to not refund ebayer?

[JRmumma]

Last week we sold our old freezer on ebay. It worked perfectly and only sold as it didn't fit in our new kitchen. It wad only emptied and turned off 2 weeks before and hadn't been moved or anything do in as sure as i can be that it was in full working order on collection.

Anyway, i wasn't in when they came to collect but when discussing with hubby later, he mentioned that they had collected in a small 2 door car. I said i thought this was a bit odd as not sure how it would have fitted as i think you have to keep freezers upright due to gases etc.

Fast forward a few days and buyer turns up on the doorstep with the freezer asking for a refund as he says it wasn't getting cold enough i.e. Not working properly. I told him that it was working when he took it and so wasn't going to refund him if it was now broken as it was most likely due to transporting inappropriately. Anyway it all got a bit heated and I told him that he would have to take it up with ebay if he thought we had sold him a broken freezer and would have to resolve it that way.

Hubby then researched a bit on the internet and sent him a message suggesting standing fir 48hrs before switching on again and seeing if that helped, although it might not if irreparable damage had already been done.

Just wondering what others would do in thus situation really?

Did he pay cash on collection or through Paypal? If cash, then ebay can't do anything anyway.

Yes cash. At his request not ours.

Im not too concerned about ebay going anything as such, just that ive done the right thing by saying no to a refund. They genuinely might not have realised they were damaging it by transporting on its side and believe that i am at fault but then i don't really feel that that is my problem.

Did the buyer check it was working before he took it from your house? I would always ask to see something like that plugged in and working.

You are supposed to let fridges and freezers stand, unplugged, for at least 24 hours after they have been transported to let them settle.

If the buyer hasn't done this then he's buggered it up and it's his fault.

No he didn't ask to see it working but that's what id do too. This point is one of the reasons it got a bit heated as he was saying we should have proved it was working before he took it and coz we didn't, we are in the wrong. I said i didn't think that it was my responsibility and i KNOW it was working before he took it. All i know now is that he is telling me it doesn't work and wants me to take it back broken which would leave me out of pocket. I have no idea what he has done to it in the 4 days he had it, but i do know its done at least 3 trips on its side back and forth and that could very well have caused it to stop working.

To be honest it sounds like you have good reason to refuse the refund. I suppose it slightly depends how much they paid for the freezer and whether that is worth more than the value of good eBay feedback to you.

If it was cash then it should be fine but ebay will nearly always side with the buyer, not sellers these days!

Sold as seen

I had to speak to ebay recently and in that conversation I asked (out of interest more than anything) what happened if you received negative feedback unfairly and they said they are able, and do, remove it so that might be worth a try if he does try to give you neg feedback.

In hindsight, it might have been a good idea for you to plug it in for a bit before he arrived to collect it as you could then have showed him it working at an appropriate temp, although he could have denied this. But, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Stick to your guns, he should have asked to see it working, transported it properly and left it to settle before plugging in. Not your fault at all.

caveat emptor!

We had someone do this to us only it was a fridge freezer and they transported it in an estate laying down.... Refund refused... They left me negative I wrote a follow up saying that it worked and that they had viewed twice before buying!

We are not regular ebay sellers so not too bothered about negative feedback really. If he doesn't complain to ebay but leaves us bad feedback though i would contact ebay to try and remove. I think we are in quite a strong position as we also sold last week a stereo with a broken cd deck, but this was written explicitly in the description so hopefully we come across as genuine enough. Plus, who would allow someone to come to their home address to collect a broken freezer? That would be a bit ridiculous.

He's chancing it. Don't refund. Are you even 100% sure it's the actual freezer that you sold? There are so many idiots and scam artists on ebay these days.

I thought that earlier malcolm, i don't know if id be able to tell. Also he tried to 'accidentally' not give us the correct amount of money on collection.