buyer lies about dress being damaged and wants full refund

[tradingcat888]

Hi guys

Sold a dress at the begining of Oct, which was delivered on 10th.

Then on the 25th, buyer opened a return request, saying the dress was ripped upon arrival, demanding either full refund or a new replacement, alone with few pictures of the ripped dress.

I know she's trying to scam me because I carefully inspected the dress before dispatch, it was totally fine.

Firstly she said " When the dress arrived I saw a big rip on it".

I immediately pointed out the contradiction, because she received this dress on 10th, return request was opened on 25th; you don't wait for 15 days to open a return request for an item with such obvious damage.

She then changed her story: "oh I didn't inspect the dress until 21st when I gave it to my daughter".

Riiiiiiight.

What worries me is the pictures she sent, the dress is in fact ripped now, which she claims to be "poor workmanship".

But, you can tell from those rough edges, the fabric was clearly torn; no "poor workmanship" can produce a rip like that.

Since the dress is clearly damaged now, I am not really sure how this will play out.

Should I contact ebay now and explain what's going on here, or should I wait after buyer esclates the case?

Not sure if I can convenice ebay's customer support to stand on my side.

[lyndal1838]

It sounds as though the buyer or her daughter has worn the dress to some occasion and has no further use for it....or damaged it while wearing it.

Do you have clear photos of the dress before you sent it....particularly the area that is damaged now?

Depending on how agressive you want to be you could point out to the buyer that the dress was not damaged before you sent it and it is illegal to try and claim a refund under false pretenses.   It may make them think twice before going ahead with the claim and you can always report them to ACORN if they still try it on.

[lane-ends]

It will be a case of whether you can face them down or not, otherwise ebay will just refund them. In fact since they have raised a dispute this is almost a default actrion by ebay.

Odds on it was torn when trying it on. Now this may or may not have been due to a prexisting, yet not evident, weakness.

I find most people embellish what may be a reasonable issue, to the point of deception. allowing change of mind returns reduces this as that way if it does come back it has not been deliberately damaged.

Dresses are norious for not being right and wanting returns

[lane-ends]

If you are talking 99c dresses sent from China i doubt any buyer is going to bother sending anything back, and will opt for damaged option.

[jellybirddesigns]

There was another thread about this type of thing recently.

The seller tracked down the buyers Facebook page which showed her wearing the item to a party even though she claimed it was damaged on arrival. Using that information, she was able to get the buyer to back off. 

If someone remembers that thread it would be good to post the link here as the wording given for the seller to use in the dispute was pretty good.

[*tippy*toes*]

Welcome to the eBay wardrobing department! Buyer buys dress for an event. Buyer attends event. Buyer no longer has a need for dress as they'll only ever wear the same thing once. Buyer claims not as described. Some buyers will go so far as to damage it to get their money back.

Unfortunately, in most cases there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. As soon as the buyer escalates the case, eBay will immediately close it in their favour. These buyers then go along and target a new seller to buy next weekends outfit from, then do the same thing. They end up with all these nice clothes to impress their friends and never pay a cent for them.

Make sure you keep all messages between you. I still think it's strange that it wasn't checked until the 21st when she gave it to her daughter, but still did nothing about it until the 25th. I would RING eBay, or get them to call you back, and get them to have a look at the messages between you that show inconsistencies with her story. DO NOT agree to have eBay step in and help while on the phone because it will instantly close in the buyers favour.

Sadly, with the eBay MBG, eBay have made it a haven for wardrobers and the buyers know it.

[thecatspjs]

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@tradingcat888 wrote:

Hi guys

Sold a dress at the begining of Oct, which was delivered on 10th.

Then on the 25th, buyer opened a return request, saying the dress was ripped upon arrival, demanding either full refund or a new replacement, alone with few pictures of the ripped dress.

I know she's trying to scam me because I carefully inspected the dress before dispatch, it was totally fine.

Firstly she said " When the dress arrived I saw a big rip on it".

I immediately pointed out the contradiction, because she received this dress on 10th, return request was opened on 25th; you don't wait for 15 days to open a return request for an item with such obvious damage.

She then changed her story: "oh I didn't inspect the dress until 21st when I gave it to my daughter".

Riiiiiiight.

What worries me is the pictures she sent, the dress is in fact ripped now, which she claims to be "poor workmanship".

But, you can tell from those rough edges, the fabric was clearly torn; no "poor workmanship" can produce a rip like that.

Since the dress is clearly damaged now, I am not really sure how this will play out.

Should I contact ebay now and explain what's going on here, or should I wait after buyer esclates the case?

Not sure if I can convenice ebay's customer support to stand on my side.

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Are you drop shipping dresses from China ?

I sometimes buy things and don't notice flaws until I go to wear the item or photograph to sell so a delay in reporting a problem is not always sinister.  

[padi*0409]

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@thecatspjs wrote:

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Are you drop shipping dresses from China ?

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...................Yep....................

[thecatspjs]

Yes I saw that.

Just thought I would be courteous and ask the OP for clarification.  As the location may be incorrect.

I am not sure how they can vouch for goods if they are being drop shipped.

[daydreams_12]

To add to your wardrobing comment.  I wonder how many poor sellers are going to get fraudulant claims for clothing this time next week, after Melbourne Cup frivolities???  Have even seen it happen in the op shop where I volunteer.