Grrrr! Flipping ebay buyers!

[GoneGirl1234]

I'm so sick of ebay! I've sold a lot of stuff over the years and have rarely had problems but the last couple of weeks I've had nothing but PITA buyers and this last one takes the biscuit. I'm so frustrated that I could cry!

I sold a lovely Phase Eight dress for £25, I bought it a couple of years ago for a wedding but never got round to wearing it. It was in perfect condition and £25 was a real bargain. The buyer was nagging for me to send it Special Delivery but didn't want to pay the extra cost (because apparently I shouldn't charge anything for postage so by paying for 2nd Class Recorded she is actually entitled to Special Delivery! ). I offered to cancel the transaction and refund her but said I wouldn't be paying for Special Delivery. She says no, actually 2nd Class is fine.
THEN, as soon as I had posted it & sent her tracking number she says "I can't afford this dress any more, I want to send it back, give me a refund etc", I explain that I don't give refunds and it clearly said this in the auction, and that I had offered to cancel the transaction and refund her before I posted it.

The day that the dress was delivered she opens a claim against me on eBay saying that the dress is damaged. I responded to claim and asked her to send photos of alleged damage. Buyer has just uploaded pictures of the dress, she has completely vandalized the dress! She has torn the skirt up the front and has something that looks like nail varnish spilt all over the bodice. I am so angry at the cheek of her! I am going to phone ebay this evening but I've heard so many stories about them siding with the buyer in all circumstances that I'm worried they will tell me I have to refund her.

[LeBoob]

This is so frustrating & blatant that she is trying it on! Speak to eBay, be clear, show them the messages, she clearly got caught up in the auction and tried her luck from then on out! Are your photos of the dress date marked or do you have proof of when the photos were taken? I hope eBay see this for what it is, a blatant scammer!

[GoneGirl1234]

Thanks LeBoob! I'm so angry that I'm nearly crying with frustration.
I've got copies of all the messages, I don't have date marked photos but I took them all on my phone - I'll transfer pictures to my computer and see if I can get any file data from them that shows when they were taken.
What a bloody cow!!!

[runningLou]

I think she may have shot herself in the foot by damaging it so outrageously - I mean there's no way you would sell a dress like that, so the damage taken with her previous unreasonable messages re: postage and cancelling the transaction should hopefully sway eBay in your favour. It's so unlikely you would have photographed a dress in perfect condition, from every angle, then damaged it, then posted it! Call eBay - they will be on your side. She may have other marks on her buyer's record that they can see and you can't. Good luck resolving it. I would message her now saying the dress was in perfect condition when it left your home, you have pictures to prove it, and will be taking it up with eBay.

[TheCustomaryMethod]

Contact eBay - she might have a track record for this type of thing - eBay will be able to see this, and if she's on blocked bidder lists etc. If she messaged you through eBay they'll be able to see the background - if not, you can send them her emails.

The cheek of some people is unbelievable!

[GoneGirl1234]

Thanks so much RunningLou - I'm going to send her the message you suggested and will ring ebay as soon as I get tome tonight.
CustomaryMethod, thankfully she sent all her messages through ebay so they can see the proof. I'm annoyed with myself too because I was getting warning bells when she started on about the postage but I didn't want to cancel in case she left me bad feedback - I wish I did now

[LeBoob]

If the photos were taken on your phone, they will have a sort of date stamp, especially iPhones as they are categorised in order & with a location stamp! What an awful
Women for being so spiteful!

[19lottie82]

I know it's only a small amount but I'd make it clear that I would be willing to peruse the matter in the small claims court.

I hate scammers like this and will fight tooth and nail to see them get their come uppance!

[Madbengalmum]

It is people like this idiot that give ebay a bad name.
oP i hope you get justice on this one, as ebay have somewhat of a record for siding with the buyer whatever. Some people are just evil.

[thedevilandme]

Officially you can refuse a return but it often leads to this type of situation, eBay will always defend the buyer. It's a rubbish policy but that's the way it has been for a while now.

Basically, if someone wants a return you should accept otherwise it's likely they will do something like this. eBay has really gone downhill for private sellers now that it's dominated by small businesses, Gumtree and the new Facebook selling pages are better options with no fees.

[JustSpeakSense]

I really hope you get justice, you always hear eBay favours the buyer, but in this case as she has vandalised the dress to such a ridiculous degree, hopefully eBay will find in your favour.

[ImaLannister]

Can we have her ID please? Totally blocking her 😡

[DaphneDeLaFontaine]

I hope you didn't have to refund the cheeky cunt.

[Mollylove]

This is awful! Let us know how it turned out.
I'm completely fed up with eBay too at the moment.

[mrsnoon]

If eBay are being difficult suggest to them you may involve the police and Action Fraud. When similar happened to my DH they were suddenly MUCH more helpful from that point.