INAD - four months after sale.

[egglesdtp]

I received an email from Paypal two days ago which stated that:

"A buyer has sent you a message regarding the payment that was made to you on 16 July 2020. The buyer indicated that the item received is different from your original description. Please respond to your buyer to resolve this before 12 December 2020.

The buyer has also requested a refund of $27.20 AUD. If you agree to this request, the case will be closed once the refund has been processed".

The ebay ID of the buyer was not provided, nor was there any indication of the item purchased, and it took a little bit of detective work to asscertain what item was involved. My Paypal records didn't go back that far, and it was only because I keep a copy of the order details was I able to find out what the item was - a fairly simple electric can opener.

In the Paypal email, the buyer wrote: "it was meant to be a new item but after i bought and paid for it the seller told me she couldnt "confirm it even worked" and upon trying it myself it is in fact not working at all. completely useless and if i knew before buying it there was doubts on it working i would never have paid a premium for the product or even bought it at all".

I sent an email to the buyer the day the item was sent that stated "I tried to test the can opener before posting, but discovered it doesn't work with cans that have a ring pull (I think because they must be of thicker material). And I didn't have any cans without a ring pull to test it on. However, the motor certainly worked so I hope you have success with opening cans. Thank you for your purchase".

I would expect that the buyer upon receiving the item would test it on the type of can he wished to open. If it didn't work, then would expect him to request a return. But not four months later.

On receiving the PP email, I replied to the buyer: "Can I ask why it has taken 4 months to decide it 'doesn't work'? Have you actually used it in that time?" I have not had a reply two days later.

My concern is that he has successfully used the opener for several months, and now has decided it 'doesn't work', otherwise why wait so long to submit a INAD?

What should I do? Roll over and just refund his payment, which really just allows an unscrupulous buyer the opportunity to claim something was INAD without any proof. Should I request return of the item before refunding?

[davewil1964]

I would request a return. Paypal is far less buyer-centric than eBay and should require the return before deciding the case.

[digital*ghost]

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@egglesdtp wrote:

What should I do? Roll over and just refund his payment, which really just allows an unscrupulous buyer the opportunity to claim something was INAD without any proof. Should I request return of the item before refunding?

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If you accept a return, you are accepting the buyer's claim.

If you want to dispute the buyer's claim, you have to contest what they are saying. Without being in possession of the can opener, the only way you can do this is to point out to PayPal the can opener was received 4 months ago, and that the buyer had full knowledge the can opener did not function on certain types of cans. Did they leave you feedback? If so, does it say anything about it working?

If you dispute the claim, PayPal will decide the outcome. If the decide in your facour, the case gets closed and nothing further needs to happen. If they decide in the buyer's favour, they will require the item to be returned, via a tracked method, but will grant a refund once it's made its way back to you (they may require return postage to be paid for by you - they changed the policy on this a few months back). 

[egglesdtp]

The problem here is that return postage cost (which I would presumably have to pay) was more than the value of the item. I undercharged postage cost by 3.50, which I wore, but not sure if it is worth paying again, especially if the item actually no longer works.

[egglesdtp]

DG - I cannot find any feedback from this buyer, so presumably he didn't leave any.

I think I will dispute the claim,. on the basis that (1) the buyer was advised it didn't work on cetain types of cans immediately after the sale and before posting the item and (2) knowing this, why didn't he test it on the type of can he wanted to open (which wouldn't be a ring pull one anyway - why would you need a can opener if it had a ring pull?) once he had received it, and (3) why wait four months before submitting a claim?

[designers*n*more]

PayPal, unlike eBay will require the buyer to pay the return postage (they can then claim it back from PayPal)

[egglesdtp]

A couple of emails have been exchanged since I last posted. In the first, the buyer accused me of lying (about what, I am not sure) and then 'ripping off disabled people'. As you can imagine, this went over well, but I remained polite and re-asked why he had waited four months before opening a case. Full marks for imagination as this was his reply (with no preamble at all, so it took me a little while to realise what his rreply was referring to).

lol the slant eye sneeze was already going off in melbourne where i believe you live? no i quarantined that until i needed it knowing i had months to test it without risking wuflu in my state. i only opened it the day i first needed it just to make sure if there was any virus particles in it they would be long gone before i ever subjected myself to this killer virus. i literally sprayed the outside of the package down with antiviral spray and put it on my shelf until i needed to use it so i didnt catch the globalist disease that your state needed to lock you down for months over. i only opened the pack when i had a can i wanted to open without a ring pull are you even european? do you just think you can enslave people?

That reply was enough for me to just bite the bullet and refund his money.

[sandypebbles]

What a delightful little nut job

I hope you put them on your blocked bidders list so they can't pull the same stunt with you again

Are you able to report the message and buyer to eBay ?

I can't imagine you are the only seller they have pulled similar garbage on

[curraone]

wow, don't forget to block him.

[egglesdtp]

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@sandypebbles wrote:

What a delightful little nut job

I hope you put them on your blocked bidders list so they can't pull the same stunt with you again

Are you able to report the message and buyer to eBay ?

I can't imagine you are the only seller they have pulled similar garbage on

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The entire email exchange took place via Paypal, so I doubt ebay would be interested. In any case, there no longer seems to be any point.

Because there is no record that I can find of the sale, I am not able ro check his feedback. Probably there is a way via other means as I know his ebay ID, but I really can't be bothered and just want to forget the whole business.