Unhappy buyer not wanting to return item wants replacement on his terms

[hyggie63]

Hi again,

Every now and then I do need to come here in regards to a customer and a suggestion on how to deal with a situation.  That is the case here.  I have sold a customer a copy of a clear vinyl record who wants a replacement.  There were some color spots in the vinyl which I have a seriously hard time believing that the coloring would affect the play.  These are new/unplayed copies without being sealed as they came from a box set.  With this request, I did pull down the remaining copies so they could be further inspected.

I advised the customer to go ahead and open a return to get this shipped back and I would give him a full refund.  Customer states he wanted a different copy that shows no color throughout the vinyl, I asked him to return the record to my address and I would ship him a different copy.  Customer was not happy with that either, he asked me to instead, ship him the vinyl from another, leaving the artwork and he would have some way of getting the record back to me without incurring postage.

I have not responded to that at this point, as I have already offered him two ways of dealing with this.  I am just looking for advice at this point.  My main concern is not getting negative feedback (I'm at 100%).  I also want to make sure I am doing what I should do in this situation.

I'm hoping someone has some insight here.  Thank you.

[orangehound]

I would offer the buyer multiple options:

1. Open a Money Back Guarantee claim to return the first album AND purchase a replacement item.   In this way, the buyer gets a free return shipping label that costs you  a few dollars.
2. Send the item back to you and provide the tracking number to you ... once you confirm the item is on its way (in the postal system) then ship out the replacement item.  (This is how I do most exchanges ... the packages cross in the mail).
3. [I would not do this, but you said that your goal is to avoid any chance of negative feedback].   You could ship the customer a replacement copy with a return postage paid label.  Once the customer gets it, then they ship back the first shipment.

[star.fighter]

Did you see spots on any of the other discs?  If so, he is probably right.  If not, i would be very cautious.  Have you looked to see what feedback he has left for other sellers?  If there is a pattern of returns or dissatisfaction, then you should keep your guard up at all times, and definitely not do a partial.  If there is not pattern, then he is probably honest, but you still need to protect yourself.

If he is honest, i believe i see what he is doing...he thinks the artwork is perfect, so doesn't want to lose his perfect artwork.  Nevertheless, what he suggests is risky and you are not protected if you let him return a partial.

You could try explaining that you want this done according to normal procedure -- while reassuring him that you would send back the exact same artwork with a new disc upon conducting a new transaction for him.

I am not well-versed on returns since i rarely ask for them, so my advice is based strictly on the psychology of the situation.  A much more experienced seller would need to give you the mechanics of how to proceed within the ebay system.