Apple iphone sale

[jdoubleyou]

Hi can I get some advice please. Sold an Apple iphone 7 128GB for £150. Posted it Special Delivery

to ensure not scammed and messaged the guy to same the same.

He got the phone safely but now claims the battery needs replacing at £49.  It was in excellent working

order when it left my possession and I think he's trying it on to get a partial refund, so he gets the phone

for £100!  I sold it is pre-owned and very good USED condition, much the same as you would a  2nd hand

car that requires a battery that has been USED!

What are my rights?  He has threatened to raise it with Ebay, who will undoubtedly side with the buyer and

fully refund him and then I will have lost both my phone and the money! Help!!! Josh

I was suspicion as soon as it sold as the guy has a feedback score of 04.

Feel like I'm being hoodwinked!

[jdoubleyou]

Thanks angelah1847, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. He's already intimated that he will go to eBay.
I am worried that once this happens the phone I get back wont be my phone! I covered all angles in terms of safe postage, thinking that I wouldn't get done, but now it seems this is yet another angle to scam a seller.
What exactly do you mean by best do that voluntarily or else you could end up losing the phone and the money?

[angelah1847]

If the buyer opens a case you will have 8 days to respond to it, if you don't then the buyer can escalate it to ebay who can then either issue the buyer with a postage label to return the item and charge you for it and then refund from your account, or on some occasions they just refund the buyer from your account and infer to the buyer that they don't need to return the item.

If you respond to the case and issue the return postage label and then refund when you receive the item back then you stand a chance of receiving back the item you sent.

If you don't receive the same item then you appeal the case. If you find yourself in that position then come back to the boards for advice.

[rusticrye]

When a buyer claims not-as-described, Ebay has to take their word for it. Ebay weren't present when the phone was sent or received, so can have no idea what you actually sent or what condition it was actually in. They have to ensure that a buyer is fully refunded on return of the goods, as per their Money Back Guarantee (which you agreed to comply with when you registered your account).  They can't get into disputes between you and a buyer. Only a judge can decide if a buyer is a liar or a scammer.

If you don't want to partially refund, tell the buyer to open a return request, and that you will refund in full once you receive the phone back in the same condition as when sent. Don't get into any arguments. Just keep politely repeating that if necessary.

If you receive back something different, or the phone has been damaged in some way, you will likely still have to refund as you won't be able to prove to Ebay what you actually received back (any photos or videos you take could be of anything), but you can certainly take legal action against the buyer ('before action' letter by Signed For post, followed by Small Claims court if necessary). Small Claims judges work on probabilities as well as facts, and the process can be started online. But hopefully it won't come to that.

@jdoubleyou 

[jdoubleyou]

Thanks rusticrye, a comprehensive answer and if only everyone was an honest buyer/seller it would be great!
Sadly, the scammers make the life of a genuine eBayer miserable. Time wasted on this now just makes the decision to close my account easier. I've just asked a question about quitting ebay. I will send the guy a message but can I close my account and if so, can eBay still contact me and more importantly refund the guy without asking my permission.