Buyer bought a video now wants refund

divadee

I sold a vhs video on ebay on bank holiday weekend. it sold for a really good price (shocked me) now the highest bidder was a newbie and surprise surprise he hasnt paid. So i sent a 2nd chance offer to the next bidder who paid immediately using paypal.

Now they have emailed saying that they thought it was dvd not vhs. I dont see how this is possible as it clearly stated in the auction after the description and in 14font

THIS VHS VIDEO IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION

I also listed it under

Dvd/film/tv - videos vhs/pal - horror - cult horror

so you cant get more plainer that that can you??? i have offered a refund minus postage to keep my good feedback as i dont feel i should pay postage when someone has read the auction wrong.

Am i right in this? or should i refund postage costs as well?

danmanchester

You're absolutely right..why should you pay postage for someone else's error? If the buyer is a decent and honourable person they should understand..especially if you explain your listing/paypal fees etc..YOU didn't make any mistakes...THE BUYER DID!!! The trick is to diplomatically and courteously explain this to them in an email :mad: which is easier said than done as I've had similar idiots..oops "newbies" trying it on in the past - I once sold a book "The Bourne Identity" and buyer thought it was the dvd:eek: ,and I listed it (like you) in the correct category. I suspect some people really just don't read the descriptions properly..just the auction titles .
I just hope they realise that they made the error and it is resolved amicably-good luck!

soolin

divadee, although I tend to be a very cautious seller in your circumstances I would not have offered a refund at all on a matter of principle.

However as you have offered the refund less post and packing keep it at that, don't be anymore generous. If the buyer doesn't like it, hard luck.

Soo

Tojo_Ralph

Just a point to note, and I'm not suggesting your buyer is at it, but make sure you get the same video tape you sent returned !!!!!

It wouldn't be the first time someone bought goods, and returned their own faulty ones, and video tapes are wide open to it

Thats why I "mark" stuff where I can, take serial numbers and if I had an ultraviolet pen + light I'd use it.

When agreeing to a return, I always "comment" something like.....

"All goods are discreetly security marked for identification purposed, so if you wish to return the goods you received for a full refund, I will be only too happy for you to do so"

bleugh

just watch out for the paypal chargebacks here :-(
to be safe, remove ALL paypal funds from your account, other than the amount to refund the guy, or you will find its likley your account will be frozen and you can't access your money!

divadee

Thanks everyone, im beginning to think this video is jinxed. :eek:

I only offered the refund to try and keep my good feedback. I posted it about 30 mins after they had paid. so they should of got it today. The e-mail that came was last night she obviously got my email that said the video had been posted and it should arrive in a couple of days and thought 'oh hold on, i thought it was a dvd' i always describe things acurately even if they are in bad condition and have loads of feedback that reflect this. some people have even put that the condition was much better than described (maybe im to harsh or just have very high standards)

this has really irritated me, but will remember tojo ralphs advice in future, even if i dont mark them might say that i have te he

Hintza

bleugh wrote:

just watch out for the paypal chargebacks here :-(
to be safe, remove ALL paypal funds from your account, other than the amount to refund the guy, or you will find its likley your account will be frozen and you can't access your money!

And your paypal account is in effect dead if a charge back is made!!!

I see this idea all the time on here and as far as I am concerned this approach is a non starter. If a chargeback is made PayPal will get it sooner or later unless you close the account and even then they might chase it.

soolin

Hintza wrote:

And your paypal account is in effect dead if a charge back is made!!!

I see this idea all the time on here and as far as I am concerned this approach is a non starter. If a chargeback is made PayPal will get it sooner or later unless you close the account and even then they might chase it.

You are assuming of course that paypal accept the buyers version of events. They can only do a chargeback for item not received or item materially different to advertised, neither of which applies in this case.

You can start a chargeback for any acceptable reason but that doesn't mean paypal always finds on behalf of the buyer, look at some of the other threads on here where it has been almost impossible for the buyer to win on anything other than 'item not received' grounds.

Soo

Altarf

Hintza wrote:

And your paypal account is in effect dead if a charge back is made!!!

I see this idea all the time on here and as far as I am concerned this approach is a non starter. If a chargeback is made PayPal will get it sooner or later unless you close the account and even then they might chase it.

So what if the account goes dead, just open another with another email address.

As for Paypal chasing the account holder if there is no money in the account, yeh right. You assume that they want to test their dubious T&Cs in the courts.

divadee

i have had an e-mail from the person who bought it which now says


'i will keep the video and try and sell it on, but will try and properly read all auctions i bid on from now on'

do you think they feel a bit silly when they went back to look at the auction and saw vhs video written all over it?