Bad Clothing Buyer - No communication, only false statements and eBay & PayPal claims.

[sarah2401]

Background: I've sold hundreds of clothing items over the past 10 years. I took a break from eBay and came back and sold a few things just to encounter a problem buyer who wins 3 separate auctions and claims each auction was "Significantly not as described" and immediately resorts to eBay and PayPal claims without contacting me. 

I find it highly unlikely that over hundreds of items three in a row would be problem items, coincidentally all from same person. The auctions were for pre-owned clothing lots with no "rips/stains/tears". The buyer ended up receiving 25 pieces of clothing. The buyer never contacted me to express their dissatisfaction with any of the items, instead they filed a claim 9 days after they received the items (very suspicious, usually this is known immediately if not satisfied with clothing items, not after you've decided you've found something better or no longer fit into a certain size). I've researched plenty of pre-owned clothing lots and realize that condition is very subjective as I would not call many of what some people describe as "good" or "excellent", I described mine as "excellent" in knowing that there were no defects with any of the items, and many "good/fair" items may have minor flaws and mine did not which I explained in the further detail of "no rips/stains/tears" (how I've described pre-owned clothing for years with no problems).

The buyer has made false statements already: 1. stating they have attempted to contact me in the original eBay claim 2. leaving negative feedback embellishing about the shipping costs (eBay/PayPal can look for themselves on the payment; the buyer falsely overstated the shipping by $8.50 which I consider slander, but that's another issue).

I sent the buyer messages asking for specific details of what was wrong with the items and stated if they could provide evidence contrary to the guarantee of "no rips/stains/tears"  a refund would be considered if they mailed the items back to me in the condition they received them in (a couple of items were NWT & NWOT). What does the buyer do? Ignores my messages to try to resolve the issue and escalates the issue by filing a PayPal claim.

How does eBay/PayPal rule in these situations? The buyer will not communicate with me to resolve anything and just seems to be trying to go the fast way in getting their money back without sending back any of the items. Surprisingly, I have never dealt with this before; I am concerned how quickly a case can be ruled in a bad apple buyer's favor.   

[surplusdealdude]

I find it highly unlikely that over hundreds of items three in a row would be problem items, coincidentally all from same person

Not hard to imagine at all, since the common element is a buyer who likely has buyer's remorse or is a reseller trying to chisel the price down.

How does eBay/PayPal rule in these situations?

Flip a coin.  It could go either way.

What you should be doing is fight the right fight, though.

You're fighting the accusation that you're a scammer, whether she has made it or not.  Stop doing that - it clouds your judgement.

First of all, EXPLICITLY STATE in the dispute that you insist on a return of the items in their original condition befopre any refund will be given.  You have to make that absolutely clear to the ebay/paypal people or they might just refund and she walks away with the goods.

Then, she'll have to return them with traking if she expects to prove that you got them and she may not want to pay the price for that. 

THEN argue whatever case you want to make and finish up by re-stating that the goods must be returned before a refund is given ( in case the ebay/paypal people have short memories)

Then wait her out and see what she does.  Often, they just walk away.

Oh, and block the idjit NOW, before she causes any more trouble.

[Regina25]

In the ebay rules it states the buyer has to return the item in order to receive a refund.  The buyer has to submit a claim and then you are asked to reply with the resolution you desire.  Just state that you request the merchandise return.  The buyer has to prove you received the item and then you have to reimburse her for items.  The bad side of all this is that she has the opportunity to disgrace your rating.  If you find a way to list these bad buyers let me know.