Trouble customer saying item has been packaged awfully and they are going to throw it away

GervisLooper

The buyer seemed like a trouble customer from the beginning as they kept emailing me, several times asking me trivial questions. They could just be nervous they would arrive safely but you know you get a 'vibe' and my suspicions were correct once it arrived. I thought it odd considering I have all good feedback. I have sent several other packages of the same items and not one complaint til this one.

My mum packed it and I know how fastidious she is about taking care to pack things well but I got a stroppy letter from the buyer this morning saying they are furious at the state they arrived in.

How should I proceed? I will just tell them to send them back and refund them I think as it seems like someone you have to walk over coals to please.

goodfella66

Tell them to start a returns process "to keep it official with Ebay". I always put that phrase to problem customers and you'll be surprised how many go silent after. 
Unfortunately, from my experience, buyers who ask an awful lot of questions are usually trouble and are usually looking for perfection and any kind of ding sets them off so this guy may be just one of these nutloops that is never satisfied. If I think the questions are trivial, I usually go silent after the second question just hoping they won't buy.

GervisLooper

goodfella66 said:

Tell them to start a returns process "to keep it official with Ebay". I always put that phrase to problem customers and you'll be surprised how many go silent after. 
Unfortunately, from my experience, buyers who ask an awful lot of questions are usually trouble and are usually looking for perfection and any kind of ding sets them off so this guy may be just one of these nutloops that is never satisfied. If I think the questions are trivial, I usually go silent after the second question just hoping they won't buy.

Well the questions started piling in only after the winning bid

soolin

I would do as suggested by goodfellas, tell them to open a return request on eBay and then let that run and otherwise ignore them.only correspond after that via a case.  If they open a request deal with it then, if not do nothing. 

GervisLooper

Hmm I have just replied to them to return for refund. I only did that because I remember as a buyer it would always say try and resolve things with the seller by pm first.

pramsay13

GervisLooper said:

Hmm I have just replied to them to return for refund. I only did that because I remember as a buyer it would always say try and resolve things with the seller by pm first.

That was good you came on here to ask for help and then just did your own thing anyway.

GervisLooper

pramsay13 said:

GervisLooper said:

Hmm I have just replied to them to return for refund. I only did that because I remember as a buyer it would always say try and resolve things with the seller by pm first.

That was good you came on here to ask for help and then just did your own thing anyway.

There was only 1 reply when I was typing the email and was eager to get things moving asap as most people start work at 9 so I imagine they might likely see it before work rather than wait for more replies. Nothing to do with 'ignoring advise', more that I want to resolve it asap.

Whatever further advise is given I will take on board the weight of the responses but how can I know 1 reply is the 'right' answer when it is only the first person who replied. I surely would have done that if I had seen the second response advising to do the same.

My decision was also based on the idea (whether that is true or not but again I wanted to quickly get things moving so didn't want to ask another question and have to wait for the replies before responding) that raised disputes acts against your account so best to avoid it?

jon81uk

NEVER refund on eBay unless there is a proper case from the buyer. You can try and resolve via messaging, but if they want a refund, tell them to open a dispute so it all gets recorded properly.

bris

Problem buyers are good at it, they want to resolve it without opening cases so they get away with it.

By making them open a case it puts them on the system, too many cases and Ebay start looking at them as a problem and when enough is enough they start to limit them to protect sellers.