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Hello, I recently sold a treadmill motor and the customer submitted a return request saying that his client purchased a new treadmill and he no longer needs it. The package arrived and it was open on one side and the postal worker wrote on the package ” Item fell out of package at the post office because the box was not properly sealed.” I figured, no problem as long as the motor seems ok I will just issue the refund. When I inspected the motor it did not spin properly. So, I wrote the customer explaining to him that the package was improperly packaged and fell out during shipping and the item is no longer fit for resell. I told him that instead of issuing the full original shipping plus the cost of the item, a total of $127, I would like to offer him a partial refund of $80 because the item is no longer usable. After a couple of days he replied and said that
“The motor was not used/installed, it was sent back exactly as it came, in the same box that it came in. If you didn;t tape up the sides, thats not my fault, it wasn’t opened on the sides. I’m not responsible for delivery problems, your offer is not acceptable, I demand a full refund.”
The funny thing is that if he was just nice and ask politely for full amount I would of just gave it to him. It was sent back in the same box but, Im pretty sure I double boxed it and put a lot more packing paper when I sent it. So, he just sent it back with not enough packing paper and with a single box. I guess I could do an appeal or I thought about just refunding it and moving on. Any advice or thought are appreciated. Thanks
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I think that he is responsible for delivery problems in the return. You have him on record implying that he was careless with packing. His attitude is that it wasn’t his concern to ensure safe delivery. I would call Ebay and state your case. I’m all for moving on when the cost is low, but $127 is a higher sale (to me at least).
But, as Jay always says, it’s what keeps you up at night. If dealing with the issue stresses you out, then refund and move on. But, if losing the money is what stresses you out, then call Ebay and try to get out of the refund. I would try to get out of the refund completely.
Either way, block the guy!
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Personally, I would fight this. If there was a problem with your shipping, he should have said something when it arrived and most likely it would have fallen out somewhere along the way to him. You were responsible for getting it to him and packaging it correctly as to protect it and he assumed the same responsbiility for getting back to you. If it’s not working, I am not sure why you would want to give him any kind of refund. His return reason – I no longer want it- is actually not covered so you would not have had to accept the return. In the end, regardless of what everyone else would do, do what makes you feel most comfortable. Stay calm and objective in the whole process.
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I sold a KitchenAid mixer a year or so ago and had the same thing happen. They received the mixer and said it didn’t work (tested and did work) and wanted to return. I sent a label and they sent the mixer back. I had double boxed and wrapped the heck out of it. I received a broken open box with the mixer clearly visible in the box and loose parts in the box. Oddly enough everything was in the box but it didn’t work. I called ebay and they had me refund because the mixer didn’t work and it was impossible to tell if it worked before they shipped it back. Lesson learned. Ebay won’t stand up for the seller and they couldn’t tell me if the insurance was for $50 or $100 because they hadn’t had this happen before. The shipment was valued at over $50 so I only got a $50 insurance payment. Buyers don’t care if the return gets back to the seller if they get their money back.
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Hello, and thanks everyone for the replies. Just wanted to give everyone an update on what happened with the return. This might sound weird but, when I handle returns or talk with customers I try to be as much as I can like a robot with no emotion and as if the case and all the details of the case went into an algorithm and a result is spit out automatically. I try to write messages that sound like a robot wrote them like “According to our records this item does not quality for a return, feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Thanks” Taking the emotion out of it helps.
I decide if I am going to dispute a refund based on 4 factors:
-Likelihood of winning the case (is it a clear cut case or will you have to fight for it)
-Time it will take to get a result, calling ebay and time you spend thinking about the return when you
could be focusing on something else (opportunity cost).
-The value of the item
-Is the buyer intentionally sending a broken item back or were they just not careful enough?I receive very few returns, probably one every 100 sales, so returns are very rare. I also always keep a little bit of extra money in my paypal account just in case I need to give a refund so that the money will be there. I figure it is just a small cost of doing business.
With this case mention on my original post I decided to give a refund to the buyer based on the 4 variables I mentioned. I will go through what I was thinking with each variable in regards to this case.
1. Likelihood of winning case?: it would probably be 50/50 chance of winning. I called ebay and they encouraged me to do an insurance claim with the post office instead of filing an appeal with ebay. I got the buyer to say a little more in our communications about him taking the itme out of the box but, I figured it would go back and forth where the buyer would argue it was the post office’s fault and I would argue it was his lack of packaging that caused the damage. Although I know I am in the right, I believe it wouldnt be a clear cut case in ebays eyes, based on their response they gave me.
2. Time it takes thinking about and handling case?: I figure it would take at least 2-3 more calls to ebay to get the right person and I was thinking about it often so, the time factor was high. Here you have to consider your opportunity cost.
3. Value of item?: Value was pretty high, enough to fight a little bit.
4. Did the buyer break the item intentionally or were they just not carefully?: I dont think the buyer broke it intentionally because they were sending it back because they didnt need it anymore and they paid the return shipping. For some people this question would not matter because a broken item is a broken item but, for me if the buyer intentional sent back a different item or broke it and sent it back, I would fight a little more than if they just werent careful enough. I rarely do returns and buyers probably do returns even less so, I am a little more forgiving if it wasnt intentional.In conclusion: I believe I should not have to give the refund but, based on the information my best option was to give the refund. Although it was a valuable item it was unlikely I would win (50/50) and it would take too much time dealing with it and thinking about it, not to mention if they dispute the decision.
Just to summarize, the 4 variables I use when handling returns are:
1. Likelihood of winning
2. Time it will take
3. Value of Item
4. Was it intentionally broken or replacedFeel free to let me know your thoughts, thanks
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