Buyer wants refund but has damaged item..?

Contains_Mild_Peril

If you have refunded the customer's payment in full he will have no case for a dispute. However, since the return postage is only a small amount, I'd probably refund it anyway, even though they don't deserve it. You never know, he may even honour his earlier offer of a "mutually agreed not to complete transaction" to allow you to reclaim your FVFs.
I would also, just to satisfy my own curiosity, try cleaning the bag with ordinary detergent and see what happens, to get an idea of how honest (or not) he was about that part.

GregtheHammer

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I am going away on holiday tomorrow (which I told him), but I'm in 2 minds whether to leave it and let him do a dispute, which is what he's threatened to do if I don't refund before I go away.

Any thoughts?

Personally I would go on holiday & not refund until you come back. Just my opinion mind

Sssssss

looks like you sale alot and have had no problems before

this time you sold a fake (unknowingly) and now have the item back, why not refund in full, end of matter and go of on your hols happy?

agree he does come across as an !!!! but that is no reason in business not to refund

just my thoughts, anyways happy hols

PasturesNew

I'd refund in full. If you're a trader or want to use ebay in the future quite a bit it's just part and parcel of dealing with the great unwashed public.

Things go wrong and the customer will expect full refunds. Whether that's right or wrong, inside or outside the conditions/expectations, that's life.

As it's not a lot, it's easier to pay up and forget it.

zebidee1

I'm surprised at the replies here. Am I the only one who doesn't think the buyer is a 'snotty' 'bully' or an '****?

The buyer's first email sounds perfectly ok to me and then he just sounds worried he's going to get ripped off which is why he's trying to be all official in his emails. We all handle things in different ways, we cant all speak or email the same way as you would OP.

eBay is full of fakes of all sorts, for all the OP is genuine there will be hundreds of others who are not and these days it's just so hard to tell so maybe people are a bit defensive through simple worry a deal is going bad on them.

Separate the facts from the emotions...a fake bag was sold so why should the buyer be out of pocket? All costs involved with this auction should be refunded imo and the fact the bag has been damaged is a lesser issue than the seller selling a fake bag (albeit unknowingly).

I'm no eBay expert so I don't know what the done thing is with situations like this, but morally, I'd be refunding him inc his p&p as soon as he had returned the bag.

Maybe he thinks you're dodgy now and if you sold a fake item, then you might not refund him even if you did get the bag back, or you might say you never received it back which is why he wanted you to reply specifically to his refund request email. Maybe he thinks if he has a record of communication it will help in any dispute should he not feel satisfied with you?

Not for one minute saying you would...just that there's two sides to everything and he might be feeling as vulnerable as you do over the whole thing, which is why he's being so precise?

From your posts, I get the strong sense that you don't want to be out of pocket in any way but you dont care if he is, just because you've decided you dont like him because of the way he's handled this.

I wonder what the answers on here would be if it was him on here saying 'help.... I bought a designer bag but it's fake!'

Contains_Mild_Peril

zebidee1 wrote: »

I wonder what the answers on here would be if it was him on here saying 'help.... I bought a designer bag but it's fake!'

Well, obviously I can't answer for other posters but I would be asking him why on Earth he attempted to clean a pen mark from a bag which he believed to be fake and therefore planned to return?

fuzzgun19

Thanks for your comments.

I am now going to refund the Tw@ in full.

I feel like sending him a strongly worded email... any suggestions?

Anyway no doubt he'd email some smart !!!! comments back.

charlottevwa

Just say whatever you feel necessary.. but obviously keep it quite professional, lol, but if it makes you feel better.. then an email to him is a good idea.... although.. has he already left you feedback?? if not, you might want to wait till he has left feedback for you before emailing him

fuzzgun19

No, neither of us have left feedback yet, although he sent a snotty letter with the bag which at the end stated that he would be willing to leave + feedback if i did the refund.

I shall wait & see..

Time2Go_25

well wait for him to leave a + then neg him