buyer claiming item faulty and is not

pinkdani

I sold a water fountain and the buyer is claiming the item is faulty and tripping electric when plugged in. as the item was brand new and not wanting to upset them and genuinely thinking itmight be faulty i said to return for refund. they then quoted that i would be be held responsible for postage return and also for a full refund plus the postage i charged. i agreed to refund their postage via paypal if they would post it to and would refund the postage when i got the item back to avoid any delay. I knew that this was the way to go because a few year ago i got a faulty item from a business seller and this is the way to go. anyway the item has come back and surprise surprise the water fountain works perfectly both in mine and in my mam's house. the electric bit of the fountain and the base has clearly had water in but the water holder and the lid has no evidence of any water and the water cartridge has never been took out of the sealed packet, which should have been done for the item to work properly.
I think the seller has either changed her mind about the item as it is quite large and decided the way forward to claim all fees back was to say it was faulty.
i have refunded her the cost of the item but not the postage and left her a message to say that i cannot find the a fault with the item. i have been on to ebay but obviously it is a foregin call centre and they said i was right to refund the item and not the postage because the item was working for me. i know i will get negative feedback and can respond but ebay is so unfair cos a lot of the buyers do pull fast ones and the sellers are the ones to lose out.
~Any advice would be appreciated.

sniggings

ebay have been know to remove neg feed back if it is unfair, so keep the buyer inform through ebay email so you have evidence to show ebay to ask for ir to be removed.

Remember too that a business seller and a private seller are not the same, in this case you are right but following what a business does is not always good if you are a private seller.

I believe ringing ebay in working hours you have more chance getting through to their Ireland call centre than their other ones/

pinkshoes

Presuming you're not a business seller, then I'd send them a polite message saying that you've tested the item in two locations, and it works perfectly, as described. Say that on this basis, then they can either have it re-sent to them (at their cost), or you'll refund the initial cost item and initial postage, but not return postage.

Did they send it back tracked?