Need help on how to proceed with a return
Summary: fast_and_slashed shared an issue with a return of earbuds marked as defective by the buyer, only to find they were returned in poor condition and not functioning as claimed. Despite the buyer not responding and appearing to use the drop shipping method, fern*wood noted the limited protection offered by eBay for faulty returns, while inhawaii suggested refunding and moving on. tobaccocardyahoo advised caution in future transactions after the buyer's request for special invoicing, and bonanza125 recommended refunding and reselling locally to avoid similar situations.
Hi. Thanks for reading this. I recently sold some earbuds. Because these particular earbuds are prone to return fraud since there isn't a physical serial number on the actual item I now sell them as open box and the listing doesn't allow returns. I understand that necessarily mean anything though and an educated buyer can return anything they want.
These were sent to the customer in it's original retail box and never worn. This item is for all intents and purposes brand new. Eventually I had a return, Return Reason
Doesn't work or defective. and the comments were "I would like to return the item and request a full refund. The Samsung earbuds are not working properly—they only last about 10 minutes on a full charge before they power off every time, making them unusable."
Because the return reason was "defective" I automatically accepted the return and paid for a label. Later when I got the return, it didn't come with the original packaging or the charging cable. The return wasn't secured and these buds were not in the charging case when I received it. These earbuds and case had quite a bit of earwax on them as well.
After testing the units, they work just fine. The buds charge to 100% which I can prove and last longer than 10 minutes which I technically could prove with a video.
My question is, how should I proceed with a return like this? Because they aren't defective and they also didn't return the item in the condition it was sent?
After clicking "Report Problem" on the Return Details page I can either select "Buyer returned the item. There's an issue with the item and/or return reason." "Buyer returned the wrong item"
My issue is under the "Buyer returned the item. There's an issue with the item and/or return reason." I can't charge a fee for the return after checking the checkboxes "Item was missing parts" and "
Disagree with reason provided"
This particular buyer looks to be a a drop shipper so I'm assuming they know how to work the system so returning as "defective" really helps their case. If I had to guess, whoever they sold it too returned.
Sidenote: I doubt I can actually prove the drop shipping thing but they asked me to include their invoice from their company and not my ebay invoice in the initial shipment. I personally don't care about selling to drop shippers as I've never had issues in the past. I just think that whoever they sold it to, they had no control over the return and are just going by their word. They also aren't responding to me.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Edit: Is there an avenue to at the very least, charge the customer for not returning the item with it's original packaging and cables included?
bonanza125
·1 week agoYou have the earbuds in your hands now. Refund the buyer in full and sell to someone else. You stated you tested these earbuds upon return and they are working. You might want to consider selling them locally due to issues like this which can happen again.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 week ago"they asked me to include their invoice from their company and not my ebay invoice in the initial shipment."
This should have been a warning that there was a more than average risk of this transaction going bad.
At best, you had the potential for two crooks rather than one.
I would have declined to enclose their invoice, told them so, and offered to cancel the order.
I would not have cancelled the order without their request, but I would have wanted to. This is a product with a higher than average chance of a transaction going bad. That does not mean it definitely will, but as a seller who has about one request for return each year, a product which would not enter my inventory.
inhawaii
·1 week ago"My question is, how should I proceed with a return like this? Because they aren't defective and they also didn't return the item in the condition it was sent?"
Refund the seller in full. Report the seller. That's about all you can do. Be thankful that you got something back and move on with life.
All this talk about proving drop shipping, earwax, video taping is all a waste of time. Stuff like this will happen from time to time ... hopefully not too often.
fern*wood
·1 week agoEbay offers limited protection on faulty returns, but the item has to qualify for these protections in order to reduce the amount of the refund.
If you don't offer free returns, you would still qualify since you are a top rated seller had you offered at least a 30 day return policy.