Ebay buyer requested return claiming item not working

snowstormcat

I sold an item which I checked before listing and again before sending to a buyer on Ebay.

The buyer is claiming the item does not work. I've told them to open a case with Ebay and will refund upon returning.

I understand that the item could have stopped working between despatch and receiving by the buyer (unlikely) and feel the buyer might have broken the item just to get a refund

I just want to clarify that in this situation I have no other choice but to refund when the item is received back. Unfortunately I did not video the item working but will do so going forward.

kaMelo

You could try to fight it but you will end up in the same position, refund upon return of the item.

ebay have no idea who is telling the truth so their remedy is to return both of you to where you were before the sale took place, you have the item and the buyer has their money back. Even with video evidence of it working wouldn't change the outcome, you have a video of an item working but ebay doesn't know if that was the item you sent.

Hopefully your buyer is genuine and you'll receive "your" item back rather than their broken one that they have now replaced with yours.

timdiecast

I think you've done the right thing in asking them to open a case with eBay- if they are a serial returner it will be flagged with eBay, or it may just put them off and they won't bother returning it.

They may have just had a change of mind but don't want to pay the return postage and you'll receive your fully working item back.

Jemma01

Buyers can always change their mind and return items, you can only hope they didn't damage the item. It's less about protecting yourself if they're exercising their right to return.

rollingmoon

Chances are the buyer owns the same item and will send their duff one back in place of yours. Or they swapped the internals into said duff one and will return yours. Or, as you say, they've got buyer's remorse and broken it to get a refund. There's any number of ways you can be scammed here, and eBay will always side with the buyer. It's just one of the things you have to accept when you sell on this platform, unfortunately.

Also, if it's any consolation filming it wouldn't have helped - all that shows is that the item was working when you made the video.

Ms_Chocaholic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165538#Comment_82165538

This isn't true for sales on personal (rather than business) accounts. Buyers CANNOT always change their mind and return items unless not as described unless returns are accepted by the personal sellers account/on the listing.

Pollycat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165714#Comment_82165714

Correct.

My private account is set up to not allow change of mind returns and I've successfully refused several requests for return.

kaMelo

Whilst that is true, that as a private seller you are not compelled to offer refunds for change of mind, it doesn't prevent someone returning an item. All a buyer has to do is state the item is not as described, or worse broken (and they broke it) and ebay will force the refund on return.

There is absolutely no way to prevent a determined buyer getting a refund if they want one..It's far easier to accept the returns as at least you might get your item back undamaged.

My private account is set up to not allow change of mind returns and I've successfully refused several requests for return.

You have been incredibly lucky to have only had honest buyers.

Pollycat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82166412#Comment_82166412

My descriptions and photos are very precise, including tape measurements and photos of size label - I mainly sell clothes and shoes.

So it's hard to complain that a M&S skirt is 'broken'.

snowstormcat

Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply. I'll just have to accept it as one of those things selling on ebay.

Exodi

snowstormcat

I understand that the item could have stopped working between despatch and receiving by the buyer (unlikely) and feel the buyer might have broken the item just to get a refund

You will be biased in this situation, it's also unlikely for a normal buyer to buy an item, to break it to get a refund.

The only reason a bad actor might do this is either because they have the same (broken) item and they intend to swap it for your working one, or they had a change of mind, you are a private seller with 'no returns accepted' and they've made the absolute scumbag decision to deliberately break it to return it as faulty.

I've never dealt with either in a personal capacity, but I have encountered many questionable returns selling commercially (while we accept returns, we require the customer to return at their cost for change of mind, which occasionally leads to exotic tales to prompt a fault/INAD based return at our expense). Some customers have no shame - contacting us to inform they'd like to return as they've changed their mind or they received another for their birthday or something, we inform the return shipping would be at their cost, and then we are consequently suddenly advised that the item is actually faulty…

kaMelo

There is absolutely no way to prevent a determined buyer getting a refund if they want one..It's far easier to accept the returns as at least you might get your item back undamaged.

Agreed, if there is a will to return an item, they will find a way - some will even resort to damaging the item (though I expect most aren't so evil and will instead just be pedantic about the listing details or fabricate issues).

Pollycat

My descriptions and photos are very precise, including tape measurements and photos of size label - I mainly sell clothes and shoes.

So it's hard to complain that a M&S skirt is 'broken'.

I think you may have just been lucky. I've read threads on the Vinted subreddit (granted it's not eBay but the customers are still humans of Earth) where buyers will just use AI to generate pictures of stains or tears. If they're really evil/determined, they may actually take a pair of scissors to it.

Unfortunately, you having photos of it without the damage doesn't conclusively prove that that is what the buyer received. Obviously I could take pictures of a working phone I have and then send a damaged one. I don't have the answer to this, usually everyone ends up at suggesting a very long video where you record all angles of the item, it being packaged, sealed, labelled, taken to the post office and handed over without any cuts. Of course I'm sure some could still suggest after the video ends you could just ask the post office worker for the parcel back. Some might even conclude that going to all that effort could be considered suspicious if there is an issue. I think online marketplaces and customers just have to work on the basis that most people are honest.

Through my business, we sell a significant amount of volume through Amazon, and I see a lot of occassions where customers have swapped their old-damaged item with the new one via the return process. I also see people returning things as faulty with free returns for stupid reasons (e.g. a skirt returned as faulty because it came with no batteries…).

I think you may be a tad naïve if you believe you are immune from returns from bad actors. Granted, the rates are probably much lower for clothes and shoes compared to electronics for example.