UK Item sold with some acknowledged damage; Australia buyer wants to return it due to that damage

[batman3479]

Good morning all. 

I'm a UK buyer and I sold a 1980s transformer toy with its box through the GSP. The box had a tear in it, which I described in the auction and put a photograph of the damage in the auction also. The item was sold as 'used', not 'new'.

A buyer in Australia won the item. He has received the item, and clicked to return the item. in the return he sent me a message saying "Box is torn in bad way not shown in pictures so must be damaged on delivery" and sent a photo of the tear.

It is precisely the same tear that I called out and put photos of in the auction. 

To my eyes, I've been 100% clear, transparent and honest about the condition of the item and he has received it in the condition it was auctioned at.

Ebay has sent me a message saying "There's something wrong with the item your buyer's received, so they'd like to return it" and my options seem to be: 

1. if it was damaged by the shipping (it wasn't - item damage is as sold) I wait and it gets escalated to ebay
2. Accept the return - Contact the buyer to work out return postage details. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.
   (item sold for £36 UK pounds)
3. Give a full refund - You can fully refund the buyer to close this request. The buyer keeps the item
4. Offer a partial refund - You have one chance to offer an amount. The buyer keeps the item.
5. Send the buyer a message - You can reply to the buyer.

I'm keen not to end up with a defect or poor feedback - I'm at 100% positive, and take my buyer happiness very seriously.

I'm also very keen not to end up out-of-pocket, as it's not a high value item and shipping back from Australia will likely be expensive.

My auction also stated "Returns policy - Return policy details - The seller won't accept returns for this item." (Ebay's words - I just checked the checkbox)

None of the above seem to fit my case - is my best option to contact the buyer, point out that the damage he himself has sent evidence of was clearly called out in the auction (and the auction contains a corroborating photograph) - but if he persists with the return, will ebay support me?

If anyone's got any previous experience with this, I'd appreciate it. 

[plpmr]

Everything else aside -

"Box is torn in bad way not shown in pictures so must be damaged on delivery" 

So,

You need to be extremely careful how you handle this as you could be seriously out of pocket if you try to handle this yourself. Global is responsible for the refund, not you.

Your buyer needs to open a case for not as described 'damaged in transit' and you respond and you cite that according to Global T&C you, the seller, are not responsible for any loss or damage in transit once it has arrived at the Global hub.

Otherwise you will have to arrange and pay for the return.

[batman3479]

Plpmr,

thanks very much for your experience and quick response, and I appreciate the heads-up that I have to be careful.

Just for clarity, although the buyer has said "Box is torn in bad way not shown in pictures so must be damaged on delivery", this is not correct. The damage that he has reported and sent his own photo of matches the damage I quoted and put photos of in the auction.

As such, I'd say from the evidence the buyer has presented, the item IS as described, and has NOT been damaged in transit.

Assuming that I expressed that correctly, and the route you describe remains the best way to go - are 'not as described, damaged in transit' part of the same thing?

The buyer has already requested a return and Ebay has offered the options in my original post. Has the buyer already started going down the wrong track?

[plpmr]

Unfortunately if the buyer claims/opens a 'not as described' case you are on a hiding to nothing as I have never known eBay to side with a seller.

If you refuse to accept and pay for the return and put your argument to eBay [its automated] they 99.9999% sure that eBay will find against you and at the very least you will lose your selling fees and have a defect placed on your account - you will be given very little time [if at all] to then arrange the return.

[batman3479]

Thank you. I was wondering whether eBay would support on a 'not as described' case, so it sounds like 'damaged in transit' is the way to go to get the right outcome here.

The buyer has already asked to return and put it down as 'arrived damaged'.

The ebay screen I get taken to when I click respond says "If you believe the item was damaged after its arrival at the GSP Shipping Centre, please wait until 08 Oct, 2020 and visit this page again to escalate this issue to eBay Customer Service."

Your kind advise was "Your buyer needs to open a case for not as described 'damaged in transit' and you respond and you cite that according to Global T&C you, the seller, are not responsible for any loss or damage in transit once it has arrived at the Global hub."

So do I contact the buyer and tell them to wait until after 8th October, and it'll get automatically escalated to ebay customer service as they have described? Or do I need to ask the buyer to raise something different to what they have currently done?

Thank you for your ongoing support, it is very much appreciated.

[plpmr]

As long as you responded that it is a Global problem, sit back and wait for eBay to deal with it.

[batman3479]

Hey there. The end of the story for closure and in case anyone else stumbles across this thread.

Thank you for your advice. I advised the buyer to raise a case with Ebay stating damage in transit.

He must have done so as Ebay sent me a 'The buyer has raised a case....' mail saying they had been asked to step in; they'd look at the case and be in touch within 48 hours

I then got a 'case closed' mail less than an hour later, saying "We reviewed the case and have decided to issue the buyer a refund without any impact to you. This case is now closed. You aren't required to reimburse the buyer or eBay and this case will not be counted in your seller performance evaluation."

I didn't even need to to respond to ebay to point out that it was a GSP responsibility.

Thank you for your help and support - it was much appreciated.

[ruby*tuesday]

Your No Returns is just for a Change of Mind Return. "I don't like it" or " It doesn't fit. "

Take the advice as offered by @plpmr