Working with a difficult buyer

[teacher_35y]

I recently sold 2 dolls and packaged them carefully within their original boxes and packaged those two boxes in one larger box for protection. Unfortunately my buyer immediately left me a very negative feedback without contacting  me first-because one of the dolls arrived damaged through shipping. She also claimed I was not truthful in my listing which is not true. She was quite irrate in demanding her money back immediately and she wanted me to pick up the dolls. I contacted EBay 3 times so I would follow the right steps in solving this issue. I'm trying to work with her since the damage was neither her fault or mine. I was told to file a claim with the carrier which I did. I was also told to have her send the dolls back to me. Upon inspection I was willing to refund her for the dolls even though my listing says NO refunds. She doesn't feel it's her job to return the dolls and she is threatening me to take further action if she doesn't get her money back immediately. She keeps messaging me very negative remarks which I am tired of responding to. I've tried to be patient and understanding but she's not willing to work with me at all. I need help.

[gwens*4saleitems*]

eBay has this thing called "Money Back Guarantee. You get what you pay for or your money back", which negates your NO refunds policy.

Did she file a claim?  Did she start a claim to get a refund?

The only thing you need to do is type a response like this:

Please return the items for a full refund.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Rinse and repeat. (every time to answer message)

FWIW, I don't know how you can file a claim with the carrier without the items or pictures of the 'supposed' damage.

[reallynicestamps]

No Returns does not mean No Refunds.

Sellers cannot have a No Refunds policy.

You send the buyer return shipping for the dolls.

If she returns them, you refund.

If she doesn't, you win the Dispute, there is no refund required, and you can have the negative feedback removed.

The shipping cost is on you. The actual bundling up and bringing the dolls back to the post office is on her.

If she's too lazy to return them, she keeps the dolls and you keep the money.

You don't need to respond to any of her messages but

"I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please use the Return Shipping Label and you will be refunded when the dolls arrive."

You could use that as an interim Response to her Feedback. Calm polite and professional.

And every time she Messages you, your reponse is:

I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please use the Return Shipping Label and you will be refunded when the dolls arrive."

The Return Shipping Labels are time sensitive. If they are not used relatively promptly, your are refunded.

If she doesn't return, and you don't refund, your final Response to her FB could be
"Return Shipping Label sent 5/5/22. Expired 25/5/22. Buyer kept dolls."

[nobody*s_perfect]

From eBay's perspective, the seller is responsible for getting the item into the buyer's hands in the same condition that it was listed. So the seller is responsible for carrier-damaged items.

A buyer who receives a damaged item is covered by eBay's buyer protection policy, which they call the "Money back guarantee." If the buyer files a claim, then the seller who wants the damaged item back must pay for return shipping. If she is not willing to file a claim, so she can get prepaid postage, then you do not have to issue a refund.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

The carrier is outside of this process. Carrier insurance protects the seller, not the buyer.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Arrange the refund. On eBay, shipping damage is considered the seller's issue, not the carrier's. Therefore you should pay for return shipping if you want the dolls back. Be aware that having the damaged item reshipped will void your shipping insurance. (Did you buy extra insurance? If sent USPS, there is also an automatic $50 of insurance at no charge for eBay sellers using Priority mail. $100 if you are Top Rated.) It is problematic that the relationship with the buyer is adversarial as one usually needs the buyer's cooperation in proving a damage claim with the carrier. USPS may want to examine the packaging and the item broken in transit in order to complete a claim.

eBay's Money Back Guarantee trumps a seller's No Returns policy. All your buyer needs to do to get a refund is open a Not As Described case with eBay for damage in transit. When that happens, the return shipping becomes the seller's expense, eBay will force the refund, and you may not get your item back if you try to fight the case. Your Final Value fees will not be reimbursed as an additional penalty along with a defect on your account. You are better off handling this immediately rather than force a buyer into a corner where they will turn to eBay for satisfaction. 

[kensgiftshop]

@teacher_35y 

If you filed an insurance claim with the carrier, refund the buyer and have them hang on to the item and package so they can be inspected, if needed.

[immortalfigures]

Here are some solutions that worked for me in the past.

