Was I too harsh?

[rivertown-pickers]

So I recently sold a Hot Wheels-sized pull-back car to a buyer who contacted me today and sent me a picture of the car with the rear wing missing, and also stating how disappointed he was, etc.  I went back and looked at the pictures in the listing to make sure I didn't screw up and the rear wing is still attached.  The car came in a box with a clear window and we shipped it in our usual 8x6x4 box.  These particular cars have removable bodies that you can then install on many popular HO scale slot car chassis.  In his pic he had the body completely removed and missing the rear wing as he stated.  He had the car on top of the original box and it didn't look crushed.  The only thing I can think of is he took the body off and either broke the wing off or used it on a slot car and broke it off in a crash (remember how fast those things are!).

I replied with a message stating that we only had one of that particular car so the one we shipped him did have a wing on it.  I also told him that it looked "used" to me  (I did not flat out say that HE used it).  He replied back that he was upset that I was accusing him of using it and that he was a collector and was sorry for bothering me.  I then asked him how the box looked, if the car's box was still sealed when he got it, and all I was trying to do was figure out how the car got that way.  He just said "sorry to bother you...nevermind."

I fully expect to see a negative feedback coming but I honestly have no idea how the car could possibly get that way.  It was a US shipment so unless someone else opened the package and tampered with the contents the only thing I can think of is the guy is trying to do a switcheroo for a broken one he has, or he broke it himself after opening it.  Surprisingly, I had asked him whether the wing was loose in the box (like it would have come off during shipping) and he said it wasn't in the box at all...completely missing.   He has a very high feedback score.

I guess I could have handled that better but I also feel like something was a little fishy.  What would ya'll have done differently?  At this point has hasn't left negative FB or filed a return.

[bonjourami]

Well at this point, I would just wait until the buyer opens a snad case, and makes you responsible for return shipping and a refund. or better yet..he goes to his cc for a chargeback, you get a defect,plus pay an extra $20 for the privilege, and dont get your item back.Good luck...

[klhmdg]

I would have said "Im very sorry. Im unsure how this happened since it was complete when I mail it out. Please return for a full refund"

And I would have kept repeating that - Had he filed a return request I would have sent a label for him to return the item.

[ten_o_nine]

In this case, I would rely on the buyer's feedback, if they receive positives and give positives all the time, then I would believe them, things happen.