Fearing a fraud - I sold a My First Readybed on Ebay (used) and buyer says its "deflating".....

[lilQuidditchKel]

Hi
am so nervous my perfect feedback score could be ruined!
I sold a Readybed (my son's, only very gently used) to a buyer who says it's deflating after 2 hours.
Has anyone ever had a readybed deflate on them? What can I do if the buyer is lying?

Thanks...

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

I bought one new from a shop and it deflated after a couple of hours the first time I blew it up

sorry no help at all
no idea what you can do, sorry

[FAQtothefuture]

ask them to return in and you'll then refund the money. The chances are if they're taking the piss they won't pursue it.

I had someone last summer tell me that the slippers I'd sold her (worn about 3 times by DS2 so virtually brand new, just a tiny bit of scuffing on one toe) had a hole in them.

I asked her to return them for a refund, and strangely (not!) she had "already thrown them in the bin" and never followed through her complaint.

[crokky]

Have a read of all the buyer's feedback comments and look at the feedback he/she has left for others. It should be relatively easy to see if they are a decent person.

If they look genuine, probably offer them a refund/return or whatever.

If they are lying and you don't refund there will be nothing you can do to protect your feedback which is very annoying.

[mrsgboring]

I also had a readybed do this deflating thing - I don't know at what point it went flat but probably after a couple of hours. DS may have punctured it but I couldn't see where if he did.

[ANTagony]

In similar circumstances I offer a refund minus postage without item returned or full refund if they agree to return item.

Yep may well be fraud but its the whole feedback bribary game.

Overall there are far more genuine people out there.

[lilQuidditchKel]

the buyer made it clear that she was strapped for cash - in the past she has not paid postage on an item and got negative feedback because the sale couldn't go through.

have offered refund. am still worried, think she might have had second thoughts and now just wants money back. sigh. I'm sure it wasn't faulty!

[sarah573]

My kids sleep on ready beds when we stay at my sisters. If you don't get the valve quite right when you close them they deflate, and its not obvious that its wrong iwswim!

[lilQuidditchKel]

Sarah thanks that's encouraging to hear...

[tiredandgrumpy]

We had one of these & it started deflating - had a tiny puncture. I spotted it & repaired it and now as good as new. Put it in the bath to find out where the hole was, then used the repair patch which came with the bed.

[Charliepw]

God this all sounds like a pain in the arse.
i agree, offer them a full refund of the item only (not the postage that you paid to post it to them) when and only when you receive the item back.
Tell them to get a proof of postage at the post office in case they say they have posted it to you but they haven't.

A way to see where a puncture might be, would be to shove it in the bath, if it is small enough to fit in the bath whilst it's inflated?
Whilst inflated in the bath, give it a bit of a squish and you should see bubbles appear from where the air is releasing.
The bubbles will point you in the direction of the hole.

Charlie

[ShazzyLouise]

eBay Sellers Beware - This Scam Happened to me

The eBay Buyers Protection Policy is allowing dishonest buyers to get a refund on your item without returning it. Always insist on 'cash on collection' for large items that are 'buyer collect only'.

The Scam.......Your buyer pays by PayPal for a large item which they collect. At anytime up to 30 days after receipt they can request to return the item for the reason 'it is not as described'.
Their aim is not to actually return the item but to have the item and to have their payment too. Once they have requested to return the item your PayPal payment will be frozen and will eventually be refunded to the buyer (if you have already withdrawn the PayPal payment it will be debited from your affiliated bank account, or if you have no affiliated bank account, eBay will refund the buyer and the amount will sit as a debt on your PayPal account).
EBay will then give you a period of time to resolve the buyers problem, but at no time will they expect the buyer to produce any evidence of their issue and if there has been no progress regarding the return request by the end of the period they will arbitrarily rule in the buyers favour regardless of how unreasonable it may be. As eBay have found in the buyers favour they will insist that the cost of the return must be born by you the seller.
At the time of the Returns Request the buyer will have ticked a box requesting 'Courier Collection only' (even if it was sold as a buyer collect only item), making the collection so prohibitively expensive that most sellers will 'write off the item' meaning that the buyer will get the item and a refund.
If you decide to 'suck up' the cost of collecting the item, it will need to be done within a time frame stipulated by Ebay and if it is not collected in that time the refund is issued by eBay automatically to the buyer and they have no obligation to return the item. So, buyers planning on getting the item for free will just obstruct any collection attempts by the seller. Ebay are not interested in how hard you have worked to try to collect the item or how obstructive the buyer has been. When the collection time frame has expired it is 'game over'. You have no money and no returned item. To add insult to injury, eBay will slap you with an eBay charge because the buyer has used the eBay resolution centre to enforce this scam.

Please pass this on to any potential eBay sellers!