Buyer says items missing from parcel which were definitly in ther What protection does a seller have

[mimmimlovesdolls]

A box of dolls & accessories.  Original baby born items and some none original. All the original baby born stuff has gone.. so she says.  We have had communication but now she is asking to return. I know the buyer is lying . Do sellers have some sort of protection about this sort of behaviour.or do I just cave. 

[designers*n*more]

Another point, if you don’t accept the return and eBay steps in, you won’t get your sellers back.

[springyzone · Accepted solution]

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@mimmimlovesdolls wrote:

well I have 2 options Have her send it back and pay post  and be out of pocket for items, post & return post.   or offer a partial refund.. less out of pocekt I guess. The money isn't really the issue to me it's the principle and her getting away with it. Want to make it harder for her.

If I got her to returrn can I still  open an appeal. I mean the request just says items missing . if I offer  partial refund can I still open an appeal.  Whatever I do I am expecting neg feedback anyway.. I want to leave her negative too but wonder if in my best interest. I am acting out of emotion right now... VERY angry & frustrated that people get away with things.

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I understand how absolutely infuriating this can be as we had (many years ago) a somewhat similar claim made-not items missing but item with faults, which it definitely did not have & no photos supplied. You feel as if you are in a hopeless situation & basically, you are.

You don't want this scammer to get away with the item plus a full refund though. That has to be your goal, to stop that. Itv is what could happen if you ignore the ebay claim.

So you have to go for either offering a return where you pay for postage or a partial refund.

If you go with offering a return, yes you will have to issue her a postage return label.

If the weight of that parcel is significantly below that of the parcel you sent (and you have proof of that) then you would probably be able to appeal to ebay, though whether you'd get far I do not know. I suspect the buyer would still get a refund although ebay may do it out of their own coffers if you case was strong enough. Don't count on it though.

You could offer a partial refund, which the buyer may or may not accept. If she knocked it back, I would not haggle, especially if she was trying to get you to offer more, just go for a full refund on return. If she did accept a partia; refund, I don't think you would be able to appeal, though I could be wrong on that. You'd have to have some sort of proof she was lying or in the wrong & I can't see that you have that as yet.

As for feedback, don't go there. 

She may give you a neg. You have sold a lot and you have a 100% rating. If she says something negative, just give a calm reply. Make no aspersions. Just something to the effect that all items listed in the ad were properly accounted for, packed and sent. There were none missing. Let other buyers read between the lines.

[domino-710]

Springy - this situation is totally a rock and a hard place.

The buyer may end up with the items and the refund.

Simples - send back an old pair of shoes - or whatever - seller cannot prove a thing.

[springyzone]

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@domino-710 wrote:

Springy - this situation is totally a rock and a hard place.

The buyer may end up with the items and the refund.

Simples - send back an old pair of shoes - or whatever - seller cannot prove a thing.

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Yes, it is a risk.

I guess the most cost effective way is to offer a partial refund. That way, as seller, you wouldn't be out another lot of postage and you'd get to keep at least a portion of the money. Infuriating when you know you're being scammed, but the bottom line is about minimising loss if you can.

I don't know if the buyer will accept a partial refund or not. The post says she is asking for a return. Maybe she doesn't know about partial refunds.

If she insists on a return, I think ebay would side with her and mimmim wouldn't have much choice except to issue a return postage label.

If the buyer did send back something like shoes or anything that wasn't from the original ad though, I'd be taking photos and reporting it to ebay. I don't know how far the seller would get by doing that, but at least it would be on record.

I am getting the impression the buyer may have just been after the baby Born stuff though so she would probably just send the other items back & consider that enough of a win-the Baby Born items plus a full refund.

As you say, the seller is between a rock and a hard place. I really hate scammers.

[mimmimlovesdolls]

This is the way I went and sent partial refund and she accpeted. I did file an abusive buyer reprt afterwards  Don't know if it will get me anywhere but she will be on record. 

[springyzone]

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@mimmimlovesdolls wrote:

This is the way I went and sent partial refund and she accpeted. I did file an abusive buyer reprt afterwards  Don't know if it will get me anywhere but she will be on record. 

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Well handled. You've lost out but at least you didn't lose all of it.

I hope you've blocked her, you can do without her custom in future, that's for sure!

[pnc75]

It's s pity there isn't a way you can let us all know her ID so that we can all block her 😞