Buyer claimed INR then once refunded claims item now arrived but no longer needed

[tels_shop]

4 days ago, my buyer claimed INR 9 days after it was despatched 2nd class.

I issued a refund, according to Ebay rules, that needed to be made by tomorrow so I  refunded him today.

Less than one hour later I received this

Hi Terry
I requested a refund yesterday and the allen keys were delivered today.

If you have already processed a refund you can arrange to collect them as we don't need them as we got one from somewhere else.
Please advise what you want to do.

Regards
Dave


Surely it is not down to me to accept the return of the item OR pay for return postage should I chose to accept them?

This is clearly a case of a customer either changing his mind or haveing used them deciding to return them or whatever but where do I stand on this?

He has his money back now so am I screwed?
The item Value was £7.95 plus £3.85 P&P.

[barry.110]

Unfortunately if you want them back you will have to pay for postage to get them back. I think you can only do this by sending the money through PayPal or bank transfer as EBay won't get involved. If you think it's not worth the cost you can tell them to keep them. It does sound a bit dodgy that they contacted you an hour after you refunded them but it could have been a coincidence. You could add them to your blocked bidders list just in case so they can't buy from you again.

[jow1995]

you have sold 3.6k items on a private account, £3.85 is not going to break the bank.

[tels_shop]

Great response mate.
Just what the Ebay community need.
Why did you bother?

[tels_shop]

Just for your information THIS is not the username it was sold to him under - NOT that it should make the slightest bit of difference.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to voice your unwelcome opinion.

Good day to you.

[dch2112011 · Accepted solution]

I would move on and forget about the Allen Keys,  the value is low, the delivery was late, the customer has informed you, it will cost you to recover them.

If the customer was trying to scam you all they needed to do was keep the Allen keys and not tell you they arrived.  They will argue it was your fault hat they had to buy replacements because of the late delivery and therefore it is up to you to collect them if you want them.

Even if you email a return label will the customer use it - probably but you could end up paying for the return cost and not receive the keys back - who knows 

Do you really want the hassle for a couple of quid which is all you will save in the long run.

The most you could salvage easily is to thank the customer for letting you know, apologise, tell him to keep the keys and hope for good feedback 

[rjwilmsi]

If you would like the item back, purchase a label and send the buyer the PDF label (via send.royalmail.com etc.). Ask them to print it and return item to you. If the buyer doesn't use the label you can always cancel and refund the label leter.

Or, if you don't want to spend more money on this issue then let it be, tell the buyer they can dispose of the item.

In my experience, Royal Mail 2nd class can sometimes randomly have 1 week delays, so the buyer could be genuine.