Buyer Making False Claim

[toman_1447]

I recently sold an item that was listed with a photograph and a description.

The buyer requested a refund as the item did not match another item in her possession - so essentially a change of mind.

I declined, referred to my returns policy as well as the ebay info regarding 'change of mind' refunds.

She then opened an 'item is faulty' case against me to try and force a refund. 

I have a record of her messages (including her abuse towards me) where she makes it clear that the item is not faulty, and that her issue is that the colour does not match her own item. 

My question is will any of this be included as evidence when ebay review this? 

Any tips on how to protect my rights as a seller here? It seems ridiculous that ebay can refer to Australian consumer law in their T&Cs and not actually abide by it.

TIA.

[*tippy*toes*]

Consumer Law is only applicable to registed businesses. It doens't apply to "casual" buyers and sellers.

Unfortunately, there is little you can do. Even with the messages you have. She will win the dispute as soon as she escalates it to a claim. 99.9% of the time, eBay will side with the buyer and take their word as gospel. Even when you provide evidence that they are lying.

The best thing you can do is accept the return, otherwise, you will lose both the item, and the money. When she wins the dispute, you will get a defect against your account, if you don't refund before.

Have you checked their feedback left for others? That can sometimes indicate if a buyer has a habit of getting refunds. Chances are the neg she gave you will send your account into below standard, meaning you will struggle to be able to list anything.

[repentatleisure1952]

Hi tippy,

I am sure that feedback has no bearing on a seller being "below standard"

Happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

[kopenhagen5]

I would get her to return it even if it means emailing a postage label through the case.

That way it's a hassle to go to the post office and she will need to wait around 2 weeks for the refund as well as stopping a scam if that is what she is trying to do.

Don't ask eBay to help, it will close in her favour with no return of item.

[kopenhagen5]

---

@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

Hi tippy,

I am sure that feedback has no bearing on a seller being "below standard"

Happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

---

Normall it probably doesn't but in this case with such low numbers this one neg has put the account at 66%.

[imastawka]

If you get the item back and decide to relist it, how about you state what colour it is.

Monitors differ greatly and I don't know if it's black or navy.

This might have been the buyers problem, but they should've asked before purchasing.

And more photos.  For that amount of money, I'd like to see inside the wallet.

[repentatleisure1952]

---

@kopenhagen5 wrote:

---

@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

Hi tippy,

I am sure that feedback has no bearing on a seller being "below standard"

Happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

---

Normall it probably doesn't but in this case with such low numbers this one neg has put the account at 66%.

---

Yeah I saw that kopes.

I still think it will not affect the OP's ability to list.

Of course should they not deal with the case then that will be a different matter.

[digital*ghost]

You have to get in touch with eBay - online chat is still available, so contact them ASAP and explain very clearly what happened. 

Yes, the dispute process favours the buyer, but when the seller can demonstrate to eBay an abuse of the request system as the buyer has clearly indicated it was a change of mind return, more often than not you will get a better outcome than if you just let the dispute play out (anecdotally, as in, all the sellers I know who have been in similar circumstances, had their cases closed in their favour when they could clearly show the buyer changed their mind through the messages they had sent the seller - admittedly these were all cases where the seller could contact eBay by phone, I don't know if chat support will handle things differently or not have the same authorities, but the key in every case is to take it to eBay directly with the evidence you have). 

The neg feedback won't affect your account standing with eBay at all. It probably won't look good at a glance if you list other items, but if I remember correctly, any feedback you get from purchases will up the score, and since it's such a new account, it probably wouldn't matter too much if you abandon it for a new one if you wanted to. 

[wide-world-of-stamps]

---

@imastawka wrote:

If you get the item back and decide to relist it, how about you state what colour it is.

Monitors differ greatly and I don't know if it's black or navy.

This might have been the buyers problem, but they should've asked before purchasing.

And more photos.  For that amount of money, I'd like to see inside the wallet.

---

Agreed.

And also ensure the photos are large enough so that a buyer can use the hover over magnification to see the details more clearly.

Ebay allows 12 photos per listing, so use as many as you can, especially for an item of that value.