SNAD refund help (seller)

HalfPint

Hi,

I'm sure this question has been answered but I'm having a blond moment and cannot find the answer!

I sold a low value item £2.95, free p&p, auction. Buyer emailed me after receipt stating item not as described. I disagree but didn't quibble and offered buyer a refund, stating it needed to be returned to me via tracked method, as per paypal.

Buyer has since emailed back stating "As you are probably aware, this is the usual response from sellers when a low value item is not as described, to get a £2.99 refund it will cost 81p postage, & 75p recorded delivery ( I can't help notice you sent not recorded, any less honest buyer than me would just claim item not received if it arrived scratched and scuffed )

anyway I'm OK with sending it back recorded or unrecorded your choice, but I will be sending you the bill for the return postage which is 81p + 75p + 25p + £1.81 ( the 25p is the approximate cost of accepting a paypal payment ), I do not wish to be left out of pocket regarding a mistakingly described item."

I have no problem refunding buyer orginal amount of £2,95 (not 2.99 as stated) but do I have to refund their return postage?

The item was a dvd described as great condition, which it is as it has never been out of box though it wasn't sealed.

The buyer has private feedback, although 100% positive. They have not opened a SNAD case, just emailed me.

you help on this would be appreciated.

Many thanks

HP x

kurgon

It depends how much you value your feedback. For £2.95 I would just refund them and tell them to keep the dvd. Seems a lot of hassle for low value and they don't sound particularly reasonable. In relation to the costs they are asking for if it was a refund they would not be charged 25p by paypal sop this cost is moot. If you went through paypal for a snad they would not require you to refund the postage but you will most likely get a negative.

chancesare_2

The buyer has 45 days from date of purchase to file a claim, but as a seller, you should be doing all you can to avoid a claim as they dent your seller status.

When the item is returned, you must refund the entire original payment. It is up to you if you chose to reimburse the returns postage - but you should if it is faulty, (if you are a business seller you should have this info on your listings, clearly giving details on who pays). Or chose not to have the item returned. But that is your decision and not one Paypal can force.

CouponWoman

All buyers have 100% positive feedback as they cannot be left anything but positive feedback so this is not a guide to their honesty or reliability. The fact that he has private feedback might make someone think he has something to hide.

If you know the dvd was perfect then its up to you whether to refund the postage paid for the buyer to return the dvd. You do have the option to tell them to keep it and just refund the payment. .

It might be that the buyer is using you as a free dvd rental, watching your dvd and then returning it at no cost to him.

It sounds to me from the wording your buyer used that he has done this before.

You could check his previous purchases and then check what feedback he has left for sellers this might give you an inkling as to if he is trying it on for a freebie and if he has done it before.

Basically you do not have to refund until you get the dvd back, but you can if you want to.
You do not have to pay the return postage, but you can if you want to.
If they open a paypal snad they will be told to return the dvd by a signed for method, and the buyer pays the postage costs.

Good luck

HalfPint

Kurgon, I see your point of view, 2.95 aint worth losing sleep over. However, I am a bit suspicious and think that I will be left a neg no matter what I do.

Chancesare, I'm not a business seller, my fb is 39 , I recently decluttered and am getting rid of it lol.

Couponwoman, thanks for the advise. How can I check his other purchases if he has private feedback? (sorry I did say I was being blond this morning:rotfl:)

thnx ppl

HPx

chancesare_2

You could try goofbay, but it is not always completely reliable.

mikey72

CouponWoman wrote: »

It might be that the buyer is using you as a free dvd rental, watching your dvd and then returning it at no cost to him.

It sounds to me from the wording your buyer used that he has done this before.

So rather than claim INR, which he would win, you really reckon he's a scammer who wants to agree a refund of the postage up front, and still rely on the seller to be honest enough to refund him later.

Seriously?

Not just that the item is just not as described?

mikey72

kurgon wrote: »

It depends how much you value your feedback. For £2.95 I would just refund them and tell them to keep the dvd. Seems a lot of hassle for low value and they don't sound particularly reasonable. In relation to the costs they are asking for if it was a refund they would not be charged 25p by paypal sop this cost is moot. If you went through paypal for a snad they would not require you to refund the postage but you will most likely get a negative.

But if it wasn't something you did every day, you would assume the postage back couldn't be refunded, as you hadn't paid it in the first place, so would be sent as a gift, which does cost the buyer.

kurgon

HalfPint wrote: »

Kurgon, I see your point of view, 2.95 aint worth losing sleep over. However, I am a bit suspicious and think that I will be left a neg no matter what I do.

Chancesare, I'm not a business seller, my fb is 39 , I recently decluttered and am getting rid of it lol.

Couponwoman, thanks for the advise. How can I check his other purchases if he has private feedback? (sorry I did say I was being blond this morning:rotfl:)

thnx ppl

HPx

If you think you will get a negative anyway and you are confidant in what you sold then don't refund the postage. Tell him that if he sends without recorded delivery he will be reliant on the item being delivered, and essentially your good faith as using his own words you could claim that it never arrived. It's reall yup to you how you want to play it. In realtion to checking out if there have been any issues with other sellers try looking at the feednack he has left for tohers - this can sometimes give you some more insight.

mikey72 - I have no idea what you are saying. The postage being discussed is the cost to return the item to the seller.

Invalidation

HalfPint wrote: »

Hi,
I have no problem refunding buyer orginal amount of £2,95 (not 2.99 as stated) but do I have to refund their return postage?

yes why not? You should put the buyer back into the posotion he was in before he bought your missdescribed article.
Why should anyone be out of pocket, for someone elses mistake.

Same thing here. I bought a laptop from a PC World, which on getting home 18 miles away was found not to even turn on let alone boot up.
"Oh bring it back, we'll replace it", when I asked if they were going to reimburse my travelling time and expenses they thought I was joking.
I took the computer back and got a refund but again the manager refused to reimburse me.
He wasnt happy when he got a County Coiurt summons for the travelling expenses and my time. They paid up before going to court.

shaun_from_Africa

It could well be true that the dvd was scratched and scuffed when received.
It's not uncommon for the discs to come loose from the bit of plastic that holds them in the case, and then they are free so slide around and the same piece of plastic that should hold it then causes loads of small scratches.

I agree with the point raised earlier querying why if the buyer was a scammer, why wouldn't they simply have stated that the DVD never arrived. By doing that, they would have been guaranteed a full refund and would have been able to keep the disk.