1. Ask for pictures of the damage so you can see what happened. I usually don't express this as a requirement of the return, more just for your information. If they don't provide the pictures or refuse to provide it than make a judgment call. Are they doing this because they there is no damage, or an acceptable level of damage, and they hope to bully you into offering a reduction in the cost or giving them a free refund to avoid return shipping fees, or are they being rude, but actually do intend to return the item due to shipping damage.

3. If you feel they are leveraging a partial refund you can do a cost benefit analysis. You can call their bluff and say okay please go ahead and return it and I will give you a refund once I receive it and review its condition. I can say that when I put people into this category about 50% of the time (even if they open a claim and I accept the return) they do not actually return the item. However, if it is a lower price item (which I can see this wasn't by the way) it may be better to just offer a partial refund.  I never agree to fully refund without getting the item back just to save return shipping regardless of the situation (unless I believe that the issue was truly something I did wrong, which has happened before).  

4. If you feel they actually want to return it , but have not opened a case yet, you can either wait to see what happens or try to direct them to the request for a general return. That way I don't believe your profile gets dinged and you have more ability to control the process. If they have opened a case against you then I usually wait until the last second before agreeing to the return. They might be angry right now and sometimes when people cool down the simple effort of getting something ready to ship may become too much for them and they decide to leave it.  In my messages I always make it clear, in a friendly way, that once I receive the item I will be inspecting it before I issue a refund, even though Ebay doesn't care at all about your opinion of the item you receive. However, in the end, if they mail it and you receive the package, you should ultimately issue the refund. 

5. Always remember that unfortunate thigs can happen with shipping and buyers can be upset that they received a damaged item, but that doesn't excuse mean, rude or threatening comments. If things get too escalated, talk to ebay about it. I had a person a year or so ago who bought a 24 vintage plastic soldiers. She bought it and messaged me two days later and asked where the rest of them were. I responded and said that I wasn't sure what she meant that all figure in the lot were pictured. She receives the item a week later and immediately leaves a negative review saying that I was playing stupid and new that certain rare figures weren't part of the set. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about as every figure was pictured and what was in the lot was clear, but that I would be willing to accept a return if she wasn't happy. She opened a case but said she wanted me to send her the missing figure immediately (to this day I have no idea what she was referring to). She sent a lot of mean emails. I talked to ebay and explained the situation. The person on the other end looked at the comments and made closed the case without a negative finding for me, gave the seller their money back, but did not take it from my account, and they removed the negative feedback. Not every interaction with Ebay has been this positive, but if things get too escalated its sometimes good to check in with Ebay to see what they can do, particularly if the seller continues to harass you without opening  a claim or providing a pathway for a resolution WITHIN EBAY (definitely bring up if they only agree to resolve this outside of Ebay). 

Hope this helps. 

[iart]

I just love the idea that a buyer doesn't get what they paid for and a seller is covered because they say 'no returns.'

A seller is held to a much higher standard than a buyer. You should satisfy your buyer.

[wastingtime101]

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@teacher_35y wrote:

Upon inspection I was willing to refund her for the dolls even though my listing says NO refunds. She doesn't feel it's her job to return the dolls and she is threatening me to take further action if she doesn't get her money back immediately.

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If she files a not as described claim through eBay she will need to return something to get a refund. If she files a not as described claim through her credit card as she threatened to do in the feedback left, she may not have to return anything to get a refund.

Send her a link to this page and advise her to follow eBay's Money Back Guarantee returns process. Let her know that she can schedule a free pickup online at USPS.com, or just hand the package to her carrier when her mail is delivered.

You want to keep the claim within eBay's system if you can. Once she goes to AmEx to file a claim, things become more difficult.

If you haven't done so yet @teacher_35y:

1. Blocked List

2. Report Buyer

[katzrul15]

@teacher_35y 

If these were porcelain dolls - did you bubble them before they were placed in their DM boxes or just place them inside the boxes with the tissue paper?

If shipping really was $50, that is pretty high for these (2) dolls.  Listing states items that are not shown in the pix, but state will be included.  Buyer's FB states it was not included - was it?

