buyer complaining item broken

[poocatcherchampion]

hi

we sold a fridge freezer on ebay which we unplugged early on the day of purchase. it was in full working order. buyer collected it and removed it from our home, it took 2 men and a large van, they transported it about 100 miles. we advised them not to turn it on for at least 3 hours so it could settle. this was Saturday.
I've had a message today - Tuesday - to say they plugged it in yesterday and it fused and they have replaced the fuse and it went again.
I know eBay is in the buyers favour, but it was definitely working when it left our house but apparently not now. I have no reason to think they are lying but there was opportunity for them to break it between fetching it and installing it.

what do I do?

is it a case of a full refund if they return it? I cannot fetch it back and don't see I should. are we scuppered that they've broken it and we are £250 out of pocket now?
they paid in cash if that makes any difference..

well ebay cannot force you to refund but the buyer may take you to small claims court for the amount.

this sounds hopeful. We dont want them to be dissatisfied with the item, but £250 is a lot of money to refund for no reason.

What do we do now? Just politely let them know that we can't help, and let them raise a dispute? and see what happens?

just tell them it is sold as seen, and you will not be refunding them. they should have checked it was working before they left.

As they've paid in cash ebay will deem them to have been satisfied with the condition when they collected it. Even if they do open a dispute it's very unlikely to go in their favour and ebay has no means of enforcing a refund for a cash payment anyway.

ok thanks, i am so reassured. I've written him a nice email but said that it washis responsibility. I am awaiting a reply.

let us know how it goes.

If he collected then he has no chance of a refund. It could have been damaged in transit . Hope it was cash on collection and not PayPal.

thanks he is getting annoyed but I'm sticking with polite but firm. I'll keep updated

has he given you f/back already?