Returned watch missing 2 links

[sunnyside0_3]

Hi, can anyone advise me.

i recently sold a Gucci watch I no longer wear to a buyer that decided to return it.

He claimed it was not as described and it didn’t work. I can assure you it was as described but I couldn’t say if it worked or not. I only know and said so in my listing that “ the watch was working until the battery packed up”.

i didn’t make an issue of it just said return it for a full refund. He then says he would keep it if I sent a refund of half the price and the £15 he paid to get a new battery installed. Claiming that his wife would use it as a bracelet and not a watch as that was not functioning. I said no, return it for a full refund.

so he did, with 2 links missing. I quizzed the missing links. He said that the jeweller he took the watch to had removed the 2 links so the watch would fit his wife, but the watch doesn’t work so why fit the watch to your wife’s wrist? . Anyhow I raised my concern with EBay, they said they would look into it. In the meantime the buyer says the jeweller put the 2 links back, I assured him that they did not and that I have photos before and after the watch was sent to him then returned. I asked him to contact the jeweller to see if they were still with him. Lo and behold they were. So he said he would send them back to me. That was 4 days ago and he is now subjecting me to radio silence. I am ashamed to say that once he told me that he would be sending my links back I made a bad error. A “ in good faith” error. I refunded him his money 😔. I am new to all this selling. I list every now and then to get rid of stuff. I have NEVER come across anyone like this buyer in all the years I have dabbled . My question is will EBay really stick up for me and make this buyer return my links or am I just wasting my breath. It’s a top end watch, I just can’t let him get away with it can I? Thank you for reading my rant 

[tressygirl]

No,  eBay cannot force the buyer to send back the missing links.

Did you refund through a case the buyer opened?  Then,  you can try and appeal the decision for the refund,  claiming the item was not returned in the same condition as sent out, that is, not only was  it was altered / shortened, but the links taken out were missing.

I won't admit it'll be easy , but perhaps adding a photo of the watch returned to be compared to the photos in the listing when sold,  might help you case.

This explains the appeal process:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/appeal-outcome-case-seller?id=4369

If you refunded outside a case, then I'm afraid you cannot appeal, and eBay cannot help here.

@sunnyside0_3 

[sunnyside0_3]

Hi, thank you for your advice.

i actually opened a case against the buyer when it became clear i was going to have problems.

we then entered into more talks where i gave the buyer the benefit of the doubt and refunded him. Maybe that was too soon, actually it was too soon wasn’t it.

Would the fact that I had initially opened the case assist me any way.

i will certainly read your link as I am having trouble getting back in touch with EBay .

thank you.

[john1297576]

What case did you open? There is no case for a seller to open so that will get you nowhere.

[jckl1957]

Sometimes having a rant does help.

Hopefully, the buyer will get around to returning the links that were removed.

However, if they don't, there is not really anything you can do.

I believe, if you read about the appeals process, that you can only appeal if Ebay has to step in and refund the buyer.  As you refunded voluntarily, you cannot appeal the refund.

Your mistake was not in refunding the buyer when you did but when you listed the watch.  For £100 anybody would expect a fully functioning watch and, in my opinion, you should have purchased a new battery and made sure the watch was working before you sold it.

If it was not working, then you should have clearly specified that in the title.

[sunnyside0_3]

Thank you for your input.

great advice for me to follow moving forward.

i don’t want the refund returned I only want the links returned to get my watch back to the way it was. I can’t even wear it now.

i thought I had covered the issue of not knowing if the watch was still in working order by also stating in my listing  that if they found it wasn’t working I didn’t want anyone to be out of pocket so told them to return for a full refund. I thought I was being fair. But to return it with 2 links missing is unfair.

Specifying in the title would have been a sensible thing for me to do. Why I didn’t , I don’t know.

what I do know is that I have now  taken 2 other watches to a jewellers for new batteries to check that they are working.

thank you. Your help has been much appreciated .

[sunnyside0_3]

Hi, at first I thought your reply was a bit harsh. 

i honestly couldn’t believe that a seller with a genuine grievance after experiencing such behaviour from another ebayer ( an ebayer who is a seller himself with a big online business, selling 509 items. Watches, rings, necklaces.)

my watch is now in need of repair. I took it to my local jeweler when the links were finally returned.

When she opens the back to fit a new battery for me to establish if the thing worked or not this is what we found. The arm that holds the battery in place was broken off and held in place with a slither of sellotape. The links  were somehow fused together and she told me that who ever took the links out didn’t do it properly and when they  put the links back together they put the rods in the wrong way around. My only option would be to send it back to Gucci for a repair, cost unknown but wouldn’t be cheap. Why have I got to sit back and let this man destroy and then return an expensive watch and EBay give me no seller protection whatsoever? 
well your comment which I thought was a bit harsh is in fact the honest truth.  There is no help for sellers at all,  where sold items have been returned broken.  Is there any recourse anywhere that I can seek? A negative feedback would have sufficed to knock it down from 97.8 to a lower rate . Better than nothing. Can I name him if I re list the watch as broken and only fit for spares due to ……….. breaking it?  Don’t worry I know the answer.

Thank you for your blunt but totally honest reply.