Help! Need advice asap!

[luvamoramore]

Here is my situation.
I sold a Coach hippie bag on Sat 12/29 and the buyer paid right away. I shipped it express mail on Monday and he received it today. That's when the headache starts. I received an email from his wife saying that everything looks perfect with the bag except the wear on the brass closure and she wanted to exchange it for another one. I bought the bag new with tags from the outlet but I forgot to add in the description that there was wear on the brass closure. The wear was on the bag when I bought it.When I realized that I forgot to do so, it was too late to revise the description b/c the bag has been bought. I don't have another hippie bag, so I offered her a partial refund for the bag. Even though my auction states that all sales are final, they asked for a full refund. I accepted b/c the mistake was on my part.The buyer wanted me to refund the money immediately before sending me the bag back. When I said no, he became mean in his latest email saying that my auction was deceptive and was a fraud b/c I didn't mention the wear on the brass closure. He says that he won't ship the bag to me unless he gets his money first.I don't think it is unfair for me to want the bag back before issuing a refund. He says he'll contact Ebay & Paypal tomorrow to get his money back. I want my bag back before I give him his money. I am an honest powerseller and I've never had this kind of problem before.
Sorry for the long post. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

 

[Kiss Me Deadly]

Ok, this is common.,, heres my advice:

do NOT give a refund without getting the bag back..although yes it was your fault for not mentioning the wear on the brass closure, its not a huge problem like she's accusing you of selling a fake, its just a little thing.. so, def. have the bag back first. Second, you were nice enough to offer a refund even though you stated otherwise in your auction.

Work with the person and they should come around, they always do. If they contact paypal, they will say that the buyer cannot have the bag AND the money, so you need the bag back first.

 

[juniormint]

Yes, get the bag back first. Let the buyer go to Paypal - they will definitely say that the buyer needs to return the bag first before the seller has to refund.

 

[luvamoramore]

Ok, this is common.,, heres my advice:

do NOT give a refund without getting the bag back..although yes it was your fault for not mentioning the wear on the brass closure, its not a huge problem like she's accusing you of selling a fake, its just a little thing.. so, def. have the bag back first. Second, you were nice enough to offer a refund even though you stated otherwise in your auction.

Work with the person and they should come around, they always do. If they contact paypal, they will say that the buyer cannot have the bag AND the money, so you need the bag back first.

Thanks for the advice, Kiss Me Deadly. I told him that I contacted Ebay & Paypal this afternoon and I was told that I need to get my bag first before issuing a refund. I am trying to work with the buyer but the latest email was really mean, accusing me of fraud, deception and being untrustworthy and selling a bag that was not new. I'll stick to my guns!

 

[finzup]

Just continue to be nice to the sellers.... they will eventually realize you are not a scammer and just made an honest mistake.

 

[LV Rawks]

Ugh...Honestly, the demands that some of these ebay buyers make. You would not get a refund from a store without first returning the goods, so why should this buyer think that you would be any different? Continue with your original request...refund after you receive the bag, period.

 

[luvamoramore]

Update. This morning the buyer filed an item not as described dispute with Paypal, so her funds are on temporary hold in my acct. She still insists that I pay her first, which I refuse to do. When I went to the Paypal resolution center, it only gives 2 options: issue the buyer a full refund or escalate the dispute to a claim. I am not issuing a refund before getting my bag back so what will happen when I escalate the dispute to a claim with Paypal? It seems to me that the buyer wants to keep my bag and get their money as well.

 

[4theluvof-it]

When you escalate it to a claim, paypal will make them return the purse and then give them a refund.

 

[print*model]

Yep. Escalate the dispute to a claim and PayPal will make them return the bag prior to giving them their money back.

Your buyer is being unreasonable. Tell him that there is no place on the planet that will issue a refund BEFORE getting their merchandise back! Tell him to try that crap at any retail store. They'll usher his rear end right out the front door. Ebay is no different.

 

[northerndancer]

You have been more than reasonable as a seller - and you should definitely get the item returned before giving the refund. If they take your money and keep your bag you have no recourse. Because it was your error, you probably should offer to refund all shipping costs as well.

 

[luvamoramore]

You have been more than reasonable as a seller - and you should definitely get the item returned before giving the refund. If they take your money and keep your bag you have no recourse. Because it was your error, you probably should offer to refund all shipping costs as well.

I escalated the claim to a dispute with Paypal and now the buyer has 10 calendar days to provide Paypal with a tracking number showing that the bag was shipped back to me. The full refund including shipping costs will be given when I get my bag. It is so sad that the buyer chose to file a dispute w/ Paypal b/c I refused to issue a refund unless my purse is returned to me in the same condition it was shipped out. All of this could have been resolved w/o involving Paypal since he has to return the bag prior to getting his refund. Which makes me think that he wanted to keep my bag and get his money back.

 

[lulilu]

Hope this works out for you. Honest mistakes do happen, especially during the holidays, when you are rushing a bit (at least I am LOL).

 

[TreeDoc]

Yep, what lulilu said. That's totally unrealistic to think that they could keep the bag and not send it until getting their refund--I've never encountered any store that would do that!!!

Frankly, I'd block that buyer after getting your bag back. You were totally honest in admitting you'd made an error in the description and offering a refund (partial or full); he really should have known from that, that you were an honest seller and didn't have any intention of scamming him. Yeesh!

 

[noshoepolish]

You did the right thing. Buyers are PITA's right now. They complain about every little thing. They wioll have a hard time finding a replacement for that bag too - they sold out a while ago and the only thing around are holiday returns.

Oh and you should have told him you can't get a refund from a store without returning the item and ebay works the same way.