Problem with a buyer

[rebecca9911]

Hi All,

I sold a dress, was worn 4 times - and immaculate. I bubble wrapped an packed. The buyer received it and is requesting a refund as states the dress has a pull in it which it did not. The buyer buys expensive dressers (like mine) at a cheap price, and clearly onsells them. It appears to me that she did not like the dress and now is saying their is a fault, and would like a refund.. however, it was perfect when it left. I doubt Australia Post would have damaged it, as it was bubble wrapped.. I dont want to get into a tiff with a buyer, but I dont want to risk my 100% feedback over a sale of $36! Can anyone recommend what to do?

[jellybirddesigns]

Please check buyer feedback before sending anything as a protection for yourself and personally, I wouldn't have dealt with any buyer who had to be reminded to pay time and time again.

Actually, now that we have that additional info - what this sounds like is a buyer who realised she would get an unpaid item strike on her account if she didn't pay up, so she did, but now the return request is just a way for her recover her costs as she had changed her mind back when she was bidding on the dress originally. This way she doesn't get a defect.

Tell her you cannot assess any claim until you have a proper photo. Also, you can advise her that if the item arrives back in perfect condition, then it will be considered a change of mind situation and you will only refund the item prices less all the postage costs.

[springyzone]

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@jellybirddesigns wrote:

Please check buyer feedback before sending anything as a protection for yourself and personally, I wouldn't have dealt with any buyer who had to be reminded to pay time and time again.

Actually, now that we have that additional info - what this sounds like is a buyer who realised she would get an unpaid item strike on her account if she didn't pay up, so she did, but now the return request is just a way for her recover her costs as she had changed her mind back when she was bidding on the dress originally. This way she doesn't get a defect.

Tell her you cannot assess any claim until you have a proper photo. Also, you can advise her that if the item arrives back in perfect condition, then it will be considered a change of mind situation and you will only refund the item prices less all the postage costs.

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I agree with everything you've said in the highlighted red bit.

This is a woman who doesn't seem to have been overly keen to get the dress after she bid and would now like a refund. It may even be that she has caused a pull somewhere on it and she has thought to herself that she wasn't sure if she wanted it that much anyway and now this is an easy way to get her money back.

I am not sure I would write the bit in purple though. Best case scenario would be to get the frock back undamaged. I suspect the seller is going to have to pay out for return postage anyway & make a full refund. Ebay will probably go along with that.

If the buyer is warned beforehand that if she returns a perfect item it won't get the full refund, or that the seller will make waves and contest it, she will just make darned sure there is a catch in it before she returns it.

[sugar249]

We are of course all making the assumption that the seller didnt miss the pull, or they didnt accidently do it while packing the dress.

Not saying thats what happened,  but don't just take all that is said on a forum as it is

[kopenhagen5]

The winning bidder also bid on 4 other dresses and all within 1 hr of ending.

And not paying for it for some time suggests to me it was an impulse purchase later not wanted.

Stay professional, not assuming and follow the suggestions.

[springyzone]

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@sugar249 wrote:

We are of course all making the assumption that the seller didnt miss the pull, or they didnt accidently do it while packing the dress.

Not saying thats what happened,  but don't just take all that is said on a forum as it is

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Of course you're right. It is just the combination of a buyer having to be prodded and prodded to pay then having them find an excuse for a refund that the seller is reasonably sure was not present is suspicious.

However, ebay has to take the stance you mentioned and that is to acknowledge they don't know either party or where the truth lies so they are likely to give the benefit of the doubt to the buyer.

So the seller may as well accept the return and hope the item isn't too badly damaged.

[springyzone]

By way of  PS. Rebecca, I do feel your pain as my sister & I were once in a similar situation, where an item we knew was in great condition was sold to a buyer who grouched about postage (she was an international buyer and told us she was shocked she had to pay more than $10 for a handbag to be posted). Then she claimed a fault but wasn't able to show any photos. Demanded a part refund. This was also a buyer who tended to buy a lot of vintage bags for (we suspected) onselling.

At first we were determined not to put up with being what we saw as cheated but after we cooled down, we decided that much as it went against the grain, to take the path of least financial loss. For us, that consisted of making a partial refund rather than paying to get the whole thing back or even worse, have ebay refund, perhaps before the bag was even returned.

You're probably going to be best to keep it cool and professional and just tell this woman that of course if she wants to return it she can for a full refund (with you providing a postage label) or would she prefer a partial refund (to make up for the fault) and to keep the frock.

I think she'll probably still go for the return but you never know unless you ask.