aggressive buyer - now claiming money back

hermum

A dispute generally closes in the buyers favour, the buyer will probably be told to return it for a refund.
Ebay are making lots of courtesy (no fault) refunds at the moment if they do that, they refund the buyer, he keeps the item but the money isn't taken back from you.

Crowqueen

Which organisation, eBay or Paypal, have they opened the dispute through?

If it is eBay, eBay might give the buyer a no fault refund, or credit them for postage returns, or give them a label. In the first situation this absolves you of having to refund from your own pocket. In the second two cases, this may make the buyer a bit happier because they don't have to fork out for returning the item. In any event, they will not get a refund automatically.

A straight Paypal refund is simpler - the buyer returns at their own cost.

Both systems will insist the item is sent back recorded/tracked delivery (to prove they were delivered or delivery was attempted) before you are forced to refund them from your own pocket. If eBay award a no fault refund they will refund the buyer without the item being returned but you will not get charged and will keep your original payment.

If they do return the item, and there is substantial damage, then you should refund their return costs. Depending on how you package items, there may be things you can learn. I send DVDs in jiffy bags/padded envelopes and have never had a problem but I always pull the self-adhesive flap down so that the envelope is tight around the item and there is no room for the item to rattle about in the post.

It might be good idea to formulate a simple "If the item is faulty or you have any other problems, please do not hesitate to get in touch" and offer buyers return costs for damaged/faulty items as a matter of routine. This will make people happy that you intend to honour their issue plus make other people happy to buy for you. It happens from time to time - it's something you have to factor in to selling online and posting items, unfortunately, similarly to things going missing in the post.

Always take the buyers' problems/issues seriously, and never rise to any bait. I always email buyers when I have dispatched the items - it stops people bugging you about whether you have sent the item/when it's going to arrive. Truly abusive buyers should always be reported to eBay, but that's really only if they are swearing or something like that - it's a fine line sometimes between someone who sets out to be a nuisance and someone who feels unhappy about this one purchase. It's never good enough to cease contact with a buyer who is annoyed because they breach some arbitrary idea of manners (which is all too often seen on this board - sellers forget that when money is involved people are more likely to be stressed and over-react and perhaps be rude or abrupt than if it is merely an interpersonal issue). They have paid you and they are not happy - it's your responsibility to calm them down.

hopeneeded

I admit I broke off contact after continually accusation of being a liar and con artist. The only reason I didnt offer return postage costs was that he changes the level of damage with email, the dvd box corners were scuffed to then they were stained, coffee mugs rings etc etc on them and his last email says they are now in appalling conditional and must have been so before they were wrapped.

I know this was not the case. I have been passive. Apologised anyway and offered a full refund before he opened the case. I have repeated the offer several times. Not sure how I can calm somebody down whose reply involes a slur in every message lol.

Taadaa

I agree that there is no point in not having a refund policy, although I stipulate in mine that returns are only accepted if the item is damaged or otherwise not as expected for some reason - I always describe and add several photos from different angles, as well as any faults.

Suggest you just wait and see what e bay say to the buyer next, as he has opened the case and you are fully co-operating, the ball is in their court. He does sound like a bit of a nightmare buyer to be honest! I have only had this once or twice, and sometimes the person calms down and you never hear from them again *rolls eyes*

JPS29

Taadaa wrote: »

I agree that there is no point in not having a refund policy, although I stipulate in mine that returns are only accepted if the item is damaged or otherwise not as expected for some reason -QUOTE]

My stance is that I take anything back that the buyer is unhappy with for ANY reason, even if it's their fault/they changed their mind etc.
If I had a policy like the one above then I fear I may get back an item that has "been" damaged to fit my returns policy whereas otherwise I would have had an item that I could resell IYSWIM