Problem with ebay case. How to proceed...

olias

I bought and paid for some plants on 11th March. The sellers stated handling time gave a delivery date of 18th-20th March. They arrived on 28th March and were dead due to the cold and lack of water. I know i should have photographed them, but I just binned them as I obviously couldn't send dead and rotting plants back to the seller(!) I contacted him for a refund, but he got snotty and demanded their return. As stated I couldn't do that, so I found this on the ebay help pages....

......What if the buyer receives my item but still files an "item not received" case?' 'If the buyer receives your item, we'll only accept an item not received case if the buyer can prove that you didn't ship the item within your stated handling time.'........

So I opened a case on this basis and quoted the above from ebay in it. When I escalated the case, CS converted it to an SNAD case and say I have to send the plants back for a refund. I obviously cannot do this. Do I have any other recourse?

Olias

porto_bello

More experienced eBayers may know better, but I don't think you can win this, since you have binned the evidence. There is a chance that if you phone (as opposed to email) eBay CS, and explain the situation, they may credit you as a goodwill gesture, though the chances are slim.

Strapped

I'd send back some pots filled with soil.