Buyer damaged my item and wants a refund.

[coloradodude]

They said it has stains and is supposed to be new. It was listed as used. This same buyer tried to cancel it the day it shipped, so I'm assuming they got buyer's remorse and decided to get their money back by any means necessary. The only options are to talk to them, give a full refund, return it for a full refund, or offer a partial refund. 

They attached photos with stains that were not on the hoodie I sent (they stained the inside only). They also strategically took photos of spots that weren't in the ebay listing photos. I'm assuming ebay is going to side with them. I already made the mistake of contacting them through the return form and saying that the stains weren't on it when I sent it and that I can report them for fraud over this. 

I will not give them a full refund. I will, at worst, accept the return so they have to pay to ship it. Or do I have to pay the return shipping? Then I will throw it away or donate it. I told the buyer if you didn't stain it you could have just contacted me saying you were unhappy and I would have given you a partial refund, but I think you know that because you only stained the "pure white" parts of the sweater that can be bleached clean. 

Please tell me all the channels I can report this person through. I will be contacting their local police. Yes I am that petty. Scamming is unacceptable. 

What should I do? If I offer a partial refund and they deny it is that some admission of guilt? Because the hoodie was not stained when I sent it. Do I have to pay return shipping if they return it?

Please help me. Also, how do I get the inevitable bad feedback removed when it comes. I've sold about 100 items with no bad feedback. I'm still kinda green to ebay.

I'm guessing if I do nothing or deny it, ebay is just going to side with them and strike me.

Please help I don't know the best course of action here.

[isokernus]

You will have to pay shipping if you want them to return it. Get ahead of them and contact eBay about this.

[bonjourami]

Do not ask Ebay to step in, they will refund the buyer, as they see you as a non responsive seller, and you will also receive a major defect to your account. The buyer will not be required to return the item.Provide the return shipping label, and refund after return, you can appeal when the case closes, for whatever good that will do.If you dont want the item back, just refund them, you wont win this case.

[mam98031]

I strongly advise you NOT to refund the item before it is returned to you and in your hands.

Buyers really don't have to go through all that effort.  Simply filing a claim as Not As Described is all they need to do.  

While you are in the process of trying to negotiate or work WITH your buyer on a problem it is NOT a good idea to throw fuel to on the fire by telling them they are trying to defraud you.  It is perfectly find to contact a buyer through the claim, in fact it is the only way you should communicate with them once a claim is opened.  But what you say matters.

You won't have a choice.  Once you get the item back you will need to give the buyer a full refund.  If you don't, the buyer can just have Ebay step in and they will force you to fully refund them.  You do NOT want that to happen.  It would put a defect on your selling account [if you don't know what that is or means, ask] and they will not likely refund you the FVFs you were charged.

Yes you have to pay return shipping.  Since there is a claim open, you can have them return the item to you at your expense or you can just let them keep it and give them a full refund.

It is not " inevitable bad feedback" unless you continue to insult your buyer.  And if they do that, you can only get it removed if there is cause within the rules of Ebay.  You can't have it removed simply because you want it removed.

"I'm guessing if I do nothing or deny it, ebay is just going to side with them and strike me."  The last thing you want to do is allow this to happen.  You need to handle it and not give a reason for the buyer to ask Ebay to step in.  A defect for this harms the health of your selling account.  There is no reason for you to suddenly go silent and let it process on it's own.  That would be a very bad move.

I understand you are upset and you feel wronged.  It is highly likely that every seller out there with some experience has gone through a similar situation a few time depending on how long they have been selling.  It is OK to get upset.  But it isn't OK to let the buyer know that nor is it OK to just refuse to handle the situation.

Get the item back and then resell it if it is in the condition to resell.  After you have this over.  The claim is closed because you have completed the process.  Then and only then report the buyer.  Just remember Ebay will never share with you any sanctions they may take against the buyer as that is private account info, but it is still important to report the buyer that abuses the return system.  I'll give you a link to how to do this a bit later.

[mam98031]

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@isokernus wrote:

You will have to pay shipping if you want them to return it. Get ahead of them and contact eBay about this.

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Contacting Ebay about this will serve no purpose.  They won't get involved in it at this point.

[Anonymous]

I would offer 5$ to pay for cleaning or a tide stick. Do not refund, this type of scamming has to stop.

