@shellyhardwick wrote:
I haven't opened a dispute.
The seller has now messaged me telling me to refuse the delivery and they will refund me. As he's messaged it in eBay I am assuming that even if I lose my buyer protection I would be able to get the refund if he doesn't send it?
Given that you have already received the item in question you're not in a position to refuse delivery. Even if the item had not arrived it would be very stupid to accept delivery, as by refusing delivery of the item you would invalidate your buyer protection under the eBay Money Back Guarantee. The seller was more than likely aware of this, hoping that the item hadn't arrived and that by duping you into refusing delivery you would then inadvertently void your eBay buyer protection.
Clearly the seller cannot be trusted, so this one is more than likely going to be a bit of a difficult one to resolve. First of all reply to the seller's e-mail, stating that you've already received the item but that you would like a refund. Given that the seller is a business seller he/she is obliged to accept returns, including remorse returns, although in your instance you would have to pay the return postage costs yourself given that it is a change of mind return, which counts as a remorse return.
Unless there is something about the item that contradicts what the seller said about it in the item description in the listing, or if there is damage to the item that the seller failed to mention, you cannot justify opening an eBay case for Item Not As Described. As has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, if you were to open a case on that basis when there is nothing wrong with the item then the seller could potentially report you to eBay for doing so, and if he/she did so and eBay sided with the seller you could end up with your rights to use the eBay Money Back Guarantee being restricted in future, even if you subsequently had a case where you could truthfully say that the item wasn't as described.
In view of the above open an eBay case, stating in the case that you have changed your mind and wish to return the item. You would have to pay the return postage costs yourself given that it is a remorse return, but the seller should still accept the return and refund your money. If he/she doesn't then that's when you should escalate the case to eBay for them to make a final decision upon, although you would need to wait until four working days have passed from the date that you opened the case. Should you need to escalate the case to eBay then they would force through a total refund of the money that you paid to the seller.
