Buyer claiming a return request because the free item was damaged!

[collectibles_in_canberra]

Sold 2 Royal Albert trios for $30 each  - I noticed one saucer was damaged before I packed them & emailed the buyer right away.

I issued a full refund but she still wanted to buy the undamaged trio - sold it to her for $25 & included the damaged set for free as the cup & plate were still good.

She received on the 24th December - yesterday I get a return request because  "one trio is totally damaged but the other is fine".

So apparently you can now claim for items that were for free & didn't cost you anything.

[collectibles_in_canberra]

I've finished all communications with her now.

I cannot get Ebay to "Help" until the 15th which is the refund due date.

Even Ebay can't mucked this one up & decide a refund must be issued - can they?

[tall_bearded01]

Here is how I would handle the dispute.

Very calmly and without making any accusations simply advise the buyer, in writing, that as far as you are concerned you have completed all aspects of the transaction and as such no refund will be given and no further correspondence will be entered into. At the same time prepare a draft Stat Dec giving specific details as to the chronology of what happened.  Also make sure in the stat Dec you state the actual items sold (not gifted) was undamaged when packed and nothing happened to it (dropped etc.) between the time it was packed and handed to the carrier (Aunt Post).

Now if the buyer puts I a claim, and it really doesn’t matter if it by way of PayPal Buyer Protection or the eBay Money Back Guarantee, as the process is the same for both –

1. Get the Stat Dec signed and witnessed.
2. Email PayPal providing a copy of the stat Dec and telling them that, as this appears to be an attempted internet fraud, you revoke all previous consents in connection with this transaction which allows the buyer and/or eBay to deduct monies from your account.
3. If the buyer lodges a dispute through eBay, vide the dispute process, provide them with a copy of the Stat Dec, and -
4. Advise them that, as this appears to have all the hallmarks of interest fraud, should they find for the buyer you will lodge a police complaint during the course of which they will be required justify the rationale behind their decision; and
5. Remind them that in any event, as the assertion is the goods arrived broken, and as the Stat Dec is PROOF it wasn’t broken before it was handed to the carrier, this claim falls outside of the provisions of the Money Back Guarantee: Not Covered – items damaged during postage.

[polly.the.cat]

c_q "me thinks Buyer (scammer) needs a trip down the mekong." me thinks !!!!!

[springyzone]

You know, there's a lesson here.

Unfortunately it seems you should be careful sending a freebie along with a paid for item. I'm wondering if she could use photos of the damaged item with ebay and claim that was the 'good' cup. Is there any proof she actually received 2 sets and not just the one she paid for?

I suppose you have your messages as evidence but all the same, the woman could take photos from various angles and still claim they were of 2 separate cups if the pattern is the same on both.

She's a nasty piece of works who smells a bit of a discount possibly coming her way. Don't give in to her, fight it out with ebay if you have to.

We once discovered a small defect in a doiley we sold, refunded the money to the buyer but sent the doiley anyway and ended up with glowing feedback saying we were the most honest sellers on ebay etc, so some buyers are really nice, you have just been unlucky and struck a dud.

[tall_bearded01]

“Is there any proof she actually received 2 sets and not just the one she paid for?”

The proof is the Stat Dec.  That is as it is a document whose contents has been sworn under oath, both eBay and PayPal must accept as a true account as to what happened unless they have “proof the contrary”.

[collectibles_in_canberra]

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@tall_bearded01 wrote:

“Is there any proof she actually received 2 sets and not just the one she paid for?”

The proof is the Stat Dec.  That is as it is a document whose contents has been sworn under oath, both eBay and PayPal must accept as a true account as to what happened unless they have “proof the contrary”.

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She actually put in her return claim that she received 2 sets, one damaged & one fine.

I'm beginning to think that she thought Ebay would refund her.

If you read Ebays return speil (that they have plastered everywhere) it states that Ebay can refund the buyer.

Some buyers think Ebay will refund & that the sellers are not involved in the process.

[phorum_junkie*]

I would send one last email saying that you have her email where she states that the set she paid for arrived undamaged and should she not desist immediately trying to extort money from you unfortunately you will have no option but to report her to the on line auction fraud police site for trying to obtain goods by deception.

[tall_bearded01]

Actually the buyer’s expectation is correct.

The Money Back Guarantee is written is such a way that it is eBay, and not the seller who is underwriting (insuring) the buyers risk, and just like any other insurer they have to pay up irrespective of whether a right to recover exists.

However, like any other insurer, having paid the claim, they may have a right to recover the cost of the claim against a third party, but only if such right exists.

Now, any decision eBay makes doesn’t fall within the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), but every decision that PayPal makes does. So the trick is to get eBay’s decision before the FOS by putting PayPal into a position where they (PayPal) are required to make a decision in support of eBay.

Works like this.

Buyer put in claim under the Guarantee for ‘item not received”, but seller can prove postage.

Seller responds to claim by providing eBay with proof of postage.  Seller also sends an email to PayPal revoking all prior consents in connection with this transaction the grounds that eBay has been provided with sufficient proof to prove postage, therefore no right to recover exists.

If eBay find for the buyer and request access to the frozen funds, and PayPal give them to them, then they PayPal has made a decision that postage hasnt been proved, and the seller can lodge a dispute against that decision with the FOS.