Buyer claims zipper broke when she tried it on!

[flaish2]

Hi everyone - I have sold heaps of things over the years on ebay but never really had major problems so am looking for some advice.

I sold a dress that was brand new with tags with no defects. It was in perfect condition. 

First of all, the item sold and 8 days later the buyer still had not paid so I contacted her asking when she would be making pyament. She said she had a family emergency and needed more time which i happily allowed her. She then paid 2 weeks later but requested I post the item immediately and via express post (which she had not paid for and was not in the listing) as she had to leave urgently for overseas. I agreed and did not ask her for the additional cost of postage.

The buyer contacted me on the day she received the item saying that when she pulled the zip down "it just broke". She attached a photo of it which shows the zip split and on the wrong side of the dress (I have attached the photo to this post). In my experience, this is something that only happens when force is placed on the zip such as trying to squeeze into a dress that is too small for you. I know the zip was working as I had tested it a few times before I listed it on ebay. 

I contacted ebay for advice and they told me to get the buyer to send the dress back, and refund her the cost of the dress and her postage she paid. She also wants me to pay her return postage. I do not believe this is fair in the slightest as I know the dress was fine when I sent it and with the proposed solution by ebay I lose a heap of money and end up with an item that is broken and not able to be sold. 

Do I have any other options???

[black*poppy]

I should have also added that I have been able to get zippers fixed in the past, some shoe repair places can do it.  So getting the dress back might not be a total loss.  Maybe.

[debonnairefashions]

She has to say the buyer broke the zipper when trying on when it comes to a dispute. If  dress arrived as described in the listing it should be in sellers favour.  If buyer damaged the dress after she received it, she is not entitled to a refund. Now, if the seller has stated in listing 'No Returns Accepted', she is not abliged to offer a refund. 

I received an email from eBay yesterday about a similar incident mentioned earlier in this post. (Return item sent back that is now damaged, not what I originally sent to buyer.) in the email it says what eBay classes as an 'Return Accepted' and 'What Is Not Accepted'. 

From what I have read in the email a return is an item not described in the listing. When a buyer wants to return a damaged item, that was not damaged in original listing, she is not entitled to a return. This sounds like 'Buyer Remorse', she had a change of mind and broke the zipper to get her money back. If there is a dispute with eBay and seller claims 'Buyer Remorse', eBay will see it in seller favour. 

My buyer who posted a damaged item back, after contacting her cannot refund for a damaged item. Later in the day she messaged via eBay to say post it back as she knew or was not aware she posted a return that was damaged. Sounds like not all buyers are honest. Seller should contact eBay again and say it is 'Buyer Remose' and that buyer damaged the dress after receiving it. This time eBay may have a different answer to the question.

[amber-eyed-girl]

The zip has split, but is there any tearing along the zip of the cloth? Does it look like she was stretching it to literally bursting? If there is a rip as well in the photo, then clearly the buyer was too big. If no rip, harder to say. Lightweight zippers can break if not strong enough for the material (if it's a heavy fabric). Zippers can be replaced, if an expensive dress with no signs of a rip get it back. The buyer can claim the return cost if they opt into Paypal's free returns service. They do need to register for it, on Paypal's site.

If the dress has been torn as well, and you have any photos of the same part of the dress intact before the buyer had it, you can argue the claim.

[designers*n*more]

Ooh I didn't know that. It's good to know!

Yeah it's a tricky one because it was received as described but the buyer broke the zip. If the seller was a business then yes they would possibly have to to refund but the seller is a private seller and therefore there is no warranty on manufacturing. It's like I guess if the item was a toy or object, and was broken by the purchaser you wouldn't have to refund, this is the same. The buyer broke the zip, it wasn't received with a broken zip. 

I guess you have to weigh up copping a neg and not refunding, or refunding and still you might cop a new.

its a tough one for the seller.

[designers*n*more]

The problem with that is, from what eBay have said to me, because they do not physically see the item that was sent they have no way of knowing whether the item that was sent was faulty or not and for this reason they take the buyers word. I contacted eBay about this type of thing happening and that was basically their response.

[black*poppy]

A big part will be what the buyer said in the messages. If the buyer actually stated 'that when she pulled the zip down "it just broke" '  then it was intact before she broke it. That's clear.  If it was broken when she opened the package she might have said "When I pulled the dress out of the package I saw that the zip was broken" or whatever.  The buyer broke it.  She may have used excessive force.  She may have broken it to get a free return.  It may actually be a faulty zip.  I don't think ebay can make judgements on any of these points but they can make a judgement on whether the zip was broken on delivery or not. - therefore as described in the listing.  That's what I would argue if I was disputing the return.

I don't know how much a neg is worth, but certainly I would happily cop one for $50+, or even less probably.  Saying that, if the buyer loses a case, then all subsequent negs are removed.