Buyers open false return. What can I do?

[sai83her]

I have a buyer who made a purchase around evening on Thanksgiving day 2019. Today is Sunday 12-1-2019.  The buyers open a return case for "missing parts/pieces today. I have not even sent the package yet as I was out of town. I message the buyer that I won't be sending them their package until Monday 12/2 as I would be leaving town for Thanksgiving. The ebay estimated delivery date for them is 12/5/2019 and a ebay ship by date for me is 12/2/2019. So what can I do?

[ittybitnot]

If your buyer already filed a "return request" and you haven't shipped it yet, why not simply refund through the case? 

Of course, make use of the BBL as well. 

[sai83her]

I will get an item defect for something I have no control over

[gwzcomps]

I wouldn't ship it. You shouldn't get any defects. Give them a refund and report the buyer to eBay. Be sure to report that it was a false claim and you haven't even shipped it out yet. Also be sure to block them as mentioned above. If you take a hit to your seller metrics call eBay and let them know what happened.

[gwzcomps]

On a side note with your listings like 303376463516 I would put the condition as "for parts or repair". A bent pin in most cases would be considered a major defect to the item. Regardless of whether it works or not it will help minimize NAD returns. Won't protect you, but it should help mitigate risks.

[sai83her]

Yes, I think that is the best solution. I reached out to the buyer through the messaging system and also through the return. So far, i lucked out and have not receive a response from them. I'll just go ahead and refund them and call ebay to remove the defect. Hopefully they understand that this was a false return request.

[sai83her]

I find it that even if I have listed for parts/repair. A buyer could still open a return under any reason. Even battling with ebay customer service will not change their decision to reject a return. So, No win for us. So since with just a broken pin and the item has been tested and is still working, i'll just list it as "used" with the condition described unless it truly is not working.

[gwzcomps]

I get it, I just like to go the worse route since it weeds out some of the bad buyers.

[richard1rst]

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@sai83her wrote:
I will get an item defect for something I have no control over

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You only get a defect if you do nothing. Responding to and settling the return will get a ding as a return which, frankly, is of small consequence unless you have racked up a whole bunch over 30 days. But that is NOT the same as a defect for Unresolved Case.

And in any case it automatically disappears after 90 days.

[zmoz]

DO NOT GIVE THEM A REFUND! You have absolutely no obligation to do this. If they opened a claim before you even shipped it ebay will see this and cancel it. Any defects will be removed. You will probably have to call them and likely have to ask for a supervisor. It is very very very obvious in the ebay system that if an item is not shipped yet, and it isn't supposed to be, then no claim is valid. I'm not sure why they allow buyers to open them like this, it should be blocked. This is a direct violation of the ebay "abusive buyer policy", and as such any defects MUST be removed. This isn't even a hard one to argue.

I just had a very similar situation. Idiot buyer didn't bother to look at the listed handling time. Decided he didn't like it after the sale. Tried this nonsense, ebay shut him down. I sent the item as scheduled. As soon as ebay software detected it was delivered, the case was closed. Feedback deleted. Refund denied.