buyer threatening with CTTT

[gt4junkie]

Hi all,

I sold a tablet afew weeks ago which im having problems with the buyer and are now threatening to go to the CTTT.

What happened was a mistake was made on the warranty remaining of the item id sold. Id been told I had 14 months remainig, turned out it was only 2. The buyer wasnt happy and wanted a refund. I agreed as they were trouble from the start, and i just wanted the experiance over. 

They then lodged a paypal dispute for "item not as described" and I advised the buyer id follow the paypal steps and provided a return address as shed asked and asked when she would send it back. 

I called paypal and gave them the situation and the paypal dispute was found in my favour that very same night, as a warranty is an accessorie and wasnt covered.

I emailed the buyer and advised them yo check the dispute first before sending the item. Thats where correspondence ended until today.

The buyer still sent the item back, which I received 2 days later, I emailed them asking why they sent it back, never heard back, so I contacted paypal, I was still in the right and sent the item back to the buyer.

2.5 weeks have passed and they have got back In contact wanting a refund as they claim they never recived it, and that I broke my agreement to refund them. They are claiming I still have the item and are threatening to take it to the CTTT (consumer trader tenancy tribunal.

As id never heard back from the buyer, id presumed everything was sorted dont have the receipt of sending the item back.

In this situation, whats my best course of action?

[thecatspjs]

If you read the exclusions within the terms and conditions of the major banks in Oz, there are relatively few purchases of goods that you could even have a request considered for, whether it is internet purchase or not.

Maybe the credit unions are different, but I think likely not, they don't really have dollars to spare to waste $$$ or resources on recovery of cardholder / consumer determined spending.

Me thinks the bank seek to minimise their losses in their terms and conditions in relation to irresponsible consumer internet shopping.

Chargebacks are predominately in place for fraudulent use of credit cards, or, on occassion, for bank initiated recovery of $$$ for user credit card overspends outside of agreed credit limits.

[lyndal1838]

Most of my chargebacks have been for non receipt of goods but I have done two for goods not as described.

The CC policy on returning the not as described goods is even stricter than the paypal policy in that you have to get a signature on the returned goods, not just proof that you have posted it.

thecatspjs, do you have any practical experience of doing chargebacks or are you just giving us your opinion of how it should work?

[thecatspjs]

Lyndal I don't intend to post anything explicit regarding personal / life / business experience here.

Readers and other posters can check the terms and conditions of their credit cards, and decide for themselves.

I will say though, I do not post on whim and make up things as I go along based soley on what others might advise. 

I think I have more than demonstrated that on these boards.

[i-once-was-bump]

What about chasing up the matter with Aus Post, you must have had insurance on a $500 item so I would be claiming on the insurance asap.

[retailtherapist_8]

I dont want to appear too harsh . However if I advertised an item with 14 month warranty left on it and made an error it wouldnt suprise me to have a pretty annoyed buyer on my hands. Secondly no matter what ebay have said is their policy in regards to Warranties the fact remains that a purchaser may very well make their buying decision based on the fact that you were advertising an item with 14months warranty coverage not , it becomes more of a moral issue I guess.

Personally I can understand the buyers anger at the way they have been dealt with. You said you agreed to the refund, then changed your mind, because ebay said its ok not to honour the details of what you were offering a buyer in your listing. You also said it was your mistake.

You have sent it back but did not keep a receipt or have tracking details even though as you state you felt you had a difficult buyer. So as a result neither you nor the buyer can prove who has it in their possession.

Sorry but I think this is a mess created by the you Seller in this instance.

[springyzone]

Agree.

I do have sympathy for the seller. I understand he feels he sold something at a good price because he paid more for it 10 months back.

But that isn't the point.

The point is, would the buyer have wanted to buy it had they known the exact conditions, or would they have wanted to pay that much, knowing the short warranty period. Would they have bid?

For all we know, there could have been other, similar items they were watching and the extended warranty may have been what clinched the deal.

I understand it was an honest mistake, but I would be like the buyer, upset that i was having to wear someone else's mistake.

[dags111]

Agree also

I'm with the buyer on this one. The buyer bid on this item on the basis that it had a 14mnth Warranty which was wrong.

As a buyer I would not have been happy & would have expected at very least a partial refund. As a seller, I would have been embarressed about My mistake in the listing and would have tried to do everything I could to make it right, whether that meant a partial refund and let the buyer keep the item or acdcept the return of the item and give full refund. And if the buyer returned the item, I would have paid for return postage. Why should the buyer be out of pocket for your mistake.

I can not understand at all what you were thinking in returning the item back to the buyer after they returned it. Just cancel the sale & offer to 2nd highest bidder or relist. Too late now. When you reposted was it via registered post? There is no way that I would send anything worth more than $50 unregistered. And if it was worth $500, I would make sure to add enough insurance to cover that.

[create_fashion-com-au]

Hello,

I really feel for you

It's not a great feeling to be in this situation.

I've been told before, you really need to have thick skin to sell on Ebay. The person who gave me that advise is 100% correct.

This will definitely be a learning exp for you. I know I've learnt so much since I opened up my business and selling in the online market.

In this situation I would have refunded the buyer the money when you received the item. (they were clearly hard work from the start).

You could have relisted the item and sold it with the correct warrantee info and maybe sold it for a bit more to make up for the loss you incurred within the first sale.

I know you only did what you thought was the right thing to do (nothing wrong with this). It's very important that you have a tracking number on every single item that you send esp when it’s an expensive item like a tablet (IPAD), what ever they're called.

If you have a tracking number you will be able to see if the item was delivered as it seems like they want the item for free (and they don’t want to pay to post it back to you a second time for a refund).

It they report you, they will do it. Most people say threatening things just out of frustration and to scare you.

Just make sure you have saved every single email and any correspondence you have on this sale.

Best of Luck