Buyer claiming item is damaged?

[Tidey]

I sold a dress that my DD had outgrown but only ever wore a few times and it was in pretty much perfect condition, I listed it as 'used but good condition'. Buyer is now claiming that it has a hole in it. I have offered a full refund if they return it to me (even though I don't think it's true) but is there anything else I can do to stop them leaving me negative feedback? As far as I can see I've done the right thing so far..

People being needlessly rude and taking the piss is putting me right off using eBay, I think I'll just give stuff to charity shops and avoid the stress in future!

To be fair, if they recieved an item and it had any imperfections that you didn't mention in your description, it's best to take the flak, be apologetic and offer a no-quibble refund.

If you're polite and quick about it, they won't leave you bad feedback.

It's a hassle, but the best thing to do is to is really go over your items for sale with a fine-tooth comb and mention absolutely everything that may be an issue. Then you can say in your ad that you described the item totally accurately and there should be no reason to ask for a refund.

There are some rude, aggressive people on eBay who also LIE, but don't let that spoil it for you or the rest of us!

You've done the right thing. Depends where the hole is and how large it is - is the dress not wearable?? If it's fine and we are talking about a little pinprick on the hemline, I probably would have negotiated with the buyer and offered her a partial refund. It depends I suppose on how much the dress was sold for in the first place. If she bought something for 99p and it will cost her £3 to return, then i can appreciate that she doesn't want to spend £3 to return something of relatively little value. I think negotiation and apologetic emails are the key here. I think a lot of people are prepared to forgive things if they believe you are genuinely sorry.

I agree with you that many buyers lie but in the end, ebay will always side with her so there's little you can do. It presumably is possible that you did overlook a small fault?

Buyers have all the rights and hold all the cards so, yes in theory she can piss you off and leave you negative feedback and there is little you can do.

But if you offered a refund partial or otherwise, she accepts and then leaves you negative feedback, I would respond to it with something very matter of fact and businesslike e.g "buyer claimed there was a small hole in dress so was immediately refunded in full". It doesn't necessarily put me off if sellers have negative feedback if they offer a reasonable and polite explanation (as opposed to ebay favourites of txtspk and SHOUTING)

Hope this helps. I am having my own problems with ebay at the moment - I wish it wasn't so strangely addictive because it's more hassle than it's worth!!!

Thanks very much for replying, I was very polite in my message and am now waiting to hear back. I guess it is possible there was a hole, but I remember checking it over because I never sell anything that is even vaguely damaged for this very reason, anything a bit faded even goes either to charity (if it's still quite good condition) or the recycling bin. Anyway, we shall see if they can be bothered to return it or just leave bad fb.

Hope your own ebay troubles are cleared up soon too Tryharder