Fraught returns

This is a good one. My buyer requested a return, but because she didn't want to pay for return postage, she claimed the item was not as described. Since eBay as a rule sides with buyers, I didn't bother to contest the return and let eBay send buyer a hubbed return label. Then, as I was away, I waited for eBay to tell me the item had been returned and delivered. Each time I looked on the website, it told me the item had been sent and was on its way. It was still on its way when the buyer asked eBay to step in, and eBay refunded her, although delivery was not showing as having been made. As it turned out, the buyer did not use the label I (via eBay) had sent her, but created a different, and more expensive, one.  Although eBay apparently had a record of this label, they did not update the information and let me think the item was still on its way. At the same time they said not to refund the buyer until the item had been received. How is that for a Catch-22?