Refunding was a darn kneejerk reaction.  

Anyhow, what is really frusgtrating now is, to quote ebay: "primarily we haven't seen the item so we don't know exactly what is the condition of that item..."  

Basically, I can upload as many photos of the item as I can and still that won't be enough to provide supportive evidence of the item's condition. 

In this instance, it comes down to the buyer's ignorance of books that are printed on vellum like paper (thick).  Traditionally, the pages have 'deckled edges' (rough cut).  The buyer refers to this rough cut as 'torn'.