AIBU to think this woman is trying to scam us?

[stealthpenguin]

My partner sold his old iPhone on eBay for a really cheap price as it was used and had some scratches on the back. The woman who purchased it didn't collect it until a week after we posted it Next-Day, and then opened a dispute with eBay stating we were being uncooperative, we're refusing a refund and that the iPhone is faulty. Bear in mind she hadn't even sent us a message to say there was anything wrong!!

We sent her a message saying that, although we stated "no refund" on the auction, we'd be happy to give her money back. We sent our address and PayPal has the money so we can't touch it.

She's now complained she's not had her money back, and "as soon as I get my money I'll send the iPhone". We told her that's not possible as they won't release the funds until we acknowledge receipt of the iPhone.

We've since had two other messages saying she won't send the iPhone unless we refund her shipping costs as well as the full price she paid, even though we can't because eBay have the money already (and we wouldn't even if we could!).

Who is being unreasonable?! I'm pretty sure it's her but I'm so confused as to why someone would pull all of this trouble up!

YANBU, What has E-bay said when you contacted customer support?

She has to return the phone by trackable method before you can give her a refund.

She is being unreasonable, and quite possibly trying to pull a scam too, as phones are notorious for being one of the worst items to buy/sell on ebay.

Your money will probaby be held by paypal at the moment, but the onus is now on her to return the phone to you.

You can contact ebay on their live help chat too, and see that they advise.

It does sound like a scam to me.

Don't give in to paying before the goods come back - and don't worry about her giving you a bad review either.

You don't refund until you receive your item back.
Paypal/ebay will not issue a refund (on your behalf) until the item is returned.

Message her one more time explaining how it works and then leave it. If she doesn't return it then the money will become available to you again in paypal.

If you need to state a case in a dispue keep it calm and to the point. (staff hate reading rambling points of view)

I had the exact same thing with a Gucci watch I tried to sell for a friend who assured me it was real and this guy claimed he was a collector and it was fake, he refused to post the watch unless he had a refund first, he kept saying he wanted the dispute ended without the help of eBay otherwise it would mean bad feedback for me. I thought it was a bit suss so I said whatever raise a dispute with eBay as I refuse to refund it without the watch being returned. Turns out him threatening me bad feedback was bollox coz through eBay they told him he had to send it back first and if he were to give me bad feedback it would be deleted as I was polite and helpful throughout (they could see this in my messages)

Get eBay involved! X

Have contacted CS and they essentially said that she won't get her money until the phone is back in our hands via a track able method.

We just thought she might be belligerent until she started asking for the money first...

Forgot to say, PayPal held onto the refund for days and it pissed him off even further!

And turns out my watch is real

also state in your message to her that you need her to return the phone so that you can check the serial number. Tell her to return it with the original packaging so that you can determine whether any damage was incured during transit.
She may return a different/faulty phone - so check.

Good point, SixLostMonkeys! We'll check if it's ours if we get it...

she is trying to scam you

Don't worry. She can't expect refund if she doesn't return. Don't give in to her unreasonable demands.

Well, we've not had the iPhone back, and eBay CS have got involved. They've told her that unless she sends the iPhone back to us in a trackable way, she won't get her refund. She will also not be refunded for return shipping.

And we've not heard a peep from her. Scammer!

OK, UPDATE!

The woman has send the iPhone back to us and provided us with a tracking number. The only trouble is... the tracking number doesn't exist. So there's no way to track it.

Hmm...... watch this space!

I think this is a scam, and I've heard of people doing it with second hand cars - buying them then complaining theres things wrong with them and that their "friend who has a garage" will fix it if they get £X from you refund on the price. I'd tell her you think its a scam, your suspicions have been raised, and you are going to report her to the police for harassing you.

I think she is going to try sending back another faulty phone ( if at all)

That won't work for her. AFAIK ebay have the tracking number and won't refund until they see that it has been delivered to your address.

Do you have the serial number of the phone you sold? If so, give it to ebay now along with proof if you have any.