Abusive Ebayer Buyer

ihavedoneit

Hi All,

I'll try and keep this brief. Sold a white goods item in full working order about 2 months ago (but second hand). Buyer a bit of a pain to collect but nothing too major (but started little alarm bells ringing this wasn't going to go well). Anyhow, he paid cash and collected. All ok.

A few weeks passed and I heard nothing and hadn't had any feedback from him (again, still this nagging doubt). Out of the blue, a month after selling, I get a snotty note via ebay saying I sold him faulty goods, it doesn't work, parts are missing and he wants a refund. I replied the same day to apologise (wouldn't knowingly sell faulty goods etc). Asked what wasn't working...No response.

Fast forward another month and he has left me neg feedback saying I refused to refund on a faulty item. I was a bit mad at this and acted in haste (which I really regret). I sent him a note to say he was a complete pain and I tried to help by being nothing but polite. He responded with a intimidating reply, swearing etc. Saying he is weighing up what to do next. I haven't replied and I am scared he is going to turn up on my doorstep.

Options
1 - do nothing and hope he goes away
2 - offer partial refund as a goodwill gesture
3 - offer full refund provided he returns goods
4 - offer full refund without goods
5 - report him to ebay
6 - emigrate

1 is my preferred choice. I am loathed to offer any money as a) just been made redundant so money is really tight and b) I feel bullied into it.

Any advice ?

Thanks all.

tph86

It seems odd that he waited so long to raise concern about the "faulty" item which would be setting alarm bells off for me.

Because it's taken him 2 months to get to this point and hasn't raised a formal case against you i'd assume you're "in the clear" with regards to having to give him a refund (I believe the buyer has 60 days from the date of sale to raise issue with the item but someone please correct me if im talking nonsense)

The fact he paid in cash is also good (for you) in respect that he can't claim it back through PayPal.

With regards to worrying about him turning up - don't. He's already given you negative feedback which is probably the worst this that will happen to you. My advice would be to not respond to any more of his messages and ignore him, he is already throwing abuse at you which you don't need. If he really was genuine about the item being broken he could have gone about it in a much nicer and efficient way - not waited 2 months and hardly tried to sort it out before bullying you into giving him a refund.

However, maybe send him one last message that you will refund him in good faith (remember he cant open a case via ebay anymore as it's too late!) if he returns back the item to you (he wont) but on the off chance he is a complete nutter and is actually genuine then you should do the decent thing and refund him if it turns out it was actually broken when you sold it him.

hermum

Did he see it working when he bought it? Most white goods are used pretty frequently if not constantly so maybe he's been unfortunate & this has broken after 2 months.
A risk you take really with 2nd hand goods.
He can't claim a refund.
Ignore him.

ihavedoneit

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure on time scales for opening a dispute etc so wasn't sure if he could still report me. The annoying thing is I would have gladly given a refund but he just gone about it all wrong. Now I don't want to help.

Strapped

He bought a second hand item for cash, and it lasted for a month before breaking down. I'd say there may be an arguement about whether or not the item should reasonably have been expected to last >1 month, but no, I wouldn't offer any refund, especially as you've already had negative feedback. He could always try to sue but I wouldn't fancy his chances (or his chances if he turned up on my doorstep either tbh )

ihavedoneit

hermum wrote: »

Did he see it working when he bought it? Most white goods are used pretty frequently if not constantly so maybe he's been unfortunate & this has broken after 2 months.
A risk you take really with 2nd hand goods.
He can't claim a refund.
Ignore him.

No - he didn't see it working but I was using it up until he collected so it was definitely ok. Appreciate things break down but why wait so long and why did he not open a dispute ? His feedback score is 16, mine is 220 so maybe he is just unaware of how ebay works. His neg won't affect me just the scary email that has worried me.

ihavedoneit

Strapped wrote: »

He bought a second hand item for cash, and it lasted for a month before breaking down. I'd say there may be an arguement about whether or not the item should reasonably have been expected to last >1 month, but no, I wouldn't offer any refund, especially as you've already had negative feedback. He could always try to sue but I wouldn't fancy his chances (or his chances if he turned up on my doorstep either tbh )

Perhaps I can borrow you then ! I am a weedy person so no match for anyone.

Thanks all though. I think I will sit tight and hope there are no more messages.

pinkshoes

I'd just ignore him and block him (to stop him bidding on anything else).

If he does turn up (he won't - he probably thinks he's hard hiding behind email!), just call the police.

As for the neg, just respond saying "buyer has already had working item for over 1 month"

hermum

I've just re-read your OP, he waited a month to let you know that there were bits missing & it didn't work. You replied asking what wasn't working, then nothing for a further month.
He obviously doesn't act in haste, so the chances are you won't hear from him again. Something to remember for the future though, "don't poke angry bears with a stick".
Just forget about him.
Does he leave many negs? He has cut it pretty fine to leave a neg as you have I think 60 days.

ihavedoneit

hermum wrote: »

I've just re-read your OP, he waited a month to let you know that there were bits missing & it didn't work. You replied asking what wasn't working, then nothing for a further month.
He obviously doesn't act in haste, so the chances are you won't hear from him again. Something to remember for the future though, "don't poke angry bears with a stick".
Just forget about him.
Does he leave many negs? He has cut it pretty fine to leave a neg as you have I think 60 days.

Ha ha - yes don't poke angry bears indeed. Lesson learnt !
Not sure if he has left previous negs, don't think so. As I said, his feedback score is really low but all positives.

Not sure on exact dates now and if still within 60 days he could still open a dispute I guess (I thought it was 45 days for some reason).

hermum

ihavedoneit wrote: »

Ha ha - yes don't poke angry bears indeed. Lesson learnt !
Not sure if he has left previous negs, don't think so. As I said, his feedback score is really low but all positives.

Not sure on exact dates now and if still within 60 days he could still open a dispute I guess (I thought it was 45 days for some reason).

No he can't open a dipute, that's 45 days but FB can be left for 60 days. You can see what FB he's left for others, in his FB there's a tab for Left for others.