advice to respond to request please

[kiwibella]

I need help!

I recently sold my daughter's wool coat on ebay. I thought it was in good condition - it was worn for one winter. The winning ebayer paid £1.70.

It has probably been two weeks since the ebayer received this item and I have received this message today:

Hi, Thank you for the coat. However the coat has had some wear with bobbles showing and a few stains which you did not mention in your description. Futhermore there is an excessive amount charged for p&p and received late. I paid in total £5.20 but did not expect to receive the coat in this condition. I thought it was only fair to let you know before leaving feedback. To settle this issue i will accept a partial refund of £2.90 with no return of the jacket. Please let me know.

Is this fair? I want to reply to point out that she got a £40 coat for £5. There may be some bobbling but I don't remember it being troublesome. I would prefer to have her return the coat back rather than pay her £2.90.

Love to hear your advice / experience. Thanks

[WhereYouLeftIt]

Your buyer is trying it on.

Did you notice stains? I think some bobbling is acceptable in a used garment. They were buying a second-hand garment, expectation of perfect condition is not reasonable. And yes, a £40 coat for a fiver is a bit of a bargain!

P&P covers packaging materials too, they have a cost over and above just the postage (what was the actual postage you paid anyway?). TBH £3.50 sound OK to me for a child's coat.

I would do as you are already thinking; point out the original cost, it is 2nd hand but only worn for 1 winter, and offer a full refund if they return the coat. I doubt if they will accept. But if they then give you negative feedback - which does seem implied - you can state they refused a refund.

I'm becoming less enamoured with eBay by the day.

[kiwibella]

thanks for confirming what I thought, whereyouleftit. I don't think I am going to bother getting in to an argument with her - offer her a refund for what she paid.

My postage was £2.24 and I charged £3.50... maybe it was excessive but she knew what I was charging when she bid. Who knows how she arrived at £2.90.

I was so disappointed with my ebay experience, overall. I put my dd's "best" bits on hoping to make her a few £££ and made £9 (not including postage costs). My heart broke... but still grateful for the £9 these days!!!

[southeastastra]

what a cow, i would say you will offer a full refund once the coat is returned. she's trying it on big time.

[pagwatch]

If it was bobbled then she is trying it on. If it has stains on then she may have a point. If it is wool she will have to pay to dry clean it with no certaintythat stains will come out.

I am not sure why you only "thought" it was in good condition - did you not inspect it thoroughly when you photographed it? Did you specify what condition it was in?

If you are sure it was in good condition then you should do what Southeast says and tell her you will give full refund upon return. If she is trying it on she will keep it. Don't give her feedback until she has posted hers then , if she is negative you can put what actually happened .

[kiwibella]

I shouldn't have used 'thought' in my op.

It was in good condition. I am not aware of any stains or bobbling.

I also shouldn't have said it was wool - it was 63% wool / 37 % viscose and I stated this in my advert.

I photographed both front and back and put both pictures on my ad.

I will offer her a refund. Thanks for the tip to wait to leave her feedback.

[pagwatch]

sounds like she was trying it on then.
Hope you sort her out

[pebbles79]

Did you mention bobbling in the listing? If you didn't then regardless of what I paid I wouldn't expect to receive an item with it unless it was specified in the description. However, if an item was stained I wouldn't want to keep it so think she may be trying it on.

[kiwibella]

omg... I responded to her message last night and asked her to send back the coat and I would process a refund. Today, I have received from paypal:
New Significantly Not as Described Dispute

xxxxx has opened a dispute for the payment made on 29 Sep 2009 indicating that the item they received did not match the original description.

xxxxx has requested a 2.90 GBP refund.

Unbelievable!!

[kiwibella]

but wait, there's more! I have gone in to the transaction at paypal and found her message:

Thank you for your e.mail. To return the coat would be a further cost to me. The garment is in poor condition which has had some wear and has bobbles.To settle this dispute , I will accept a partial refund of £2.90 with no return of the coat. i believe this is a reasonable amount. Please let me know.

I do not believe the coat is in poor condition. Yes, it was worn regularly by my daughter for one winter.

I have suggested that she send the coat back for a refund.

Should I just escalate this dispute to a PayPal claim? What would you do?

I'm so disappointed by this experience .

[BertieBotts]

Oh some buyers really spoil the whole ebay thing for everyone.

You are in the right, the buyer is trying it on. They could see the postage charges before they paid and they should have queried it then. There are postal strikes on so some delays in delivery are to be expected.

Say you will only refund if the buyer returns the item. Unfortunately I don't know the way these tend to usually go.

[kiwibella]

I have worked out that a refund of £2.90 would mean that she will get the coat for free!!!!!!

Here is my reply which I have drafted.... I would appreciate opinions

I will not refund £2.90 for the coat which you have purchased from me for £1.70. I am sorry that you are not satisfied by its condition. There were very clear photographs that accompanied my advert and if you had any concerns, you should have not placed a bid.

