Buyer claiming goods are faulty after 5 weeks

[Indiestarr]

I sold a camera lens which was in perfect working order and had only been used about two or three times. The buyer was in Greece so it cost £15 to send the item which was added to the cost of the goods. Postage was tracked and the lens arrived on the 28th April.
Now suddenly five weeks later (on the 2nd June) the buyer has requested a refund saying that the lens is faulty. I'm sure there was absolutely nothing wrong with it when I sold it. In accordance with eBay's money back guarantee policy the £100 payment has been frozen in my PayPal account pending my agreement to refund the money.
This all seems a bit unreasonable to me. The buyer has had the goods for five weeks, so who's to say he hasn't damaged them within that time and is now claiming they were faulty? It seems that eBay policy makes no provision for this and the seller has no protection at all. What's more, if I agree to the refund I have to pay the return postage as the item was 'faulty', as well as refunding the buyer's postage costs to send the item in the first place, so I will be £30 out of pocket

[WeAreEternal]

I think you need to speak to eBay customer service, maybe call them, I have always found them to be very helpful when I've had an issue and them spoken to them in person. A lot of the 'cases' are all automated so a person doesn't actually assess it unless you draw their attention to it.

[Indiestarr]

Thanks, I'll definitely do this if you think I have a case. I don't want to be unfair to someone if they have a genuine grievance but I do think this seems a bit fishy - and I stand to lose out significantly!

[19lottie82]

the buyer has 30 days to open a case from the latest ESTIMATED delivery date, which may have been generous if your posting abroad.

I'm afraid all you can do is request they return it for a full refund. You won't win if you try and fight this. That's the joys of eBay I'm afraid.

Calling customer service won't make a difference. They ALWAYS decide in the favour of the buyer unless you have cold hard evidence they are trying to pull a fast one, and even then it's 50/50!

[Indiestarr]

Well, I do have evidence of the delivery date so hopefully that counts for something! But I won't get my hopes up too much then.

[expatinscotland]

This is why I never sell on Ebay anymore. This person screwed you.

[19lottie82]

I'm afraid the delivery date won't make a difference - it's not 30 days after delivery. It's 30 days after the latest estimate of delivery at the time of sale.