eBay

rhumba1210 · ‎28-11-2017

Refund request from France. Shoes were perfect new old stock when I sent but buyer tore soles off, claimed they were damaged in transit. Impossible as they were in original box.

i unwittingly accepted return while looking at request on iPhone app, very easy to make this mistake I am to,d by eBay rep, but anyway I now have to issue refund AND return postage

any advice how to deal with this?

very much out of pocket and shoes have soles torn off. My photos show Condition when sent.

eBay sides with buyer so it seems

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎29-11-2017

there have been threads about New Old Stock shoes/boots before.

It seems that NOS shoes can look perfect but fail very quickly. Just how old were the shoes you sold?

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/Sellers-shoes-fell-apart-Can-you-leave-negative-feedback-whi...

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/A-Warning-to-buyers-of-Steel-Blue-Work-Boots/m-p/342387/high...

These are old threads so please do not post replies on them.

springyzone · ‎29-11-2017

@rhumba1210 wrote:
Refund request from France. Shoes were perfect new old stock when I sent but buyer tore soles off, claimed they were damaged in transit. Impossible as they were in original box.
i unwittingly accepted return while looking at request on iPhone app, very easy to make this mistake I am to,d by eBay rep, but anyway I now have to issue refund AND return postage
any advice how to deal with this?
very much out of pocket and shoes have soles torn off. My photos show Condition when sent.
eBay sides with buyer so it seems

Although the shoes had never been worn, it is perfectly possible the materials in the shoe had deteriorated and the sole peeled off on first wear.

I have my doubts it happened in transit unless they were in extreme heat conditions, then it could be so.

But I have a friend who sold unworn boots a while back. Genuine new old stock, great brand etc, looked perfect. Only to get a message that the whole sole had peeled away on first wear. She was like you, full of doubts, claimed she had the photos to show what they were like when she sold them. No argument there, they looked perfect but obviously the glues had perished or deteriorated over time.

If the soles came off the shoes you sent, something was wrong. I am not sure I could just peel the soles off any of my normal shoes.

You can relax i think in that refunding was the right choice. You haven't been cheated.

rhumba1210 · ‎29-11-2017

OK, thanks for those thoughts. Just to add to the situation, I should also clarify that I had bought these from a USA seller on eBay but didn’t see any faults. Only sold on as they didn’t fit me well. I mentioned to eBay rep and was told I can’t claim against my seller as I have listed same to resell.

So I should have pulled the soles to make sure they were ok?!

kopenhagen5 · ‎29-11-2017

As said it is not uncommon for NOS shoes to have the glue dry up and the soles come off as soon as they are worn.

davewil1964 · ‎29-11-2017

@rhumba1210 wrote:
Refund request from France. Shoes were perfect new old stock when I sent but buyer tore soles off, claimed they were damaged in transit. Impossible as they were in original box.
i unwittingly accepted return while looking at request on iPhone app, very easy to make this mistake I am to,d by eBay rep, but anyway I now have to issue refund AND return postage
any advice how to deal with this?
very much out of pocket and shoes have soles torn off. My photos show Condition when sent.
eBay sides with buyer so it seems

If the shoes are unwearable, there is no point paying to get them back. Just issue the refund and tell the buyer to chuck them in the bin.

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎29-11-2017

@rhumba1210 wrote:
OK, thanks for those thoughts. Just to add to the situation, I should also clarify that I had bought these from a USA seller on eBay but didn’t see any faults. Only sold on as they didn’t fit me well. I mentioned to eBay rep and was told I can’t claim against my seller as I have listed same to resell.
So I should have pulled the soles to make sure they were ok?!

perfectly understandable that you can not now make a claim against the seller you sourced the shoes from.

As for pulling on the soles before listing . . . . . that is up to you. I think that the only way you can try to cover yourself against future claims on shoe sales is to add a statement in shoe listings to the effect that “Shoes age with time. Some shoes will look perfect but deteriorate very quickly once worn, including New Old Stock items. As such, these shoes are being sold AS IS with no returns offered” and make sure your shoe listings have a “no returns” policy. It won’t shield you from negative feedbacks and may affect auction prices as some people might decide to not bid, and Buy-Now listings may sit awhile before selling, but I suppose it is one of the pitfalls of selling a product that can deteriorate with age.

I would ask your buyer to send through photos of the damaged shoes. If they are damaged, I would refund without requiring return as this will save you the return postage on shoes that are no longer saleable. It will cost you, but if they are damaged I can’t see that you have a choice as eBay will side with the buyer.

rhumba1210 · ‎29-11-2017

Thanks for these responses.

the other big problem here is that eBay.au fob the seller off to another country in this France. I receive correspondence in French language and there is no facility to reply or enter in to any dialogue whatsoever.

it is actually quite an impossible situation to reach any resolution,

eBay au take all the commissions and yet no support or help for the seller that pays them

IMHO

k1ooo-slr-sales · ‎29-11-2017

rhumba1210 wrote:

Thanks for these responses.

the other big problem here is that eBay.au fob the seller off to another country in this France. I receive correspondence in French language and there is no facility to reply or enter in to any dialogue whatsoever.

copy any French text into this google translate site and you will be able to read it

https://translate.google.com.au/?hl=en&tab=TT

That page will also let you translate English text into French. Here is this post of mine translated into French ready for a cut and paste into the text boxes of messages or return claims.

*tippy*toes* · ‎29-11-2017

You won't receive any resolution. EBay will always side with the buyer. You now have 3 choices.

1. Refund the buyer and tell them to throw the shoes out.

2. Tell them to return them at your expense and then refund.

3. Wait for them, to open a formal dispute, you ignore it, eBay force a refund without return, you get a violation defect against your account.

I this situation, number 1 is the best scenario and also the cheapest for you. You can't win this, so pointless even trying. Sorry.