Buyer returned item for refund, now its damaged..

[salempickles]

What can i do about it, i offered a refund as he seemed like a difficult customer - id described the dress as sage green he wrote back saying it was mint green and wasnt suitable!!

To save the hassle i said return its now come back with weird powder stains on the front and a small hole. It has embroidery on the dress so id photographed it in detail to show and the hole definatly wasnt there before, he sent it recorded, so will obviously be able to track that ive recieved it (although didnt sign for anything) and will want his refund asap, do i even have a leg to stand on! i dont know if they ahve worn the dress doesnt smell like but the stains and the hole is enough to make me not want to co operate with him till i know where i stand.

so you didn't sign for it so buyer has no proof of return?

I would send it back to them to be honest - how long have they had it for, enough time to wear it to an occasion then send back for a refund?

Take photo's so you can show e-bay, don't refund them, you have evedence that they have worn/dammaged the item (before and after photo's), tell them 'if they want a refund they will have to go through paypal dispute and you have evedence that the item was returned damaged', you do have a leg to stand on, you might get bad feedback but you can always reply to it or even get it removed.

if you didn't sign for it then the buyer couldn't prove you had the item back - not that this is very ethical though. If they do have online proof that you signed for it then they will win a dispute with paypal, regardless of the damage.

To be honest i think the postman signs on my behalf when im not there as i get quite a bit from ebay, maybe he has'nt i dont know im unable to see a signature.

They recieved the item on friday morning, emailed the same day saying it wasnt as described due to the colour description (green is green where i come from), but being a good seller offered them a refund,now im thinking they have probably worn it to try on as it doesnt smell of anything like it would if it had been worn out, i got it back today though in this state

If i did take pictures and it went to a paypal dispute how would i send them, ive had disputes in the past but never like this where i have evidence, i just think it may be easier to accept it now and refund and try to salvage some kind of ok feedback but im naturally a fighter so want to give as good as i get.

I don't think you can send photos to paypal

Thats what i though.... so why do i need to take pictures etc? Should i just refund and put it down to bad luck??

really not wanting to though as ive done no wrong and am now left with a dress thats practically unwearable!

Actually, looking into it you may be able to upload pics, so I may be wrong about that - sorry

I wouldn't refund, I would send it back to the buyer as it is now damaged and was not returned in the condition it was sent - but is up to you. How much money are we talking about, is it worth the fight?

With p&p it came to £27, if it was for under a tenner or something smaller i would be bothered buts its a vintage karen millen dress with very detailed embroidery and i paid quite a lot for it a long time ago, not something that id just throw away.

have you emailed the buyer yet stating it is not in the same condition

Hi, yes i have done, not had a response as yet but just wanted to know where i stand before i went in all guns blazing, thanks for your help!

HA HA!! Just been trawling the bin for the package this came in and made a discovery it wasn't sent recorded at all ( i had 2 that day so got confused when i thought they both were.

Would it be totally wrong to deny all knowledge of receiving it!!!!

You can't deny it now that you've emailed saying it's not in the same condition as it was when sent. That's proof that you have received it. I don't know about where you stand other than that, sorry.

not sure have youi e-mailed him telling him that you have seen the damage on the dress?

Normally you would agree to have the item back and then refund with the buyer having to prove that they sent it back?

without online proof of delivery the buyer does not have a case with paypal - if I were you I would not keep it, send it back to the buyer. They have 45 days after payment to raise a case for either not received or not as described

Has the buyer replied to your email about the damage?

No, i hadn't pressed send on my email to them so there none the wiser ( i have complete baby brain by the way not normal this stupid but i did manage to leave the house with odd shoes on this morning too)!!

so as it stands the buyer has returned it to me damaged, doesnt know i have it yet, and has no way to find out it has ever been returned to me.....

and you should sent it back to the buyer as you have both their money and their item

Ill send it back in the morning, i've now emailed him to say i have the dress and have noticed some serious damage to it, And ill therefore be returning it to him as im unable to resell it on..... cant wait for the response. Thanks for the help!