View Full Version : I would like your opinions please
I recently sold a pair of Sony wireless headphones on ebay for £19.99, the list price new is over £35 I believe. I listed them on ebay as used and stated thus "In very good condition with very little usage. New foam ear pads are cheap to buy on ebay if being secondhand bothers you". The listing stated no returns accepted.
The buyer duly received them and sent me a message saying " . . they stink as if a horse or dog had worn them, therefore they are NOT AS DESCRIBED". This person wasted their money on the charm school they attended it seems.
I replied that my wife was the sole user of the headphones, she is a very clean person and I deeply resent her being called a "horse or dog" even by inference.
Your opinions on what I should do.
walpurgis
29-11-2012, 20:04
Just do a return/refund without a fuss or comment.
I do a lot of trading on eBay (mainly Hi-Fi) and you get the occasional problematic 'nerk' pop up now and then. They aren't worth getting excited about. Avoid recriminatory messaging, it gets you nowhere. I just get the situation out of the way without stressing out over it. I write it off to experience, as on the whole I find eBay useful, good fun and profitable.
Refund or send him price of the new ear pads if not to much.
Normally I am minded the same as you Geoff, to issue a refund for good relations and if the item isn't expensive for them to bin in, keep it, or donate it to charity.
It was the brusque and offensive nature of the message I got that has deeply annoyed me, plus just a moment ago I was doing some catch up with my feedbacks when this buyer had a message by this transaction asking if the buyer has transgressed any ebay rules. I have never ever had one of these before and why this buyer I wonder? :scratch:
Refund or send him price of the new ear pads if not to much.
A new set of ear pads is around £3 Stu, but I did say clearly in the listing that they are cheap to buy, so the price I sold them at reflected that and stated so.
I am sorely tempted to clean and deodorise the headphones and send them back to him :rolleyes:
walpurgis
29-11-2012, 20:33
Seriously, I'd avoid further involvement as far as possible. If you get into a slanging match or report him to eBay, you'll probably end up with negative feedback and still be refunding the money. Just get the situation out of the way as expediently as possible, ignoring any provocative comments from this buyer. That's my advice.
I've had a few tricky customers to deal with over the last few years and learnt from experience.
brian2957
29-11-2012, 20:36
+1 Geoff . Fix it and forget it . Life's too short Frank .
Guess , the insult cut deep frank ?
I am with you , stick it out , demand he returns before refunding , too many scammers who open a dispute and get to keep the product , feck them mate , do not give in imho of course
walpurgis
29-11-2012, 20:57
Remember, eBay and PayPal invariably seem to take the buyer's side, so keep it simple and deal with it quickly.
Agree with Geoff, you not going to win the guy a arsewhole best to end dealings with him as quick as possible
Agree with Geoff, you not going to win the guy a arsewhole best to end dealings with him as quick as possible
And I would add: once you have received the headphones back and issue a refund, ban him from bidding on your stuff again via the dashboard ;)
To be honest Frank, he's probably angling for a freebie so be sure to demand them back and then refund him. You are not legally obliged to pay for return postage, he is.
Reid Malenfant
29-11-2012, 21:46
Hello Dave :)
You are not legally obliged to pay for return postage, he is.
He has to send them back via a tracked service as well I might add ;)
Hey Mark, it real good to see you back bud :)
walpurgis
29-11-2012, 22:23
Actually, a trader is bound by the DSRs to retrieve return items themselves if a buyer rejects them and chooses to be awkward.
eBay rules are different, but not legally enforceable, however you can be sanctioned by eBay if you don't comply. You are not a trader (I believe) so just I'd just abide by eBay protocol if I were you.
There's plenty of info on eBay for dealing with various situations, although it can be a bit of a mission to find what you want, as it's not the most logical/intuitive site in the world.
And, as Dave says, bung him on your 'Blocked Bidders' list. I've got about forty on mine!
I'd let your wife deal with him.
Screw feedback.
Tell him that the headphones smell fresher than his wife's pants, and ask him when she wants them back? ;)
Marco.
Tell him that the headphones smell fresher than his wife's pants, and ask him when she wants them back? ;)
Marco.
Lmao!!!! :D
I have received the headphones back from the buyer today and . . . . . . me and 4 other people can't detect any smell at all, horse, dog, or otherwise.
I have contacted ebay and their view about this is perfectly clear. I am not obliged to accept any item back that has it stated clearly in the listing that returns are not accepted. They agree that my stating the item is used and that a part needs to be replaced because it is a used item is reasonable and that it is the buyer's responsibility to heed or ignore that advice.
I am not going to issue an immediate refund, but will give the buyer the option to have the headphones cleaned and returned, or he should wait until I re-sell the headphones before I refund him.
Mark Grant
22-12-2012, 11:02
Not really worth the hassle so if you have the goods back and they are OK I would suggest to refund.
If the correct procedure is followed on ebay you will get the final value fees refunded to your ebay sellers account ( the following month though) and paypal will refund you most of the paypal fees when you refund.
Think how much time you have wasted on this already and is the stress worth it.
Under normal circumstances I would issue an immediate refund Mark because as you say the hassle and grief really isn't worth it. This month the bank account has a great big hole in it from repairing the wife's car so a refund will hurt and it still grates on me that I think this buyer is a chancer who was hoping I would give a full refund and tell him to keep the phones, evidenced by the exaggerated claims he made about this terrible smell - which doesn't exist
walpurgis
22-12-2012, 12:12
I do a lot of eBay buying and selling and if it was me I'd be wanting to get it all over and done with. I'd pay the refund and write it off to experience. We all have to deal with idiots once in a while, but most of the time things go well.
Rare Bird
22-12-2012, 13:22
I do not sell anymore.. Never ever again.
tannoyman
22-12-2012, 15:42
Hi Andre
That's sad. E bay is a very good way of moving on unwanted items. You should not be put of by the odd idiot. I have used E bay quite a bit and not had much trouble. If I do have a serious issue I would normally do the refund quickly as other responsents have advised and ban the buyer from future auctions which can be done very simply.
I would have to say that as a buyer I am a stickler for items conforming to description. I recently bought a CD player that was in great condition but which had a problem cosmetically (I thought). I priced the cost of rectifying it and gave the seller an itemised cost breakdown as the starting point for a partial refund negotiation. In the event I got £100 back, which when it went wrong a few days later, was exactly what it cost me to get it repaired. I'd have kicked myself if I'd let the guy off and ended up with that bill. Actually he was a perfect gentleman and having given the partial refund also gave me positive feedback (for which I thanked him) There are more good guys than idiots out there.
It is interesting that some buyers immediately resort to insults and personal abuse rather than sensible dialogue. It says much more about them than you.
David
I decided to relist the headphones yesterday and they have sold today so I have issued matey boy a refund. Job done.
tannoyman
23-12-2012, 16:44
I decided to relist the headphones yesterday and they have sold today so I have issued matey boy a refund. Job done.
Well done that man!!
Don't let the buggers get you down
David :):)
walpurgis
23-12-2012, 18:32
I decided to relist the headphones yesterday and they have sold today so I have issued matey boy a refund. Job done.
That's the way to do it!
I'm sure any future eBay business will be less troublesome. eBay users generally have a decent time, just very rarely a difficult person crops up. I've only had a couple in over 1500 transactions.
It was the fact that I got a warning message from ebay about this particular buyer and the overly offensive message from him soon after that rang the alarm bells with me to suggest he had done this before. Anyway, got the headphones back and paid the clown off, ebay will keep a watch on him now too just in case, so a good result all round. Happy with that :)
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