressed about it, so please don't be nasty for the sake of it.

I sent this item in great condition. As far as I'm aware the buyer didn't receive their item in a plastic bag saying it had been damaged. It was packaged with great care and consideration. If the package wasn't delivered in a plastic bag can I still claim because either the buyer has damaged it or royal mail have damaged it. I am not a "business", I'm a private seller having a clear out. I don't want the buyer to be out of pocket if it wasn't their fault, but I don't want to be out of pocket either because I trusted royal mail to send it safely and I did everything within my power to make sure it arrived safely. I even sent an email to ask the buyer to let me know it had arrived in one piece.

What now? Do I ask her to send it back to me and refund her the £5.50? Then complain to royal mail? My auction does state "NO REFUNDS" because like I say I'm not a business and don't have time to be messed around if a buyer changes their mind.

theonlywayisup

miss_clarabelle wrote: »

Grrr blooming troll trying to cause trouble. As I said before I'm quite stressed about it, so please don't be nasty for the sake of it.

I sent this item in great condition. As far as I'm aware the buyer didn't receive their item in a plastic bag saying it had been damaged. It was packaged with great care and consideration. If the package wasn't delivered in a plastic bag can I still claim because either the buyer has damaged it or royal mail have damaged it. I am not a "business", I'm a private seller having a clear out. I don't want the buyer to be out of pocket if it wasn't their fault, but I don't want to be out of pocket either because I trusted royal mail to send it safely and I did everything within my power to make sure it arrived safely. I even sent an email to ask the buyer to let me know it had arrived in one piece.

What now? Do I ask her to send it back to me and refund her the £5.50? Then complain to royal mail? My auction does state "NO REFUNDS" because like I say I'm not a business and don't have time to be messed around if a buyer changes their mind.

Despite what your auction says (no refunds) you are subject to PP/Ebay disputes which in effect gives a buyer 45 days.

So act in good grace, as I am sure you will (you sound like you will) and either refund from the photo, or upon receipt, whichever you feel most comfortable with. Despite some comments on here, your obligations are not to refund the buyers parking meter, salary or petrol money. You are obliged only to refund the full original payment. If you are a business seller then you are obliged to state your returns policy, but still not obliged to refund postage. Having said all that, a good seller, private or otherwise would refund the returns postage on a faulty item.

So, if it is a small amount, not worth the returns postage or neg feedback, it may be easier to keep the buyer 'on side' and refund on a photo. However, it is up to YOU.

emby

Louisdf wrote: »

Well with your attitude I certainly wouldn't buy from you. Stop thinking about the law, and about providing good service and maintaining feedback. Put yourself in the buyers shoes for once.

I have over 6,000 feedback from happy customers thank you very much. I wouldn't particularly want you as a buyer anyway, I have a feeling you'd be more hassle than you're worth.

theonlywayisup

emby wrote: »

I have a feeling you'd be more hassle than you're worth.

75p or 2% worth. Probably.

maria6259

theonlywayisup wrote: »

75p or 2% worth. Probably.

I'd be willing to pay her 75p NOT to bid on my items.....

Margoriglick

Louisdf wrote: »

Yes but it's good customer service to refund the buyer's costs. When I recieved a faulty pair of earphones of Amazon, they refunded without question within 24 hours the postage fee I paid at the PO, and 75p to cover the time and expense of going to the PO/packaging the item up. Why shouldn't an ebay seller be providing the same service as Amazon? If they don't they deserve negative feedback for providing shoddy service.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I have purchased many things from Amazon and had to return a few aswell. I have never been reimbursed petrol costs or anything of the like from them though.:eek:
I would refund the buyers purchase price and initial posting and that would be their lot. Definately wouldn't be doing this until i had recieved the item.:D

bizywizy

i dont think you have to pay their return postage but if they decide to send it back and it is as you remember it then you could refund purely the purchase cost minus your ebay and paypal fees.

If there is in fact something faulty that you hadnt noticed then I would like to think a refund of full amount including the return costs.

However if there looks like there is some malicious damage to the bag I would question itand raise a ticket with ebay.

I cant see that it would be damage done in the mail - if it was the cstomer would have noticed the packaging torn and told you plus - Im sure you packaged it well to protect things like clasps.

Do you think the item looked like its photograph???

lindos90

But not all damaged packets/parcels get put in a bag by the PO, I thought they only did that if the original packaging was ripped open/came undone, to make the package secure?

There must be items damaged in the post by being dropped or heavy items being put on top of them every day!

I guess your options could depend on how much the bag was sold for, in relation to the cost of return postage (which must be trackable).

Could the buyer send you a photo of the damage in the first instance, so you can see what is actually broken, if they are tryng it on they might not be bothered messing around with photos?

It is also possible that its not really what she expected, and she has changed her mind, but thats not possible to say for definate.

Personally if vintage handbags were my thing, I would be expecting something from the 50's to show some sign of age, but not dirty or worn out, but its all down to perception...one persons 'patina' is another persons 'dirt'.

I would suggest keeping comms going...as I buyer I would get twitchy every time I went onto ebay and didnt have a response to an email for a few days. Try to be helpful, but get more information before you agree to a refund.

Best of luck.

lindseykim13

Even IF your item was damaged by royal mail you'd have a hard time getting them to pay out for it, as i've read a lot on here lately they tend to say 'you didn't package it properly' to avoid paying out anyway.
From the sounds of it the buyer wasn't happy with the bag when she got it. I expect it is just a difference of opinion, you thought it was excellent and the buyer didn't. You get those buyers sometimes. All i would do is say sorry and offer a full refund on return of the bag, chances are they won't bother to return it anyway. Or if you felt inclined you could just refund anyway without them returning the bag although you do get buyers who just try it on to get this type of refund so they get to keep the item and the money :eek: