Buyer saying item not as described...

[mooliebear]

I sold a coat on Ebay, 3 weeks ago, sent it by recorded delivery, the buyer then contacts me to say the coat is not as described and wants a full refund. It was stated in the listing, all the little faults I could find and to say it was USED, the coat as lovely, completely fine in my opinion , but there we are. So I contact them to say fine, I will refund once the coat has been returned to me by recorded delivery, 2 weeks later, no coat has arrived but they are e-mailing asking why I have not refunded them yet as the coat has been delivered, it has not been delivered back to me, I have asked them for the tracker number on the receipt but they have said they have lost the receipt, what do I do, I am fuming, Ebay are not being helpful, the last e-mail from the buyer has said I have until Monday to refund, or else they will take out a dispute

If they no longer have the tracking number how do they know it's been received ?
You did exactly the right thing asking for the coat to be returned by recorded delivery.
If they open a dispute on Ebay then they will be asked to provide proof of delivery via a tracking number before they receive a refund.
If they go down this route then accept the return and request again that the item is returned with tracking.
For each subsequent message you get just keep repeating that you will refund once delivery back to you has been proven. Keep it brief, polite but firm.

This is one of the few instances where Ebay does work well for sellers, in my experience the rule is "no tracking number - no refund" and the tracking would need to show a delivery to you at your address - they can't put false details in.
If they do try that scam then contact Ebay Customer Services - they are good with that sort of issue. I know because I've had a few returns that were never returned and also have experienced false tracking inputs too.

What is buyers previous feedback like? If they sent the coat back recorded then they are the ones that need to follow that up with royal mail because they sent it, it's not your problem. They might leave you bad feedback but hopefully ebay will support you. I would not be refunding this person until I had the coat back.

Is there any way of them asking RM to look into it without the tracking number? If they have lost the number and the coat that's a shame but it isn't your fault. There is always the possibility that they are trying a scam but you might be able to see what they are like from feedback comments maybe?

Thanks for the replies.
I asked them about the receipt, if they have lost it how do they know it has been delivered, but they have failed to comment!
I have not heard from them yet, I think I will look at their feedback now.