Buyer wants a refund after 6 months!!!

[taskiwi]

I don't sell very often but have just listed a few items.  Then I get an email (question on current listing) from a buyer who wants me to refund on an item  bought in July as they basically don't like it now. I'm gobsmacked.   Where do I stand? If I took it back now I presume I wouldn't get a refund of FVF and PP fees (about $45).

[i-love-my-sheep]

Tell them to go jump. The time for refund on that item is looooong passed. Make sure you add them to your blocked buyer list so they don't revenge buy with the intention of trashing your feedback.

My guess is they've seen the new 180 day return thing, not realising that it started in November.

[harley_babes_hoard]

like ILMS said tell em to go jump add their ID to your blocked list just in case.

[character_parties_aus]

I wouldn't even give them the courtesy of a reply.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I'd still add them to the BBL though.

[taskiwi]

So a buyer can ask for a refund after 6 months now from November?   Thats ridiculous - they could use and damage an item for 6 months and totally devalue it.  What sort of conditions does this refund have attached ie  how can they get it? 

[saarzi]

Welcome to Australian Consumer Law 101 (because Im awesome) -

There is no time limits for rrefunds for any sellers, online or otherwise. What the statue says is circumstances around the refund, from both sides, must be "reasonsable".

Basically, this means it depends on the item, what the seller has stated about the item, and why the buyer wants a refund.

Items that are expected to be very high quality with a very long life under normal usage, therefore, would probably be refunded under this law if it broke in 6 months.

Anything remotely like change of mind, or if the item is obivously short life / degradable etc.... would not.

On a side note: Warranties mean nothing in Australia, because Australian Law actually already covers you for longer than the warranty usually states - its illegal for them not to accept a refund after the warranty expires if it is "reasonable".  Therefore, extended warranties are also a pure sales pitch to make money, and rather pointless.

Sooooo... what was the item and what did your description say?

[imastawka]

Interesting reading here

 http://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/news/money-back-details

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

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@taskiwi wrote:

So a buyer can ask for a refund after 6 months now from November?   Thats ridiculous - they could use and damage an item for 6 months and totally devalue it.  What sort of conditions does this refund have attached ie  how can they get it? 

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They can open a PayPal dispute for item not received or item not as described for up to 180 days from the date of payment - for item not as described, however, it is only applicable to the item in its received state. If a buyer opened a dispute and you have documentation showing the buyer has had an item for 5 months, I suspect it would be difficult for the buyer to win a not as described case. 

With your current buyer... Good grief.  PayPal wouldn't cover them even if they could open a dispute (not liking something anymore doesn't count as "not described" ). You have no obligation to give the buyer anything at all in this circumstance.

If I was going to reply to them, I would suggest that they recoup their money by doing what lots of other people do when they buy something and - sometime later - no longer want or need it. List it on eBay. 

[digital*ghost]

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@gtx305 wrote:

Sooooo... what was the item and what did your description say?

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If the OP's interpretation of the buyer's reason for requesting a refund is accurate ("don't like it now"), it would amount to change of mind.