Return of a custom made order, photo show it is not what I sent

[rjpgramma]

I make Reborn Baby Art Dolls OOAK (One of A Kind). I started 3 yrs ago. I sold an Art doll to a lady that was just not quick enough and someone else bought the doll she wanted. I offered to make her a new one as close to the original as possible and send with the first one she bought earlier that day. I stayed up until 3 am working on that doll. She received it in the ail, 2 days later she bought another. The next day emailed she was returning custom order. I do not do returns b/c they are one of a kind items. I reorted her 3 times before she even opened a return case. She was demanding, started emailing my personal email with nasty comments. I accepted the return, sent her a label, she waited 5 days to ship. I did not send this doll to her and is not my work...anyone have any suggestions. This is the first time on this board.

[orangehound]

I am sorry that this happened to you.  The only thing that you could do is contact the buyer and politely let her know that the doll that you received is not the one that was originally shipped, and see if she is willing to work with you to get the correct doll returned.

If it was an honest mistake, great! 

But, if she is doing this dishonestly, then there is nothing that you can do to recover your losses via eBay because (a) eBay now fully manages returns for us, and (b) eBay's return policies are sweet targets for dishonesty, stealing, and scams.   Really, the only thing you can do is log a complaint on the buyer via the returns page ... it doesn't help you, but it might eventually penalize the buyer's account if the buyer has a pattern of this behavior.

[chrysylys]

There have been more than a few threads about these things over the years.  One thing I've picked up on is that the people that buy them ....  well, to be 'delicate' ....  they sometimes seem to have some problems with credibility.

[classic_luxe]

I would contact the buyer through eBay messages with a photo attached of what was purchased and sent from your listing, as well as a photo of what she "mistakenly" returned to you. Be polite but don't give up, I have never lost the few cases that I have worked to resolve with the truth.

Last month I sold a $100 limited edition collectible Christmas ornament in brand new condition as my listing with 12 photos showed and within a day of receiving it the buyer opened a return request stating that I sent an ornament with a large piece of it broken off and the piece was not in there so I had intentionally shipped it that way. I sent a clear and close-up photo of what was shipped and the condition it was in, as well as stated that I still had over 80 photos of the item that was shipped and assured them that I would never ship something in that condition and asked for more photos for insurance purposes and asked that they return the original ornament with all tags, COA and box. Since these are unique hand blown ornaments each one has small differences which I had already noted but did not disclose to the buyer. Evidently, they realized this wasn't going to be an easy "switcheroo" with their broken ornament and they never responded again and I had the case closed in my favor after 10 days.

[sam9876]

That buyer could have returned a rock to you and you would be forced to issue a 100% refund.

[classic_luxe]

No, not necessarly and especially if you know how to handle it.

[orangehound]

---

@classic_luxe wrote:

No, not necessarly and especially if you know how to handle it.

---

@classic_luxe

I would love for you to share your wisdom/strategy on how you have successfully dealt with a buyer who returns a rock.

[berserkerplanet · Accepted solution]

>>wisdom/strategy on how you have successfully dealt with a buyer who returns a rock.

Strategy requires a trebuchet, a water buffalo, a large drum of oil, a torch, some twine, and the rock the buyer returned.

The rest is obvious to anyone who has ever assaulted a medieval castle.

[rjpgramma]

I just went through all my listing photos for the past 3 years. She is sending her so called return back with an item (doll) she bought fro me 6 months ago with the clothes from a doll she bought a year ago.

[rjpgramma]

and they did edit it!

[rjpgramma]

Thank you Sir, It was better to do it here, then directly to the buyer. She is scamming ebay and me!

[berserkerplanet]

I'm not sure you are going to be able to find the water buffalo on eBay

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice to offer - the current buyer-centric climate leaves few options.

[sam9876]

How would you handle it?