@jaspat11 wrote:
Sold a brand new sealed computer part recently. Buyer receives it, claims it is defective. I inform them I would be more than happy to replace the item with the exact same merchandise. Buyer declines. Am I still entitled to send a replacement instead of issuing a refund?
No. The proper way to do a replacement (so you don't end up being forced to refund on an item you replaced) is to have the broken one come back, issue the refund, and sell the replacement.
I'm not so sure if the others in the group would agree with me, but I had a return request on a computer part that didn't work (I had no way to test it because I didn't have the software), and he was fine with a replacement, but did a return request to send it back. To make sure this return request was closed properly (and not having eBay step in or being forced to refund after he gets his replacement), I refunded upon return, and sold him the replacement (which was done in a listing, as I had more than one listed, but each one was identified by it's serial number).
Since your customer doesn't want a replacement, the solution is to refund, hope you get what you sent back to him, and find out if it works for real, or if the customer just doesn't understand how it is supposed to operate.
C.
