Sold a perfect Golf Cart Charger cheap, 10 days later buyer send me photos of a burned one

[global_military_surplus]

I have the EZGO charger working always perfect for years, updated my batteries to one Lithium battery that uses a different charger, so I sold my working charger because I no longer needed (new one over $500) for $160 total with shipping. Lady in AL  purchased it and now TEN DAYS after she got it, A guy  wants full refund with a bunch of photos of a charger completely open up and burnt inside, was that the good charger I shipped or their old burnt charger??? and the guy now, Husband? says he is an electrician too.

Electrical equipment does not get fried by transporting it via USPS, they are lying about it.

I have two accounts with eBay, one since 2007,  I am seriously thinking in nuke both, with eBay policies always favoring the buyer and with the number of scammer just getting higher is just a not deal, getting to old to lose money for lying scammers.

[slati_2013]

Have they open a claim on eBay asking to return the charger? If not, wait until they do and then come back here for more advice. Also ask what happened to the charger?

[inhawaii]

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

No need to pay return shipping on a burned out/non-working charger.

I know his is not what you want to hear, but if you try to fight this, you will lose.

[a_c_green]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

I have to disagree... for that much money, have them return the burnt-out charger. The listing photos are sharp enough to determine from case markings whether it's the same one coming back, something I suspect the buyers know as well, and they may drop the whole idea at that point. (Too bad there isn't a serial number that would have made a swap more obvious.)

[crazystuff4sale]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

No need to pay return shipping on a burned out/non-working charger.

I know his is not what you want to hear, but if you try to fight this, you will lose.

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Of course if the buyer is trying to run a scam there's a chance they aren't willing to go full-blown mail fraud by returning a different item. I would probably issue the return label and see how it plays out.

[kensgiftshop]

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@global_military_surplus wrote:

Electrical equipment does not get fried by transporting it via USPS, they are lying about it.

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As much as the boxes get tossed around, it wouldn't take much to knock a wire loose on the inside.

[farmalljr]

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@crazystuff4sale wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

No need to pay return shipping on a burned out/non-working charger.

I know his is not what you want to hear, but if you try to fight this, you will lose.

---

Of course if the buyer is trying to run a scam there's a chance they aren't willing to go full-blown mail fraud by returning a different item. I would probably issue the return label and see how it plays out.

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No one is going to investigate a $160 mail fraud case. Unless they have a long, DOCUMENTED history, the USPS inspectors have bigger fish to fry. They don't care. 

[farmalljr]

It's VERY possible your very USED charger finally took a dump. The MBG covers buyers for 30 days. So it better work for 30 days, or you can expect a return. CC companies often time allow buyers 180 days to file a chargeback.

No such thing as a final sale, not for about 6 months. 

You can stop selling anytime you want, but you can't close your account until at least 30 days after the last item sold was delivered. 

[a_c_green]

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@farmalljr wrote:

It's VERY possible your very USED charger finally took a dump.

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Another possibility, something I had to deal with more than once with the kiddies' rechargeable electric cars, was that bad or shorted battery packs would fry a new charger when plugged in. The batteries cost more than the chargers (I think at the time it was something like $12 for a charger but $25+ for each battery), but I finally learned my lesson after frying two new chargers in a row. (This also showed me why the previous owners had given away the electric cars that we had adopted.)

[crazystuff4sale]

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@crazystuff4sale wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

No need to pay return shipping on a burned out/non-working charger.

I know his is not what you want to hear, but if you try to fight this, you will lose.

---

Of course if the buyer is trying to run a scam there's a chance they aren't willing to go full-blown mail fraud by returning a different item. I would probably issue the return label and see how it plays out.

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No one is going to investigate a $160 mail fraud case. Unless they have a long, DOCUMENTED history, the USPS inspectors have bigger fish to fry. They don't care. 

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I never said I thought USPS was investigating $160 mail fraud cases. My point was they may be fishing for an easy refund and not willing to follow through with a fraudulent return. It's called calling their bluff.

[isaiah53-57 · Accepted solution]

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@global_military_surplus wrote:

I have the EZGO charger working always perfect for years, updated my batteries to one Lithium battery that uses a different charger, so I sold my working charger because I no longer needed (new one over $500) for $160 total with shipping. Lady in AL  purchased it and now TEN DAYS after she got it, A guy  wants full refund with a bunch of photos of a charger completely open up and burnt inside, was that the good charger I shipped or their old burnt charger??? and the guy now, Husband? says he is an electrician too.

Electrical equipment does not get fried by transporting it via USPS, they are lying about it.

I have two accounts with eBay, one since 2007,  I am seriously thinking in nuke both, with eBay policies always favoring the buyer and with the number of scammer just getting higher is just a not deal, getting to old to lose money for lying scammers.

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Thats exactly what we did - The ease of thievery for buyers with the Money Back Guarantee in conjunction with the site's quest for 30% to 50% of your items price in fees, disgusted us to the point where we put our exit strategy into effect and quit listing - We wont list here again until both of these matters are changed/fixed to reflect fairness in trade - My prediction is the site fades into irrelevance before that happens though.

Just so you know? We are doing very well on venues that cater to local folks as well as at shows/events/fairs etc.  We do it at our leisure with no crazy sales fluctuations, no one stealing our items with impunity, no shipping, no picture taking and creating listings, no company demanding we give them 17% to 25%(unpromoted) of the items we sell... Best of luck to you whatever you decide!

[biscuitandgravy]

That's the truth..I sold a brand new Netgear wifi router..buyer sent it back..but what they sent back was a empty box and I lost my case..Don't you just Love and hate Ebay at the same time.

[broto_64]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

I have to disagree... for that much money, have them return the burnt-out charger. The listing photos are sharp enough to determine from case markings whether it's the same one coming back, something I suspect the buyers know as well, and they may drop the whole idea at that point. (Too bad there isn't a serial number that would have made a swap more obvious.)

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I will agree tentatively, however your strategy generally works best when a seller replies "please return for refund" as the very first reply to any customer complaint, I mean rather than getting into a back and forth conversation... And I don't know which is the case here but if the seller has already gone back and forth once or twice in messages then this strategy is far less likely to work in my experience, but I do agree the "return for refund" mantra is one of the most powerful things a seller can say.

[farmalljr]

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@crazystuff4sale wrote:

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@crazystuff4sale wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate to say it, but if they file a INAD (item not as described) claim/return you will lose.

You may as well refund the customer and let them keep the burned out charger.

No need to pay return shipping on a burned out/non-working charger.

I know his is not what you want to hear, but if you try to fight this, you will lose.

---

Of course if the buyer is trying to run a scam there's a chance they aren't willing to go full-blown mail fraud by returning a different item. I would probably issue the return label and see how it plays out.

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No one is going to investigate a $160 mail fraud case. Unless they have a long, DOCUMENTED history, the USPS inspectors have bigger fish to fry. They don't care. 

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I never said I thought USPS was investigating $160 mail fraud cases. My point was they may be fishing for an easy refund and not willing to follow through with a fraudulent return. It's called calling their bluff.

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Sure, call their bluff. MOST people WILL return if they open a case, even if they were scamming. The odds are not in the sellers favor. They will pay return shipping, and the buyer will get all their money back. It's not wise to call the bluff in hopes ONE return out of 100 will not send it back. If the OP wants a dead charger back and thinks it's wise to "call their bluff" they are welcome to. It's not sound business advice though. They are free to pay shipping twice AND refund the buyer in full though.

[global_military_surplus]

I know, reason why I will say good bye to eBay