Thread: Ridiculous E-Bay Return Request

Originally Posted by gugi

No, shipping insurance covers only damage during shipping if the shipping company is at fault - i.e. the item was packaged adequately and the package was severely abused during shipping so much that it got damaged.

If the buyer has damaged the razor it will not, and neither should it, be covered by the shipping insurance; it should be covered by the buyer who damaged it.

Thank you Gugi for the clarification. I was not trying to encourage cheating insurance companies. Rereading my post that you refer to, I have to admit it is ambiguous. I meant to say that if the buyer is willing to state explicitly that the razor is not broken nor damaged, OP can safely accept the return if it is sent by means of insured mail. Might be a good thing to check ebay policies on this matter. I guess we all have experienced buyers' remorse and returned perfectly good-quality goods for one reason only: they did not meet our expectations.

Originally Posted by Aldwyn

Weird. It was a clear ad, if you ask me. If he gets it and doesnt like it, he should be doing like the rest of us... put it back on Ebay, and take the loss.

Disagree. If I purchase something at a B&M and it turns out not to work out for whatever reason, I return it for full refund. why should eBay be different?

That said, I would view this with suspicion. Definitely get pictures FIRST.

I'm in line with Orville somewhat on this.

If the seller has a return policy offered and I decide to return it, the reason is really irrelevant - I want to return it - simple, no explanation is required.

If it has a defect, that would be returned regardless of a return policy or not as it is defective - which is a different matter entirely IMO.

Originally Posted by Orville

Disagree. If I purchase something at a B&M and it turns out not to work out for whatever reason, I return it for full refund. why should eBay be different?

It depends on the merchant's return policy, some have very generous ones and some not so much. Some are willing to take a loss even if the customer is wrong just to keep the customer happy, some are not going to take things back even if the customer is right.

Ebay isn't different except that each seller can have their own return policy and ebay is willing to serve as arbiter if there are disagreements between the parties.

In this case the seller clearly sees the buyer as unreasonable, but he has set a return policy without any conditions on the reasons for the return.
I don't think it's completely unreasonable for the buyer to expect that such policy means they can treat the purchase as a loan unless they are absolutely happy with it. Plus, it's already used razor and if it's not mistreated it could remain in the virtually same condition.

On one hand you have a return policy that seems unconditional (obviously excluding damage by the buyer), and a buyer who wants to take advantage of it for a reason that the seller finds 'ridiculous'. That dichotomy is properly resolved by the relevant arbiter - ebay/paypal/credit card issuer. I suspect that the unconditional return policy will be enforced in this case, but the seller can take it as a learning experience and modify their return policy to match their expectations for what is reasonable.
More restrictive return policy certainly decreases the pool of willing buyers, but that's a trade off that the seller must figure out.

I stand corrected . . . my mistake for not remembering that eBay is bound only by their own policies, rather than any government's. So yeah, you need to know the seller's policy on returns which, in this case, seem to side with the purchaser in terms of allowing the return.

As for the idea that ebay sides with the Buyer in most instances, urm NO.

I would like to add, that I think the purchaser buying insurance for the return shipping is totally up to him. The way I see it, it is his razor until the seller receives it back in the same condition it was at the sale. If it goes missing or gets damaged in the mail that's the buyers problem and no refund would be issued.

Has this issue been sorted yet? Outcome?

Such is life, and you can't always please everyone, some you wish you never came in contact with, let it go and move on, sounds like it was a nice razor, I too would like to know the outcome.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

If it goes missing or gets damaged in the mail that's the buyers problem and no refund would be issued.

It is not as simple as that. OP wants to solve this issue to the buyer's satisfaction while OTOH not running any risk himself as an angry buyer might leave a negative feedback. AFAIK buyers can leave negative feedback while sellers can leave only positive or neutral feedback.
Ebay bends over backwards to please buyers because they bring in the money.

Originally Posted by Kees

It is not as simple as that. OP wants to solve this issue to the buyer's satisfaction while OTOH not running any risk himself as an angry buyer might leave a negative feedback. AFAIK buyers can leave negative feedback while sellers can leave only positive or neutral feedback.
Ebay bends over backwards to please buyers because they bring in the money.

Ebay will monitor the situation since they can see the original listing & look at the way it was shipped such as a padded envelope or box. I like to ship most razor's in a small Flat Rate Box with the razor wrapped in bubble wrap & even styrofoam peanuts added....................I have a lot of 'em. They can also look at the communications made by both parties & also determine if a negative feedback was due to buyers remorse.
He had to have dropped it after he said this, "the razor tends to fall out of my hand"................................
I hope you asked for pics first & if it is damaged, eBay will take it from there. As i mentioned, they also look at the messages between the buyer & seller. I've been dealing with eBay since 2002 & I have had a few bogus issues tried before & they lost due to their clumsiness! The last issue I had with a buyer was a person who lived out of the country & he expected me to pay his part of the Global Shipping which is his responsibility. He first opened a case on me on eBay but as soon as they closed it, he did what I thought he would & left me a negative feedback & not only that but opened a case against me on Paypal. I called eBay & they told me once Paypal closes the case, they would remove the negative which is what happened. I then blocked the buyer from ever buying from me again. My friends, if you sell on eBay & have a problem buyer, even if they just open a case on you, block 'em for your protection.