Difficult purchaser

[dell1312]

I have sold five boxes of 6 lipsticks to a customer in UK. All new in cello. I have sold many of these without ONE negative feedback, all purchasers have been delighted but she says they are "out of date and looks not nice". I think the colours don't suit her. Now she is demanding refund on postage both ways (about $90). What does everyone think? Thanks in advance.

[digital*ghost]

AFAIK, lipstick doesn't exactly have an expiry date, though it will usually have a batch number indicating production date, and they can certainly go bad after a while or if not stored correctly. 

I always start out by asking the customer to help me confirm the exact nature of their concerns so that I can provide the most appropriate resolution for the circumstances, which most often means photos indicating clearly what the problem is, and/or a more detailed description of the fault ("looks not nice" could be interpreted as a matter of personal opinion, which would in turn put it down to change of mind, but if it doesn't look nice because the lipstick has gone bad, it's a completely different matter).

Once I had those details, I would then decide on the best solution to offer. If the lipsticks are indeed spoiled, I would probably just suck it up and refund without return, as I couldn't do anything with them if I paid for the return, anyway. If nothing in their images or details indicates the lipsticks have spoiled, then I would be more inclined to offer refund of item price only, when received back in exactly the same condition as sent (I accept change of mind returns, though. If you don't, then you would not be under any obligation to accept them back).

I'd maybe try to negotiate a partial refund if some are still fine and they are happy to keep them. 

[dell1312]

Thank you digital ghost.
I have a feeling that she doesn't like the colours, She has taken the cello off a second pack in identical colours and this will render them unsaleable ,there is absolutely nothing wrong with these lipsticks and her insinuation they are out of date is rubbish. I am all for customer satisfaction, I think my feedback attests to this, but don't feel like I should be held to ransom for a full refund plus registered post both wats $90) just because she doesn't apparently like the colours. She is pressing for me to agree on the full refund including postage before she sends them. Grr...some buyers!

[sueken4812]

She would not get a refund in a store for an item with the packaging opened.  And you shouldn't refund for a change of mind.  Save all her emails for the future, in the case the situation turns bad, and you can point them out to ebay customer service.

[clarry100]

Well... if she raises a PayPal case against you for "significantly not as described" then before she can get any refund PayPal will ask that she return the items to you by trackable means at her expense first.

The refund amount then is up to you, but you can deduct reasonable expense from the refund amount. e.g. the original postage fee, restock fee, maybe a fee because they have been opened (ie not in the orignal sealed packaging).

Sounds like she doesn't want to do that tho.

And if so, and she won't agree to any other offers unfortunately she may simply keep them and leave you a NEG.

But you do then have the opportunity to leave an explanatory comment on that NEG and then other prospective customers who may read it can get a sense of what happened.

I really don't think it would be too much of a problem for you. 1-NEG in over 1,000 is very good and as you say attests to your prior customer service and product quality.

Just my take on this one!

[2106greencat]

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@clarry100 wrote:

Well... if she raises a PayPal case against you for "significantly not as described" then before she can get any refund PayPal will ask that she return the items to you by trackable means at her expense first.

The refund amount then is up to you, but you can deduct reasonable expense from the refund amount. e.g. the original postage fee, restock fee, maybe a fee because they have been opened (ie not in the orignal sealed packaging).

Sounds like she doesn't want to do that tho.

And if so, and she won't agree to any other offers unfortunately she may simply keep them and leave you a NEG.

But you do then have the opportunity to leave an explanatory comment on that NEG and then other prospective customers who may read it can get a sense of what happened.

I really don't think it would be too much of a problem for you. 1-NEG in over 1,000 is very good and as you say attests to your prior customer service and product quality.

Just my take on this one!

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Not quite right - if the case is found in favour of the buyer, the full amount charged (including original postage if this was added as a charge) will be refunded by paypal. But you are correct, at least this way the buyer HAS to pay return, and she may not want to do that given the cost.

Do as advised and keep all correspondence, she isn't going to be happy one way or another by the sound of it.

[dell1312]

Thank you to all members who have posted here. I will take all of your advice into consideration and let you know the outcome
I greatly appreciate the time many of you have taken to answer my post. Kindest regards,Dell.