@donnao6703 wrote:
My inital message to her was to let her know about the damage and provide photo's. I said that either I could send the item back for a full refund or she could refund me $40 and keep the other $20 so she doesn't completely lose out. I thought that was fair, she doesn't.
The seller will be forced to refund the full amount of the original payment if you win a dispute (and you're more than likely to, despite what you might have read to the contrary), so technically the seller would actually be financially better off to at least provide a partial refund than allow it to get to the dispute stage, presuming they don't have specific reasons for preferring alternatives (many sellers will not provide a refund unless the item is returned first, which is their perogative and as GC says, most good sellers will reimburse all costs to the buyer, but there is nothing to oblige them to refund return P&H costs).
If the seller provides a full refund, then the postage becomes their out of pocket expense because you haven't paid for it anymore, so I think that's what the seller meant by her being out postage costs if she refunds (not that that makes it all ok, just attempting to clarify where she might be coming from).
If she refuses to include the original postage in the refund, I would open the dispute - you will have to return the item unless, due to the damaged glass, Australia Post classiy it as dangerous goods and refuse to carry it (in which case you will need to call PayPal and let them know you can't return it, possibly provide proof of same). But the way I figure it - accept $30 and be out $20, or pay (hopefully less than $20) the return postage and be out the cost of that. (In other words, it's likely returning will minimise your loss if it's less than $20, and maybe having to refund you in full will help the seller realise she had an opportunity for a better, relatively mutually beneficial resolution - and definitely a faster one that is unlikely to result in a defect recorded on her account. >_> )
