Return request violates listing terms

[postingid7659]

Sold a model train item, a vintage piece not made in at least 20 years, was paid 7/31, it shipped same day, I went to check the tracking and can't find any of that info in this new seller hub mess (that's another post) but I presume they got it by 8/4.  My return policy is 14 days.

Yesterday, imbecile buyer emails up complaining the headlight does not work, says this is important to them.  This item never had a headlight bulb to work.  I explain this politely, resisting the urge to ask why the devil they didn't ask if it worked before bidding, and provide a link to a description of these items.

Today I get a return request with an outright lie in it; they say the listing indicates the light worked.  I didn't say anything about it working because it does not have that function.  

So what, am I basically stuck because I got a buyer who's both dumb and dishonest to accept a return outside of policy and have to pay the return shipping?

[reallynicestamps]

Too much testosterone here.

Look for whatever reason the buyer does not want the toy train.

If you had told him in the first instance to Return for Refund, he might have sent it back on his own dime. Or not.

Now you have an eBay Dispute hovering over your head and you will lose both the original shipping and the return shipping.

And if the buyer also suffers from testosterone poisoning, the toy might be damaged when returned.

Send the Return Shipping Label.

It's not personal, it's business.

Add him to your Blocked Buyer List.

[goddess-bastet-1910]

Return for refund, and yes you send a shipping label. You might want to be polite if you want to avoid a negative.

[dtexley3]

Short answer, yes, tell the buyer to send it back and refund when it arrives.

IF your description clearly stated "the headlight does not work" you MIGHT be able to get an eBay CS agent to find in your favor, but not likely.

If your description did not say "headlight does not work" approve the return request and refund when the item is returned.

[postingid7659]

That's just it, there is no headlight TO work.  it has no wiring, no bulb.  Sold that way for 20 years.  It has a piece of plastic on it that simulates a headlight.  It also has a piece of plastic on it that simulates an exhaust stack, but I don't think anybody expects that to work.  

[dtexley3]

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@postingid7659 wrote:

That's just it, there is no headlight TO work.  it has no wiring, no bulb.  Sold that way for 20 years.  It has a piece of plastic on it that simulates a headlight.  It also has a piece of plastic on it that simulates an exhaust stack, but I don't think anybody expects that to work.  

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Ah, I understand now.  However you likely won't find a CS agent that will, no matter how hard you try.  You're going to have to accept the return and refund.

You may have luck asking a CS agent to flag this as buyer's remorse and not have to pay the return shipping, but again, unlikely in the current buyer is always right, in the case the buyer is lying see statement 1.

[sockmonkeydave]

@postingid7659

Oh Snap.... that is like asking a blow up doll to mow the lawn.

Good Grief... this model airplane comes with a rubberband

NOT  a V- 12 roles engine (sp)

I think god came in the night and took all the smart people.

But my bus ticket is lost in the mail...

[postingid7659]

Also, that this turkey is outside the 14-day return policy I take it means nothing?

The excuses are so lame "I didn't have my track setup complete so I couldn't check it" ... I tested the thing outside on the trunk of the car using a transformer with two wire leads and no track at all.  

I know what I got here was a clueless person who saw bright and shiny and bid on it having no idea whatsoever what they were buying.  If I could figure out how to block buyers like that I would do it. 

[missjen831]

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@postingid7659 wrote:

Also, that this turkey is outside the 14-day return policy I take it means nothing?

The excuses are so lame "I didn't have my track setup complete so I couldn't check it" ... I tested the thing outside on the trunk of the car using a transformer with two wire leads and no track at all.  

I know what I got here was a clueless person who saw bright and shiny and bid on it having no idea whatsoever what they were buying.  If I could figure out how to block buyers like that I would do it. 

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Your return policy is for buyers remorse only. The money back guarantee is for 30 days so when the buyer says the item is not as described, your return policy doesn't matter and doesn't apply. 

[*eponymous*]

Well, there is no way around sending a label and taking a SNAD return. There is no "appeal to eBay" as a seller.  The bottom line to the return process is you may not accept returns, but you do issue refunds.

It's like dads back when used to say, the hard way or the easy way...it's your choice.

[rolenboy01]

I will be more blunt the the rest of the people who have posted before me, YES a buyer can LIE about an item being not as described and YOU have to pay return shipping on it or you risking losing both your item and your money, I think it's ridiculous but it's eBay's rule, some write it off as the "cost of doing business" I can afford to absorb such things but I do not agree that it's in any way right or just but that's just how it is here and it's up to you to decide if it works for you.

[reallynicestamps]

You are so busy being absolutely right in every way, that you are setting yourself up to lose the toy and the money and adding a Defect to your selling account.

It doesn't matter that the headlight is just a bit of pretty plastic.

The buyer doesn't want the darn thing.

Send the label, get the toy back and relist it.

Boys and their toys... sheesh. *Wanders off to play Firefly with maquettes.*