Warning about accepting returns - no transparency from ebay

[cheznel]

Normally, I do not accept returns, but when the seller asked for one this time, saying he "just wasn't happy with the item," I accepted the request. The glass jar arrived back in many pieces. Ebay insists that since I accepted the return, I must refund the buyer his purchase price. In their words: when a return is accepted, our system expects a refund.

I just wanted to post this as a warning to others. The message ebay sent me to say the seller had requested a return and refund said that I was not obligated to accept it (since it's not my policy), but it said nothing about being required to refund them for an item they return damaged. Lesson learned: Never again!