Buyer wants refund for 2 x postage! Help!

[johnnyleeds]

Hi folks!

Well all was going so well until a few weeks ago when I sold this radio to a guy in the Outer Hebrides. The radio sold for just under £40 plus a fiver for postage. I sent it the day after receiving payment. However a few days later I received an email from the buyer saying the radio was broken. This was news to me as it was in virtually brand new condition, and I'd tested it fully before writing the description and selling it on Ebay.

Anyway I asked him to send it back to me and I'd give him a refund. So he returned it, paying Royal Mail Special Delivery rates, which I didnt ask him to use - I didnt send it by Special Delivery in the first place. Anyway I discovered that the radio wasnt faulty. All that had happened was during transit a switch had come undone and it just needed clipping back on. So I emailed the guy back and told him this. I also came in this forum and asked what I ought to do. Someone on here recommended I send it back as I'd fixed it and it wasnt broken. So I sent it back as I'd not had a response from the guy.

A few days later the buyer contacts me to say he still wanted a refund as during the time I was posting the radio back to him he'd gone and bought an identical and cheaper radio!! Charming eh? So I agreed to refund him once he'd returned the radio - again! So he returned it, again by Royal Mail Special Delivery. I refunded him the original amount he paid, plus the original cost of postage. However he is still not happy, he claims that I owe him an extra £13 to cover his costs of returning the radio to me twice via Special Delivery!!

Basically it looks like whatever I do this guy is going to leave me negative feedback cos he seems like a proper pillock! To make matter worse, the same radio I had to reauction only sold for £9.95 the second time I had to resell it, so as well as demanding extra money, this idiot has cost me £30 in lost profit!

Sorry to ramble on so much, but I just wondered if anyone on the forum might have any suggestions?

Cheers!

Johnny

[rsot]

Cancel the transaction citing refund. If he leaves you negative feedback, suck it up and reply to his comment. Waste of your time. Block him from bidding.

[dburnside]

if the neg will harm your account try an be nice as pie, £30 might cost you your account if you get other poor dsrs unfortunately

[slim jim]

is it really worth giving yourself such a headache over 30 pounds? you will always have troublesome buyers, it is really the cost of doing business. i am sure you would pay 30 pounds to remove a negative feedback, so why not avoid the situation all together?

[Johnson1]

It can be a hard pill to swallow, but If I ever have this situation and most who sell on eBay do, I apologise, refund them and tell them to keep the goods with my compliments. In the long run it saves a load of worry and hassle and it preserves your reputation. You can get the buyer where nothing will console them but in the main the strategy does work.

[johnnyleeds]

I have refunded the buyer, I also refunded him the cost of postage that I charged to deliver the item to him.

What he is wanting is an extra £13 for sending the item back to me twice by special delivery. Is he within his rights to ask for this, and if I dont give him it, he can threaten me with bad feedback, even though I;ve been completely cooperative up to this point?

[css1]

Does your auction state you accept returns at the buyers expense? If not, then by defauly Ebay/PP will side with him although I don't think they could force you to pay anything back above the value of the auction.

Pretty sure either way you're getting a negative feedback. If you really want to keep your account clean, tell him to leave you a positive and you will send him the rest of the money.

Cost of doing business...

[slim jim]

Originally Posted by johnnyleeds

What he is wanting is an extra £13 for sending the item back to me twice by special delivery. Is he within his rights to ask for this, and if I dont give him it, he can threaten me with bad feedback, even though I;ve been completely cooperative up to this point?

i understand your pain but this is just how business goes, the same thing goes on everyday with many different angles. people know which buttons to push, it is the way they live their life and they pay for it one way or another. don't waste your brainpower over something like this because it just won't help. good luck!

[johnnyleeds]

Well, thanks for the advice folks! I know you're right about having to just grin and bear it, so I will give him the extra £13 on top of the £39 I already refunded him. It just makes my blood boil that this guy has messed me around by purchasing the radio above other bidders who would have paid over £35, then he's returned it over a minor problem that a child could have fixed.

Then when I've tried to send him back the radio repaired at my own cost he said he no longer wants it because he's bought a cheaper one! So when I tried to resell the radio it fetched under a tenner! He doesnt appreciate hes cost me over £40 of my own money, now he wants more!

I imagine he is still going to leave me negative feedback whatever I do. I might try and report him to Ebay for blackmailing me with negative feedback even after I'd refunded his original amount if he does.

Anyway thank god idiots like this are in the minority. It really upsets me when despite my great feedback record, that some chancer like this comes along and makes out like I'm a con man! Its more than frustrating.

[Johnson1]

I hope the idiot sees sense and just accepts his refunds and moves on - good luck

[slapped]

You should look at this as a lesson, Im QUITE sure that you learned something, my personal experience is to ALWAYS give "those" buyers back ALL of their money IMMEDIATLY, and NEVER go back-n-forth with them because you will always lose,,,,full refund, and MOVE ON, I also make it a rule NEVER to sell used electronics, NO matter what the condition,,Brand New in the Box, with manufactures warranty, or NOT at all

[rsot]

That does not include the dildos slapped manufactures for his legion of fans

[mcmx]

I don't think you should've sent it back a 2nd time anyway. I doubt he knew what the problem was with the switch/clip on the back...it's just really bad luck that it came undone. Only thing I'd blame the buyer for is sending it back with the special delivery (which I assume costs a lot more).

[slapped]

Originally Posted by rsot

That does not include the dildos slapped manufactures for his legion of fans

Dildos??,,,Me??,,,,You are the one who gets negative feedback where your buyers say that their purchase from you makes their "hemorrhoids" hurt


Here is the proof:
http://www.aspkin.com/forums/ebay-fe...tml#post394965

Remember that thread?,,,Don,t Worry RSOT, you are my #1 Canadien, and, I still love you,,,just do NOT ever ask me to prove it,,,

[lisa21801]

You know what. When you get a negative,it may cost you your entire account on eBay.
I look at things this way, it takes alot of time and advertising to get that customer to buy from you.
I never hassle for refunds.
Just yesterday, I had a brand new electronics item.
I shipped it,I shipped it overbite.
I spent probably 2x what the customer paid me for shipping. I do this,as most of my accts are all 5's,every category.
Also, from nov to dec most likely it's a gift.
Customer emails me, says its not new, it's missing the remote,md has food on the instruction booklet.
I did this, ( keep in mind, after 15+ yrs on eBay, I feel most folks are genuinely good.
There are a few bad apples.
Anyhow, I refunded his money in full,plus I added an extra $10 , then I told him to keep the item as well.
I told him consider it being paid forward.
What I did,was I got straight 5's from him,plus,most likely he will be a repeat customer,
And if he is a scam,maybe just maybe,he will feel bad over time,
And reflect on what he did.
Anyhow, I am always easy on returns.my customers know me,
They write into eBay corp about me,I've been to several eBay picnics with meg,etc.
That's just my 2 cents on the matter.
Good luck!