[mam98031]

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@bonjourami wrote:

Do not ask Ebay to step in, they will refund the buyer, as they see you as a non responsive seller, and you will also receive a major defect to your account. The buyer will not be required to return the item.Provide the return shipping label, and refund after return, you can appeal when the case closes, for whatever good that will do.If you dont want the item back, just refund them, you wont win this case.

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EXCELLENT advise.  But keep in mind that when a seller voluntarily refunds a buyer, you can NOT appeal the case.  That doesn't mean I'd ever recommend allowing Ebay to step in as the results of that are worse.  But if the seller refunds the buyer, they can't appeal.

[mam98031]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would offer 5$ to pay for cleaning or a tide stick. Do not refund, this type of scamming has to stop.

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@Anonymous 

While offering a partial refund is fine.  The buyer has the right to accept it or not.  So it is a good option sometimes.  

But "Do not refund, this type of scamming has to stop." is very dangerous advice for the seller.  Likely to result in the seller damaging the health of their selling account which has been explained in my other post and by another poster as well.

You want to be VERY careful in the advice you give as you could unintentionally cause someone damage.

[bonjourami]

True enough, I meant if the buyer returns the shirt and he refunds, he can appeal after that..not with a voluntary refund only.

[mam98031]

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@bonjourami wrote:

True enough, I meant if the buyer returns the shirt and he refunds, he can appeal after that..not with a voluntary refund only.

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Just so it is clear, you can only appeal IF Ebay steps in and forces the refund.

[luckythewinner]

I already made the mistake of contacting them through the return form and saying that the stains weren't on it when I sent it and that I can report them for fraud over this. 

Yes, making uninformed and empty threats is generally not a good idea.

I will not give them a full refund.

Yes you will.

 I will, at worst, accept the return so they have to pay to ship it. Or do I have to pay the return shipping

If they filed a Not As Described you will have to pay for return shipping.

I would have given you a partial refund

The buyer does not want a partial refund. The buyer wanted to cancel. Plus telling them what you would have done but now refuse to do is just your pride provoking them unnecessarily.

Please tell me all the channels I can report this person through.

eBay? USPS? BBB? Police? FBI? CIA? Homeland Security? ASPCA? IBEW? You can report them through hundreds of channels. How much time you want to waste on that is entirely up to you.

Also, how do I get the inevitable bad feedback removed when it comes

There are only limited instances where feedback qualifies for removal. "The seller doesn't like it" is not one of them.

I'm guessing if I do nothing or deny it, ebay is just going to side with them and strike me.

If you do not resolve the case or win it, your will get a strike for not resolving the case.

Please help I don't know the best course of action here.

I think you already know what the best course of action is, but you just said you will not refund them.

[jame234]

eBay rules inf favor of the buyer with Item Not as Described cases.  You need to respond on the case that you accept the return, or they don't need to return the item, (you have three full days to do this).  and if return, you have two days after receiving the item back to refund in full.  If you want the item back, you need to provide a Prepaid return shipping label.  The buyer has eBay's Money Back Guarantee.

If you don't resolve this, eBay will force a refund and you will earn a Defect.  The local police are not going to do anything about this.  It is your word against their word.  Take as a learning.  If a buyer asks to cancel a transaction before it is shipped, it is best to cancel.  You don't want an angry buyer.

[chapeau-noir]

@coloradodude  Take @mam98031  advice and do it now. 

I won't repeat what everyone else has said, but I will caution you not to take this personally.  From the get-go, decouple any personal feelings from this, however they are justified, and know that when dealing with the public this kind of thing will happen from time to time.  It's annoying and frustrating and has been a rooted problem in commerce forever.  Deal with it expeditiously and so your account is not harmed, write it off your taxes.  This transaction was going bad from the get go with the buyer changing their mind, etc., so just clean things up and keep going. The vast majority of people are honest, though some categories are tougher than others.

[kensgiftshop]

Sorry, you have two options

Refund and let them keep it.

If you want it returned before refunding, accept the return, pay return shipping and give a full refund once something is returned.

Did they ask to cancel before you shipped it?

[toybrats]

Luckythewinner has all of the answers.      To the poster, you really have no choice.  You will need to send a return shipping label.  They print the label and return the item. You then refund.  Hopefully, you can resell the item.   Make sure that you block them.   In the future, if a buyer requests a cancellation and you still have not mailed the item, go ahead and cancel.  This will avoid the headache that you are going through right now.  Make sure that you block this buyer.