Buyer misusing ebay Money Back Guarantee and falsly claiming that item i sold is damaged.

[dreamland5151]

So i sold my BOSS DD-20 digital delay pedal in great condition with its original box and even shipped it priority with no extra charge to the buyer, i vouched i had tested all functions of the device and everything was working just like the day i bought it.  The buyer was hesitant with payment at first but eventually made payment on the promise of Tracking, i explained as was in my listing that i would send priority if the pedal made a good price. He has now had the pedal for over 2 weeks and opened a return without contacting me saying that the device was to replace his old one which suffered a whistling noise and this model was also suffering the same problem therefore its no use to him. This would usually be a change of mind and straightforward but as i do not offer returns he has reported to ebay that it is "not working or defective" and that the item was "not as described". I know for a fact that these older devices suffer certain signal interference as is stated on the device and can also make strange noises when an inadequate power supply is used. I have tried my best to contact the buyer with this information to help his situation and he has so far completely ignored any of my questions or messages asking if he's checked all possibilities of what is causing the issue as its probably not a problem with the pedal itself. I am now worried that he is simply holding out for an eventual refund by staying quiet or worst case that he has actually damaged the pedal and I'm left out of pocket with something that no longer works. Surely his lack of willing to co-operate with me and and his false accusations should be dealt with and i shouldn't have to go through this? Can someone please help me? 

[red_magpie · Accepted solution]

Surely his lack of willing to co-operate with me and and his false accusations should be dealt with and i shouldn't have to go through this?

As has been said, on eBay the seller has no alternative but to accept the refund claim and then appeal if the item is returned damaged.

The bad news is that they will almost certanly still support the buyer. In theory, this is covered by eBay's condition of returned items: https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/condition-returned-items-policy?id=47...

In practice, other sellers have told us that eBay's response to items being returned damaged, or even swapped for another one, was that as eBay didn't see the item the seller delivered, or the item the buyer returned, they are not in a position to verify who has the valid complaint, or "take sides". EBay's idea of not taking sides is to apply their default policy in case of any doubt, and require the seller to refund them!

EBay has become a very risky place to sell things. Sellers have very few rights in disputes over the condition of the item sold.

[dreamland5151 · Accepted solution]

Its pure evil !
I will be closing my account after all this is over and just do things the
old fashioned way !

[tressygirl]

When a case is opened it is all automated,  no human contact,  so no point challenging it at that point.

You have no choice but to acceot a case for item not as described within 3 days,  if you do not,  the buyer can escalate the case,  eBay will step in,  force the refund,  you get a seller fee to pay and gain a damaging defect on your account.  The buyer may even have no need here, to post the item back.

So accept the case,  pay for the tracked postage to get the item back,  and fully refund.  Then,  if the item received back has been damaged,  you muster all the evidence of this,  contact eBay,  appeal the decision for the refund,   explain the buyer has abused their 30 day MBG to gain their refund as the iterm has not been returned to you in the same condition as sent out.

You then await their decision on the appeal.

[dreamland5151]

Thankyou for your help.

[tressygirl]

You are very welcome !