Not certain you will win a shipping damage claim, depending on "how" these were prepared for shipment.  For Diana's legs and feet to "snap off" as the Buyer claims, the dolls were not packed securely in their factory DM boxes, evidently.

Your Buyer's FB threatens they will file a chargeback with Amex very soon.  It also states their phone number (personal information) - both of these violate e-Bay policy.  You might contact e-Bay and as for the FB to be removed, but you run the *risk* they leave the red Donut and just delete the FB wording.

IMHO, you owe the Buyer a full refund and you need to send a label to the buyer for the dolls and have them send everything back to you or have your shipper pick everything up and get it back to you, etc.   

Your Buyer has received damaged merchandise.  I would make your Buyer file a claim - no claim, no refund.

On the off chance the Buyer is not being forthright, I would go ahead and BBL this Buyer.  Should you decide to do business again in the future, you can always remove them from the BBL.

Good luck.

[lamber9347]

I am a doll collector and based on this negative feedback I would NEVER purchase from you. Not because you received a negative, that can happen to any seller. It's because what this negative says and your horrible response to it. 

I'm not going to bother with what the policies are and your responsibilities as a seller, that's already been explained to you. It just gulls me that you believe you are in the right here. Dolls are very delicate and collectors want what they paid for. The doll collector world is very small and you will quickly get a bad reputation for this transaction. Give her a full refund and try to delete your comments back, if you want to continue to sell collectible dolls. Best of luck to you.... 

[chapeau-noir]

@teacher_35y  Cut to the chase and follow  @wastingtime101  advice, including that she can have the package picked up.  After that, the ball is in her court. 

As for charge-backs, cross that bridge when you come it. 

[katzrul15]

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@teacher_35y wrote:

I recently sold 2 dolls and packaged them carefully within their original boxes and packaged those two boxes in one larger box for protection. Unfortunately my buyer immediately left me a very negative feedback without contacting  me first-because one of the dolls arrived damaged through shipping. She also claimed I was not truthful in my listing which is not true. She was quite irrate in demanding her money back immediately and she wanted me to pick up the dolls. I contacted EBay 3 times so I would follow the right steps in solving this issue. I'm trying to work with her since the damage was neither her fault or mine. I was told to file a claim with the carrier which I did. I was also told to have her send the dolls back to me. Upon inspection I was willing to refund her for the dolls even though my listing says NO refunds. She doesn't feel it's her job to return the dolls and she is threatening me to take further action if she doesn't get her money back immediately. She keeps messaging me very negative remarks which I am tired of responding to. I've tried to be patient and understanding but she's not willing to work with me at all. I need help.

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@teacher_35y 

Just want to point out that if your Buyer does indeed file with Amex - she will not be required to return anything to you.

Also, you state they were damaged in shipping due to no fault of your Buyer (absolutely correct) or "your" fault.  According to e-Bay it is the Seller's fault if the item arrives damaged as you, the "seller" chose the shipping entity and therefore, your burden to bear to get them there.  So, to e-Bay, a Seller is absolutely at fault should the item arrive damaged.

Just some food for thought.  Your Buyer is upset as you are focused on "blaming" someone other than yourself for the damaged shipment. 

You need to re-focus your attention on your Buyer's disappointment and issues with receiving damaged merchandise they paid a lot for and do it quickly to avoid the chargeback with Amex.  Good luck.

[t-bone543]

I just read through the other 694 feedback responses you have received, and there sure are quite a few that commend you on your packing skills. I'm new and all, so I might not be the best judge, but you do have a pretty impressive feedback. 694 glowing responses. Then #695. I think qualifies as statistically insignificant.

[rugerskick]

Holy cow, reading some of these responses, I think the best thing to do is sell these delicate things locally.  That way no dealing with the apparent incredibly dark side of doll collectors.  Good grief.

Some things are not worth the potential hassle selling online.  You might have stumbled across one such category.  Its like people think they can just become incredibly crazy towards someone because its an online transaction.  If thats the typical doll collectors response, maybe its best not to sell online, and just do local sales, or sell them to an antique or doll shop around you for their inventory.  Then you only deal with them once, and quickly, and its over.