Buyer open a case against me, please help

soolin

If it was sent recorded then I assume it was a low cost item, in which case just refund on safe return. When you get it back test it out and then resell it if it is OK.

hermum

PinkPeach wrote: »

It was sent by recorded delivery and packaged very well, he has already said he doesnt' think it was damaged in the post. The issue is that my husband is fuming about it as it was basically brand new and in light of this he feels the buyer is a scammer and doesn't want to offer a refund which will cause problems for me as it's my ebay and paypal account.

Like the OP, I'd also received positive feedback but this was given before he'd used the camcorder.

Off subject somewhat, recorded delivery wasn't the correct postal method for this value of item.
It really should have gone special delivery or courier with the correct level of insurance.
You may be lucky & get it back in good working order.
If you had listed it as recorded, maybe it was a scammer who was banking on it not getting signed for or updating online & he was going to claim INR.
You then would have had to refund with no way of getting your money back from RM above the standard £46.

soolin

Whoops sorry, I forgot we have two scenarios on here and didn't realise it was the £200 item that went recorded.

To the seller of the £200 item - as per Hermum if you only get a claim for SNAD then consider yourself very lucky, a claim for INR would have been much worse. I also agree with Hermum in that you may well have been targetted as a newbie for sending something valuable untracked, so be careful.

Crowqueen

PinkPeach wrote: »

It was sent by recorded delivery and packaged very well, he has already said he doesnt' think it was damaged in the post. The issue is that my husband is fuming about it as it was basically brand new and in light of this he feels the buyer is a scammer and doesn't want to offer a refund which will cause problems for me as it's my ebay and paypal account.

Like the OP, I'd also received positive feedback but this was given before he'd used the camcorder.

He probably left it on receipt, which is what I've done in some cases so I don't judge other buyers on it knowing that I've been similarly foolish. In my case it was a £2 cable which didn't work, but for £200 it's probably rather frustrating from his end that the item has stopped working.

Damage in the post is possible even if it isn't noticeable. In an electronic item like a camcorder there are quite a lot of components. One of these shaken loose can cause a problem without visible damage.

Your husband is not right - you have to at least entertain a return otherwise Paypal will force you to. From a buyer's point of view a £200 item is going to cause aggro and it's not wise to accuse him of trying it on - you can entertain the possibility but if I was out £200 and had a camcorder that didn't work it would be expensively annoying and that's where the fun starts . You need to try and work this out amicably because it's a big deal to both of you.

GabbaGabbaHey

PinkPeach wrote: »

Just sold a camcorder which I'd used only a couple of times and now the buyer is saying it's faulty, which it isn't.

You cannot know that. You can only know whether it was working at the point where you dispatched it - any number of things could have caused it to become faulty since then.

PinkPeach wrote: »

The issue is that my husband is fuming about it as it was basically brand new

So when the buyer returns it to you, you should be able return it to the retailer where you purchased it and get it repaired under warranty.

ThinkingOfLinking

soolin wrote: »

I'd be very careful how you worded a message like that, it could be seen as accusing a buyer of lying and that will just end up with aneg for the seller. You need someone clever with words like Pinkshoes to write something innocent sounding.

I have disclaimers saying that I always obtain proof of postage and keep a record of serial numbers of electrical items in case of loss in transit...this acts as a reassurance measure as well as a warning to anyone thinking of trying it on....;)

In the case above, where the person doesn't have these disclaimers in place already, how about something along the lines of "So sorry to hear that your item is not working. That is very disappointing news for both of us. If you could send it back to me by a recorded method, I will arrange a refund upon receiving it" and then include something along the lines of "I am more than happy to arrange for a repair; I have the item and its serial number registered and it is still within warranty"

Crowqueen

That's going to get tempers flaring if the buyer is genuine though. It's still the seller's responsibility to deal with it, you might equally put off the genuine people who think you are going to try and claim that you didn't get the right camcorder back as an excuse not to refund.

Remember, at this point, the buyer doesn't know your own circumstances and all they know is they spent £200 on a camborder that doesn't work. It's not too helpful to pour oil on troubled waters.

hermum

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

In the case above, where the person doesn't have these disclaimers in place already, how about something along the lines of "So sorry to hear that your item is not working. That is very disappointing news for both of us. If you could send it back to me by a recorded method, I will arrange a refund upon receiving it" and then include something along the lines of "I am more than happy to arrange for a repair; I have the item and its serial number registered and it is still within warranty"

Crowqueen wrote: »

That's going to get tempers flaring if the buyer is genuine though. It's still the seller's responsibility to deal with it, you might equally put off the genuine people who think you are going to try and claim that you didn't get the right camcorder back as an excuse not to refund.

Remember, at this point, the buyer doesn't know your own circumstances and all they know is they spent £200 on a camborder that doesn't work. It's not too helpful to pour oil on troubled waters.

I wouldn't feel annoyed if a seller pointed out that the item I had bought was registered by it's serial number & still under warranty.
I would be glad that they would be able to have it repaired & the chance to sell it again.

I might put it slightly differently, "Thankfully I religiously register all my electronics and it's still under warranty so I will be able to get it repaired when I receive it back".
"I am so sorry that you've been inconvenienced, I wouldn't have sold anything that was faulty".

scotgirl

To add my experience from a buyers point of view, something very similar happened to me.

Bought an electrical item of about £60 from ebay, it arrived, well packaged, switched it on for about a few seconds and found it worked and I left positive feedback to that effect. I then discovered the item would not hold its charge at all. I contacted the seller and was met with unhelpful, rude responses implying I was scamming them.

I opened a paypal dispute and after being accused by the seller of all sorts they found it my favour and I returned the item for a refund, the further appeal was not approved.

This was good for me obviously but I had to pay £15 to return the item which I had got no use from and in a paypal dispute you do not get your return fee back.

I would urge you to put yourself in the buyers shoes, if this item is faulty they are out of pocket too and they have purchased the item in good faith. If you bought a faulty item from Amazon (for example) you would expect a refund.

As a previous poster has said I have been put of buying or selling electronics from ebay.

Good luck with sorting it out.

hermum

scotgirl wrote: »

To add my experience from a buyers point of view, something very similar happened to me.

Bought an electrical item of about £60 from ebay, it arrived, well packaged, switched it on for about a few seconds and found it worked and I left positive feedback to that effect. I then discovered the item would not hold its charge at all. I contacted the seller and was met with unhelpful, rude responses implying I was scamming them.

I opened a paypal dispute and after being accused by the seller of all sorts they found it my favour and I returned the item for a refund, the further appeal was not approved.

This was good for me obviously but I had to pay £15 to return the item which I had got no use from and in a paypal dispute you do not get your return fee back.

I would urge you to put yourself in the buyers shoes, if this item is faulty they are out of pocket too and they have purchased the item in good faith. If you bought a faulty item from Amazon (for example) you would expect a refund.

As a previous poster has said I have been put of buying or selling electronics from ebay.

Good luck with sorting it out.

Unfortunately you met with a crap seller, if I sold something that then didn't work, or indeed had anything wrong with it I would pay the return postage costs.