Do i have any chance of defending this claim?

confusedsoul

I need a bit of help of where i stand.

I sold something on ebay with a warranty. 

Months later the buyer claimed it was faulty.

I asked for it to be returned and i advised i would send it off for repair. 

I tested the item and it was working fine with no fault.

Anyway i sent the item back to the customer as it was not faulty. The customer claimed it was still faulty so there was a bit of back and forth of it working or not etc.

The customer then issued a MCOL so i contacted the customer and agreed to refund him and he would send my item back. I advised i would send a returns label. Customer closed the MCOL.

I refunded the customer via Paypal and i included an extra £10 to cover return postage costs. I informed him of this too.

11 days later i asked the customer where was my item as i had not recieved it? 

Customer replied that he had thrown it away as i had not provided a returns label and it had been 11 days? I advised i sent extra money with a note explaining that i had refunded extra to cover the return postage cost. 

I told the customer please send my item back as this was the agreement.

Customer said there was no chance of getting the item back as he had thrown it away.

I reversed my paypal payment as i had not got my item back.

Obviously customer was not happy about this and has now advised they have done a new MCOL.

The customer now states he has retrieved the item so i supplied a returns label and he has put it in the post according to my tracking.

Is it worth defending or shall i just pay? The customer wants the original amount which i am happy to pay, but he has now added an extra £70 to the total for the first claim and now for this second claim.

I am happy to refund the amount as i did before and only reversed my payment until he claimed he had thrown the item away. 

Everything is in writing.

Where do i stand in defending this?

Ditzy_Mitzy

The customer is trying to lead you up the garden path.  Wait until you've got the item back, safely, then refund the purchase price and tell him to go hang in relation to the other claims.  He can't take you to court for non-existent expenses and is bluffing.  I also wouldn't engage in any further correspondence.  

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Sounds a bit of a mess OP.

Are you a business?

How many months (exactly) is months later? 

What was the item and the fault?

Did you document it working correctly (or can you once it gets back to you)?

pinkshoes

I'd wait until you have received the item back then refund the original amount. 

Did he send any form of "letter before action" before opening the MCOL claim?

Are you a business, or was it the item warranty was in your name so you had to send it off?

confusedsoul

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Sounds a bit of a mess OP.

Are you a business?

How many months (exactly) is months later? 

What was the item and the fault?

Did you document it working correctly (or can you once it gets back to you)?

Yes as a business

9 months later

The item was a camera and he said the motion detection was not working. I set it up and for a whole week it worked perfectly.

Unfortuanteley not i did not document it, i offered to have a look remoteley from the onset, as its a common occurence where a lot of people dont know how to set the camera up properly, he said it used to work properly but was now faulty. He denied my assistance citing security risks to his network etc

pinkshoes said:

I'd wait until you have received the item back then refund the original amount. 

Did he send any form of "letter before action" before opening the MCOL claim?

Are you a business, or was it the item warranty was in your name so you had to send it off?

The first claim he made, he sent a letter that time. This time it was just an email stating he would be doing another claim.

As a business the item had warranty, if the item is faulty, the supplier tests it and then either replaces it or repairs it, its a really good returns procedure and they dont try to wiggle out of it. It would not have cost me anything so i had no reason to deny the refund or replacement. Its just that i never actually found anything wrong with the camera, i always test myself as a lot of the time its user settings and not a fault. 

If i refund him and the claim comes through as he said he has filed it what do i do then?

confusedsoul

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

The customer is trying to lead you up the garden path.  Wait until you've got the item back, safely, then refund the purchase price and tell him to go hang in relation to the other claims.  He can't take you to court for non-existent expenses and is bluffing.  I also wouldn't engage in any further correspondence.  

I believe he is serious and will make the claim or has already filed it. He has done it before. As i mentioned i should recieve the item back tomorow. I was planning on refunding him through paypal as soon as i got my item back as i dont have his account details. 

Ditzy_Mitzy

confusedsoul said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Sounds a bit of a mess OP.

Are you a business?

How many months (exactly) is months later? 

What was the item and the fault?

Did you document it working correctly (or can you once it gets back to you)?

Yes as a business

9 months later

The item was a camera and he said the motion detection was not working. I set it up and for a whole week it worked perfectly.

Unfortuanteley not i did not document it, i offered to have a look remoteley from the onset, as its a common occurence where a lot of people dont know how to set the camera up properly, he said it used to work properly but was now faulty. He denied my assistance citing security risks to his network etc

pinkshoes said:

I'd wait until you have received the item back then refund the original amount. 

Did he send any form of "letter before action" before opening the MCOL claim?

Are you a business, or was it the item warranty was in your name so you had to send it off?

The first claim he made, he sent a letter that time. This time it was just an email stating he would be doing another claim.

As a business the item had warranty, if the item is faulty, the supplier tests it and then either replaces it or repairs it, its a really good returns procedure and they dont try to wiggle out of it. It would not have cost me anything so i had no reason to deny the refund or replacement. Its just that i never actually found anything wrong with the camera, i always test myself as a lot of the time its user settings and not a fault. 

If i refund him and the claim comes through as he said he has file dit what do i do then?

If the camera has been returned and a refund paid then the contract has been unwound, to all intents and purposes.  There is no claim the other party can make, legally speaking.  

confusedsoul

TBH i could have handled this better but from the very first message he sent me about it being faulty.

I replied that i will need to do some remote testing to see if it was an actual fault using Teamviewer as i have done before many times with other customers.

His reply was i am an electronics engineer and the hardware is at fault, no amount of testing or resetting will fix it, he had already made his mind up and was insistent on returning it for a replacement or refund and this got my back up, in hindsight i should have not reacted but he would not listen to any reason at all.

Ditzy_Mitzy

confusedsoul said:

TBH i could have handled this better but from the very first message he sent me about it being faulty.

I replied that i will need to do some remote testing to see if it was an actual fault using Teamviewer as i have done before many times with other customers.

His reply was i am an electronics engineer and the hardware is at fault, no amount of testing or resetting will fix it, he had already made his mind up and was insistent on returning it for a replacement or refund and this got my back up, in hindsight i should have not reacted but he would not listen to any reason at all.

We're going round in circles now.  The customer has agreed to return the camera and to accept a refund.  All you are required to do is refund him upon receipt of said camera and put any correspondence regarding additional claims in the bin.  

confusedsoul

This is the issue. His argument is that i should not have reversed the money i had sent him. I only reversed it because he did not return my item. 

He states i broke the agreement by reversing the money. He also states i can deal directly with the court and not him. I have yet to recieve any correspondence from the court.

I plan on refunding him as soon as i recieve my item back.

Ditzy_Mitzy

confusedsoul said:

This is the issue. His argument is that i should not have reversed the money i had sent him. I only reversed it because he did not return my item. 

He states i broke the agreement by reversing the money. He also states i can deal directly with the court and not him. I have yet to recieve any correspondence from the court.

I plan on refunding him as soon as i recieve my item back.

His argument is bogus.  Just sort out the refund and, in all likelihood, you'll never hear anything again.