Please bear with me- this is long (don’t want to drip feed) and I’m annoyed :/
I bought a beautiful rug for our living room which cost me in excess of £1K. It arrived and I very quickly realised I’d made a mistake ordering it in the size I had- it was too big for the area I had in mind. I got DH to roll it up straight away and thought I’d return it for a full refund. Unfortunately, life took over and with a demanding baby, I lost track of time and missed the return deadline. To make some money back on it, I listed it on eBay. It sold for £300- not great but I didn’t mind as I’d recouped a bit of money at least. Before bidding, the buyer contacted me several times almost begging me to accept £200 for the rug. I politely declined. She then sent more messages telling me she was willing to buy a few more of my (cheaper) items but only if I took £200 for the rug. I ignored these messages. She eventually paid £300 via PayPal and shared her telephone number so she could arrange collection. I shared pictures of the rug and said this is what the rug's like- brand new and unmarked. She said she couldn’t wait to receive it. When the courier arrived to collect the rug, I realised it was someone we’d used many times to move stuff for us in the past. I handed over the rug and asked him to show the buyer the rug and only if she was happy to leave it with her. He did that and said she almost snatched it out of his hands to take it. So imagine my surprise when a week later, I get a message from PayPal to say the buyer had opened a dispute against me to say the item wasn’t as described- it was apparently smelly and had mud stains on it. She also claimed the seller (me) had been unresponsive and appeared not to care about the (alleged) state of the rug- she hadn’t contacted me at all since I’d shared the pictures of the rug with her via text.
When I contacted PayPal and challenged what she’d said, they asked her for more information (photos of the rug)- she had 10 days to submit this but didn’t;
PayPal then decided she could return the rug for a full refund within 10 days- she contacted them on the 9th day and told them that she was not willing to pay return postage and I should cover the cost. When I declined. PayPal offered her a further 10 days to return the rug. She’s just replied on the 9th day again to say she’s willing to keep the rug but wants a partial refund of £100 to have the rug cleaned.
So she was happy to accept a rug a sent for a fraction of the price I’d paid for it and accepted knowing it was immaculate. She’s then opened a false claim against me and wants the rug for £100 less and the amount she’d originally offered to me. It’s clear she’s being a CF. I’ve contacted eBay and they said they can see what’s happening but can’t intervene as she’s opened a dispute via PayPal and not them. They’ve also put a ‘note on her account’- I’m assuming because this is not the first time she’s done it? Anyway, where do I stand? PayPal keep pandering to her, knowing she has no intention of returning the rug and wanting money off instead. If I receive the rug back, I can’t even sell it on as immaculate anymore as she’ll have used it/damaged it deliberately before returning it back to me. What are my rights as a seller? I’ve sold hundreds of things on eBay using PayPal and have never had anyone contact me or make a claim against me. I’ve got screenshots of our text message conversation as well as the eBay messages. The courier has also offered to provide a statement saying the rug was in pristine condition and she accepted it when he opened it up and showed it to her. But PayPal have said, they don’t accept photographic evidence or statements from third parties. I’ve since been on her eBay profile and she’s selling crap and is insisting collection in person and has stated no PayPal payment- I will refund if you pay using PayPal. Strictly cash on collection. So she’s happy to make use of PayPal buyer protection but doesn’t want to offer her buyers the same. AIBU to disclose her eBay ID so others can avoid this scamming cow?! I know I’m being petty but I’m so angry right now.