posted on February 17, 2001 04:49:33 PM
Ok Ebay sellers...just curious how you handle an unhappy customer in regards to giving them a refund. Do you just refund their bid amount or the total they paid you that included shipping? What about the postage they paid to send it back?
posted on February 17, 2001 05:01:12 PM
They stated that 2 flaws weren't disclosed in my ad. Normally I'm pretty good about listing all the flaws in my ad (but I'm human and do make a mistake once in a while) but the book was rated fair to good and with the flaws that I did state was surprised about their dissappointment. I average about 1 unhappy customer per year so this is something rare for me.
posted on February 17, 2001 05:26:00 PM
If there actually were flaws that were not disclosed I would feel that I owed the customer the ship cost as well.
posted on February 17, 2001 05:33:53 PM
I have never had someone ask to return an item I sold, but I agree with sharkbaby. I would refund shipping even though my TOS states no shipping refunds on returns.
On two different occasions I bought an item on eBay they were not as described. One was cracked, but not in a noticeable place. The other was different than what was in the listing. In both cases, the seller refunded me shipping both ways and we left each other positive feedback. I would definitely buy from both of these sellers again!
posted on February 17, 2001 05:54:00 PM
For me, it is pretty simple.
If the item is not as described such as missed flaws, I refund bid price + shipping BOTH ways and I have even refunded the postage stamp used to mail the check.
If the buyer is just unhappy and has buyer's remorse but the item is exactly as described (I put a complete condition report in all my auctions and also measurements and several pictures showing all the areas of a piece that I can) then I will refund the bid price minus shipping and ebay fees.
So, in your case I would refund bid price and complete shipping both ways. The buyer is at a disadvantage because they can not touch the object and has to depend on a seller to be complete in their description.
posted on February 17, 2001 07:54:19 PM
OK, I initially agreed with you guys about refunding the shipping back until...they shipped it back priority (I sent it book rate) and they insured it (they did not go with insurance to ship to them). So...the breakdown is...$1.30 to ship to them...$4.60 to ship it back. I also did a search on other auctions they had won and find they also bid on the exact same book in much better condition prior to receiving the book they won from me. I feel the two flaws I missed were minor considering the flaws that were mentioned.