Furthermore, I will dispute that £3.50 was an excessive charge for postage. The actual cost of Royal Mail's charges was £2.24. You will respect my time, travel costs, and materials involved in sending this item to you. Once again, I will stress, that if you had any concerns about my postal charges you should not have placed a bid.

I have already apologised for the lateness of the delivery of this item. As I communicated with you, I could not find email notification of your payment so I queried this with you immediately. I believed this issue was rectified.

(as it states really, my fault - oversight - couldn't find her payment and didn't think to check paypal but did email her to query where her payment was)

If you still wish to dispute this item, please escalate it to allow paypal to decide. Refunding you £2.90 will incur further cost to me. I have already requested that you return the coat to me and I will process a refund.

[kiwibella]

if anyone is following this thread , I would appreciate your opinion to my response.

The buyer has now escalated her dispute to a claim listing her reasons as:
Externally Damaged
Time Sensitive Late
Postage Cost

I have to keep reminding myself that I sold several other items at the same time to satisfied customers . I'm annoyed that this woman is unhappy with the item yet wants it for free. If I had wanted to give it away, I know more deserving recipients that I could have given it too... grrrrr!!

-------
There were no obvious flaws in this item when it was sold. The coat was genuinely listed as 'used' and clear pictures accompanied the advert. The buyer paid £1.70.

Delivery was initially delayed and explained to the buyer at the time. I also apologised profusely by email. I had been unable to find email notification of her payment so queried when payment would be made. The buyer immediately clarified this situation.

At the time of bidding, the buyer was aware of postage costs, which were fair and reasonable.

The buyer notified me at least seven days after receiving her purchase that she was unhappy with its condition. I have requested several times for the coat to be returned if the buyer is unhappy with her purchase. I am happy to process a refund to ensure her satisfaction. I would like the coat returned since its quality is not acceptable to the buyer.

[mustrunmore]

God I hate ebay now

Just a thought, but maybe if you told us where in the country she was, a kind mumsnetter could offer to have the coat dropped to her/collect it... you can tell the buyer that this is a friend of yours, and she will gladly assess the condition of the coat, and then the return wont cost postage etc etc. She what she says to that

[mustrunmore]

Btw, what did you say on the listing about returns? Just out of interest. I always leave it as 'no returns' to cover myself a bit.

[Piffle]

Demand the return and full refund of her and your postage, ok you'll be out of pocket, but she is trying it on.
Paypalshould support you in asking for the item back.
Tell her you will refund the entire amount or nothing

[kiwibella]

thanks for your responses. Actually mustrunmore, I've had that same thought. She is probably an hour from me and I've considered driving up and collecting it. It has so become the principle now. I would rather be out of pocket and have the coat back!!!

I'm not sure about returns... I will check that and definately note it if I ever get brave enough to sell stuff on ebay again.

Piffle, she has escalated it to a paypal claim (my preference too) so now I have to get my words right for my reply.

Does my reply below sound ok? Any improvements or bits I could stress more firmly?

I'm so annoyed by this!!!!!!

[themerrywidow]

The more I read about ebay the more I am convinced it attracts the derranged On ebay your 'experience' is visible- the number next to your name is the number of transactions you have done, I suspect you are a 'virgin'. She knows this. Tell her to do her worst- none of it has any teeth anyway. If you are basically honest, this will show through. The fact that she wants a refund and not to return the goods shows she is a chancer. Postage is quoted as part of the price- she agreed to this when she bid so can't complain now. Be very curt. She saw pictures, she knew the postage, she bid and she won. End of story. Ignore her.

[mustrunmore]

Ooo, do it do it! Offer to come and get it back in person! Is there anything nice where she is; you could have a day trip to make it worth while?!

[kiwibella]

thanks merrywidow - that's exactly how I played it. I suggested that she escalated it to a claim... yet, now I'm bricking it, expecting the worst.

I'll be delirious if paypal decide my way.

[hocuspontas]

I wouldn't mention time and travel costs - I don't think that's allowed to be included. I would just say it was the packaging that cost the extra over the postage.

Good luck - sounds awful. And paypal usually come down in favour of the buyer so be prepared to have to fully refund and be neg'd

[hocuspontas]

Just looked on your profile. I am about an hour away from you - tell me where she is

[kiwibella]

haha, I've just checked my profile.. I don't live in London any more . But anyone in the midlands .

hocuspontas... that's not what I wanted to hear!!!!!!

[hocuspontas]

Yeah - sorry. I've re-read it and it does sound depressing! But it's the worst case scenario. You have a good case I think...

[EachPeachPearMum]

Sounds like she is just wanting something for nothing. I am in midlands....

[bigstripeytiger]

She has to return the item to you if she wants a refund, I think thats how paypal works?

If she has refused to return the item to you then I dont think paypal will entertain her.

She is trying it on.