Buyer is not accepting a refund as a resolution and continues to argue, make false claims

This is regarding a $20 order of fabric I sold to the buyer. Buyer immediately contacted me and did not like the weight if the fabric - it was listed as medium weight, which is accurate, and she claimed it was light weight. I explained to her and gave examples of lightweight fabric. She dropped that, and came back reporting that she paid $35 in shipping- she paid less than $9. I offered a partial refund on the shipping in order to resovle the issue. Next she messaged back reporting that the measurements of the fabric were vastly different than what I posted. I told her I've never made such a large error, and offered a full refund, as she clearly was not happy with her purchase. She continues to argue and claim I knowlingly missrepresent the items I sell. I explained to her this would be poor business practice, and I would be removed from ebay ( and I wouldn't have the amount of postitive reviews I have). I have offered a full refund 3 times, and she continues to argue and insult my business. What can I do to resolve this if the buyer won't accept a refund.

lagatorbaby

373 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

11 comments

mam98031

·1 year ago

Owner / Operator19676 View listings

This was a bad situation from the first time she contacted you. Your ONLY response to a buyer like this is Please Return the item for a refund. Once I have it back I will issue you a full refund. Period.

You will never win with a buyer like this. Be very careful with them as they still can leave you feedback.

albertabrightalberta

·1 year ago

I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.104 View listings

@lagatorbaby

It's not clear whether you actually told the buyer to "go to the order and click to return the item" for a refund. If you didn't do that and she contacts you again, just copy and paste the above.

lagatorbaby

OP1 year ago

373 View listings

Thank you all for the response- I appreciate it everyone's time! I wasn't sure I could stop communications, as I know Ebay wants problems resolved in a timely manner, as do I. I didn't want to appear as if I was ignoring the buyer and not trying to resolve the issue. Offering a refund on the shipping was not neccessary, but I wanted to settle the issue, and move on. It's a relief to know I can stop all communications with them and leave the ball in their court. I just don't understand folks that are not satisfied when a refund is offered; I'm sure I'll have negative feedback coming my way regardless.

chapeau-noir

·1 year ago

No bad meows!6570 View listings

Yes - your willingness to offer a refund is considered a seller attempting to resolve an issue, so you're good. Ball is in buyer's court now.

wastingtime101

·1 year ago

0 View listings

@lagatorbaby wrote:
reporting that she paid $35 in shipping- she paid less than $9.

Was this an eBay International Shipping transaction @lagatorbaby ?

If not, did this ship to a freight forwarder in the US but the buyer's feedback page shows they are registered in another country?

If the answer to both of those is no, then follow the advice already offered by the previous two posters and stop communicating with this person.

Do you know how to access your blocked buyer list?

a_c_green

·1 year ago

4159 View listings

@wastingtime101 wrote:
@lagatorbaby wrote:
reporting that she paid $35 in shipping- she paid less than $9.
Was this an eBay International Shipping transaction @lagatorbaby ?

If it was, that might explain the wide discrepancy of numbers there, with eBay adding on their own charge for the international handling: Customs, duty fees or whatever.

The buyer probably assumes that the whole shipping payment went to the seller, when in fact the seller was only charging the buyer $9 for shipping to a domestic destination (the eBay consolidation center), and eBay was stepping in to collect the rest.

simply-the-best-for-you

·1 year ago

This One Goes to Eleven - Nigel Tufnel5947 View listings

@chapeau-noir GMTA, just took me longer to type that out. I'm not copying you lol, I was typing at the same time ðŸ˜€

chapeau-noir

·1 year ago

No bad meows!6570 View listings

I was editing when you were posting lol.

OP wants to deliver good customer service, which is laudable, but there's a point to where one needs to cut off communication after a good resolution has been offered (in this case return for refund), and that point comes pretty quickly. I had to learn that the hard way.

simply-the-best-for-you

·1 year ago

This One Goes to Eleven - Nigel Tufnel5947 View listings

@chapeau-noir wrote:
I was editing when you were posting lol.

OP wants to deliver good customer service, which is laudable, but there's a point to where one needs to cut off communication after a good resolution has been offered (in this case return for refund), and that point comes pretty quickly. I had to learn that the hard way.

Exactly right & some people don't really want resolution, they just like to complain. Agree, I get that OP genuinely wants to satisfy her customers & that's wonderful, but some people just can't be satisfied. She's already gone above & beyond.

I wonder if there's one particular thing she's afraid of happening? If so, I certainly hope that @lagatorbaby will post what that is, so we can set her mind at ease.

simply-the-best-for-you

·1 year ago

This One Goes to Eleven - Nigel Tufnel5947 View listings

Quit engaging with her. If she leaves a NEG, no biggie, it doesn't harm you with eBay & you can factually reply something like 'offered refund multiple times, buyer chose to keep fabric'.

I would have stopped engaging with her long time ago. Has she told you what she wants as resolution? What is the reason you're still engaging with her? You've offered her a refund, there isn't much more you can do. BTW, I would not have offered the discount on shipping or the refund. If she doesn't like it, she can go through the proper channels to return it. Offering partials doesn't fix the problem & only causes buyers to become more entitled to expecting them.

chapeau-noir

·1 year ago

No bad meows!6570 View listings

@lagatorbaby wrote:
This is regarding a $20 order of fabric I sold to the buyer. Buyer immediately contacted me and did not like the weight if the fabric - it was listed as medium weight, which is accurate, and she claimed it was light weight. I explained to her and gave examples of lightweight fabric. She dropped that, and came back reporting that she paid $35 in shipping- she paid less than $9. I offered a partial refund on the shipping in order to resovle the issue. Next she messaged back reporting that the measurements of the fabric were vastly different than what I posted. I told her I've never made such a large error, and offered a full refund, as she clearly was not happy with her purchase. She continues to argue and claim I knowlingly missrepresent the items I sell. I explained to her this would be poor business practice, and I would be removed from ebay ( and I wouldn't have the amount of postitive reviews I have). I have offered a full refund 3 times, and she continues to argue and insult my business. What can I do to resolve this if the buyer won't accept a refund.

Simply say "I regret that you're unhappy with your purchase. Please return for refund", then stop engaging with her, you're just feeding the fire. It's up to her to file for a refund.

ETA: Some people are just professional pests and I'm afraid you got one of them - her going through a virtual Rolodex of complaints tells me that she wants free fabric. Please don't give into that or she'll just pester the next seller.