Help! Sold something 3 months ago and now buyer says it's faulty.

[yesbutnobut]

I sold an item of clothing almost 3 months ago - it was a dress which I'd hardly worn and the buyer paid a fraction of what I'd paid (but that's fair enough, it's ebay). After a couple of weeks I left positive feedback. Now after almost 3 months the buyer has got in touch to say she's put in on for the first time today and there's a problem with the lining of the dress. She wants to know what I'm going to do about it.

What should I do? In all honesty this dress was in impeccable condition and who knows what could have happened in 3 months. Surely it's unreasonable to wait until now to raise an issue?

Do I need to refund her? I'm worried that if I do the dress will return in a mess.

If you buy online from a regular store then it's a 14-day refund period or 28-day exchange. After 3 months, and off ebay, they're just trying it on (or not, if she never tried it before now). No need to do anything, imo.

Thanks for your replies! I went on the eBay live chat and yes, you're right, she's too late to ask for a refund and can't leave negative feedback as it's more than 60 days since the purchase.

That might be the case for ebay but if they're canny enough to open a case via Paypal, they're within time:

You have 180 days from the date you made the payment to open a dispute.

www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/first-dispute

She can still open a case via paypal (you can open paypal cases up to 180 days after buying an item).

I had this with someone getting in touch I think it was, nine months after a purchase saying it was broken and wanting his money back. He was quite aggressive and said he was pursuing it through Paypal. Luckily he was either turned down or gave up.

Unfortunately there are a small number of scammers who spoil ebay. I have used ebay a lot and only had three bad experiences.

Send a message to buyer saying you have taken advice from ebay and they have said that returns are not possible after that length of time - make sure you tell them that you have contacted ebay rather than just saying no returns. It can sometimes put off potential scammers if you make it sound more official. Cheek of some people! This has happened to me before.

If you reply in those terms don't make your response too robust. If the buyer feels challenged it might trigger them to find out more including the fact that they've still got ages to file a case via Paypal.

Hi thanks all. It's really upset me to get this challenge on an item that was almost brand new and which I sold for a fraction of the purchase price. I've sent a polite message saying I took eBay's advice.

BrendaBlackhead's advice is your best bet.

Don't take it to heart yesbutnobut, there are some oddbods just ignore and don't let it get to you. After years of ebay i have got a (slightly) thicker skin on these matters. Even if the buyer HAD just tried it on and noticed something - anyone sensible knows that they have left it too late to seek redress after months. It is quite wrong for them to try and use paypal in this circumstance to return/seek money back. That really must be about things that break after a few months that shouldn't do like a household item etc NOT a piece of clothing from a private seller. Let's hope they don't try that one (I don't think they will) so ignore if they message you again.

Thanks everyone very much and I agree robin64 I need to grow a thicker skin. I haven't heard from the buyer again since my polite message saying eBay had advised it was too late to raise this. Just annoyed that I gave her positive feedback!

you can't neg a buyer so I wouldn't worry about the feedback.