what would you do if you had this return

[buytodayshipnextday]

buyer purchased a vintage working radio. claimed it did not receive signals. it did in our test but you can smell a return so i gave him two options, a partial refund or a return. he opted to return.

arrived today not just no longer working but busted. blown fuse & a busted on/off switch. i do not believe it was due to carrier neglect.

ebays advice: send the buyer photos explain the issues (which did). do nothing. do not refund the buyer. HOWEVER THE CASE WILL CLOSE IN THEIR FAVOR & THEY WILL BE REFUNDED!

ebay will then open a dispute or possibly i have to? (unclear about that).

no surprise, buyer sends a very long angry message alleging it was carrier neglect, he did not tamper with it, it's busted because the replacement on/off switch is cheap/fragile although i don't know how the fuse would just blow by itself

here's where it gets dicey...once ebay reads his message claiming he did nothing wrong i suspect they will close the case in his favor and then i'll get a defect  for not resolving the return or case in the buyers favor when i was just following the advice of the ebay rep.

here's the question?

do you just refund him & deal with the carrier claiming it was due to their neglect?

or EAT IT?

[fin-william]

This is eBay so buyer will get his money back, even if he destroyed the item or even if he would have shipped back a completely different item.

[mtgraves7984]

do you just refund him & deal with the carrier claiming it was due to their neglect?

or EAT IT?

@buytodayshipnextday 

Of the choices, I guess I'd "EAT IT". After all, it's too late to file a claim on the first shipment, no? Bummer...

[buytodayshipnextday]

what is MOST wrong with this scenario is you risk another defect if it closes in the buyers favor when all you were doing was trying to prove an item was returned not as it was sold & you were taking the advice from ebay to do just that

[theteamsetguy]

Unfortunately, no matter how or where you sell you are going to get a dishonest buyer every now and then. You sell long enough you will eventually run into one. Fortunately in my opinion and from my experience these types of buyers are few and far between. 

If I got someone like this,where the buyer damaged the item and returned it. I just eat it and put them on my BBL. I don’t get them frequently enough to spend too much time on it even though I sell over 10,000 items a year on here. This a second income for me. I get a couple of buyers like this a year. 

[12345jamesstamps]

I would refund if not already refund now. Photos do not help and antagonizing the buyer with emails doesn't work in your favor. You got the item back. Lucky it wasn't rocks or something. I got back a dark bag of something liquid in it once and I sell stamps. Don't want to get a demerit from eBay as well.

It's a part of selling and we all have been there. Block the buyer from future purchases.

[krazzykats]

Refund and don't look back.

[ebooksdiva]

Just refund …if you wait around for eBay you will get a defect for not handling your returns. I think it maybe too late to file a claim with the shipping service you used. But it doesn’t hurt to ask the shipper if you can still file a claim for damages. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

That rep gave you very bad advice!!

If the buyer opened a Not As Described case, you must refund or eBay will do it for you out of your funds, not give you your Final Value fees back, and put a defect on your account that can downgrade your standing on the platform.

I offer free returns which gives me an option to withhold up to 50% of the refund if buyer returns an item in an altered condition. But in this case, i would still have refunded in full if it was a regular return because the buyer said it arrived in a non-working state.

When selling vintage goods, damage in transit is always a possibility for delicate inner components in old electronics.

[chapeau-noir]

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@theteamsetguy wrote:

Unfortunately, no matter how or where you sell you are going to get a dishonest buyer every now and then. You sell long enough you will eventually run into one. Fortunately in my opinion and from my experience these types of buyers are few and far between. 

If I got someone like this,where the buyer damaged the item and returned it. I just eat it and put them on my BBL. I don’t get them frequently enough to spend too much time on it even though I sell over 10,000 items a year on here. This a second income for me. I get a couple of buyers like this a year. 

---

This right here. Selling online has its pitfalls, no matter where you sell.  I'm sorry this happened but the most important thing right now is to protect your account - this mess is been and done, but going forward you want to be stay healthy. Just refund, then file buyer abuse of MBG. Unfortunately, this crap happens and it's called 'shrinkage.'

Most people are honest.

[fab_finds4u]

Upon receiving less than a full refund all the buyer would have to do is tell eBay they returned an item that was received  broken and not working and the seller didn't  refund in full after it was returned and they want all their money back.

I guarantee they will get it. Deducting up to 50% is for remorse returns where they returned it with tags missing, used or altered and not in the original  condition or packaging . When it's a SNAD they get a full refund. 

I reckon a defect could be given if that happens.

[inhawaii]

Refund the buyer and eat it.

[ms.rodriguez*]

NO choice but to refund.  BLOCK the buyer. Remember, this sale is a complete loss.  The payment shows as income.  The refund  will be a deduction.   So if they paid 100 and you refunded 100, the 2 #s go in 2 separate columns when you do your taxes.  There will be NO tax due on this one since it's a total loss.

Can you still sell the radio for parts?  I would retake the photos and do a new listing. Maybe add a few bucks.  Make sure that you write  GOOD for parts only in the title and in several places in the description in BOLD LETTERS.      

[buytodayshipnextday]

UPDATE: ebay said I had until the 6th of June. In a matter of hours they closed the case & TO NO SURPRISE in the buyers favor. However it was they who refunded him & the outcome would not affect  my status aka stick me with a defect that was not justified.

Reading between the lines....it's their way of saying , the buyer "probably," screwed with the unit & since you showed photos "claiming" it as such we're going to refund him cause, well, we're ebay  & we won't zing & ding you. While that was a better outcome it just enables this type of behavior.

[ms.rodriguez*]

That is great.  Are you sure that they did not take your money?  Anyway, make sure that you block that buyer. By the way, that is a great Ebay name.