False Claim made by an International Buyer - Any Experience Against this? Help!

[cocoalliance]

We just got an " item received damaged" case open by a Canada buyer.

She purchased an enagement box from store ( very cheap compare to the oversea shipping cost), we handled it very carefully and kept some pics of the actual product we sent to her, and also plus a Signature Request On Delivery. The lady contacted us on the other day after she received it. She messaged us with a picture in dim light to demand a refund or at least partial refund for she saw some spots on the barcode label sticker.  We took the photo of the other box of same style in hands straight away to explain they were not marks or stain, they were just the glitter spots patters on the box, because some were covered by the barcode label and that's why there were some dark silouette of the spots pattern shown on the label. We also brightened and zoomed in the pic she upload to us to examine it, no stain no black mark, just the patten's silhouette. We also suggested her to peal it off, as it could be pealed off very easily. But the lady rejected, she claim hers looked different to the pic we sent, and she thought the box would be damaged or ruined if she try to peal it. Basically, only the refund will make her happy.  Did any seller handle such doggy buyer before? Just like searching bone in an egg and claim item faulty or damage on ebay?  We contact the Seller Help, they suggest to refund and request the buyer to return the product, but the point is the international shipping cost are much more than the item. This is so sick! Should we let the case open until ebay step in and we appeal ? We are going to close the Selling to Oversea after this, the economy enviroment is very bad, there will be more and more fishy buyer trying to gain freeby, international sales just make seller more vulnerable.

[domino-710]

I'd be calling B S on the buyer - one consider's one's purchases - especially given the cost of shipping these days.

If the only thing to be found was a barcode sticker covering a small portion of the glitter pattern (which actually shows through the sticker) on the box - something in the garden has an odour.

It has been shown to be removeable without damage.

[padi*0409]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

......................Can end with gentle sighing.

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Countess, no matter who's right or who's wrong - or partially so - in this saga, I fear that if the OP has been treating their buyer anything like they've been insinuating on this thread, then the OP is going to end up with a less than favorable feedback from the buyer.

OP, for goodness sake just let the buyer have the partial refund and have done with the whole situation.

Put it all down to a selling experience................and learn from it.

[oddsandendsoz]

I agree. I think this is why the seller is so upset, because the reasoning for a 'damaged item' claim is 'flimsy' at best. I think this is why some of the 'accusations' in this thread towards the seller are unjustified. The buyer certainly has some 'entitlement issues' if this is what they deem a legitimate claim. 

The other thing is which might be fuelling the seller stress is the state of the economy. Sales are hard to come by and it can really 'sting' when you get a sale and the buyer wants to return. It is not easy right now for many. 

[gutterpunkz05]

Unfortunately the world is full of injustices,  the  Op can push for return, but Oh! the angst when you are not happy with what you get back.

[oddsandendsoz]

It is, but I can understand the wanting to fight against it sometimes (if that is what the OP feels of course). Sometimes however, you HAVE to take a stand, in fact maybe it is our 'moral duty' to do so at times. Only the OP can know what is the best action for them. It started to help me in these situations when I recognised that I had made many sales with no issues, and as such, I had offset any losses or 'scammers' many times over. It doesn't make it right of course, but it buffers the stress. 

[cocoalliance]

Here is the end of the issue.

I accepted the refund and return request, and messaged the buyer to take it to her local post office in CAN to post it back and also required her PayPal address to refund the returning post cost. But I got no response from her. After a week or so, I got the message said the case was escalated and buyer asked eBay step in. We contacted eBay asap and explained we arranged the return for the buyer as soon as we accept the return and closed the case, we also questioned why the case was escalated when we’d done everything in the right way. They said the buyer contacted the customer service and they advised her to do it. Then, eBay suggested us to message the buyer again and ask for the PayPal address. We did it. She responded to the message and lying “ I had responded to your first message, I had explained I don’t have a PayPal account…”

We also suggested her to create PayPal account or it would be fine if she could offer bank account details we could do money transfer as well. She replied “ I won’t give you bank details and I am not going to open an PayPal account”.  

Maybe the buyer escalation the case cause she thought she would keep it for free. Now, eBay decided the buyer is responsible for returning the item, she needs to return it at her own cost. One hour or so after I got the eBay’s decision notice, we got the notification that the buyer close the case. 

[eol-products]

Good work,  always best to call the buyers bluff even if it may cost you. Most times buyers that are honest will work with you for an outcome. 

[springyzone]

I'm glad you got the result you did.

I am not sure the buyer was a liar as such when she said she had responded to your first message. I suspect what happened was she contacted ebay and explained to the ebay rep that she didn't have a paypal account & they then advised her to escalate the claim.

Now contacting ebay is not the same as contacting you, I know that, but maybe in her mind she feels she did respond to the message.

It isn't that hard to open a paypal account so her stubborness has backfired on her.

It is an interesting case though because (from what I have been told) sellers on managed payments don't actually see what method the buyer used to pay for an item. For a domestic sale, a seller can issue a postage label for a return but for international sales, other sellers are going to hit this same problem-because these days a lot of buyers won't hand over their bank account details.

[sugar249]

It's a pity another seller has being dodgy and gets to win the case.   Why should you have insisted on the buyer opening a Paypal account or providing their Bank account details.  I am unsure why Ebay sided with you.  You could have simply just refunded the amount equivalent to return [postage,  sounds like you were just trying to scam the buyer.  

[cocoalliance]

I got no idea what the world has done to you...