Buyer will not respond to Dispute he opened! Will Seller's funds be released?

[quirksbyannie]

Hi there. I recently had a Seller receive a cast iron item and claimed that it was broken in several places when it was received. I respond to initial message with apology and offer to refund if he would sent photos as proof and for my records. He never responded. I sent 3 messages that day...all very professional and apologetic. Instead of responding he opened a dispute with PayPal, which I immediately responded to. I refused his request for a refund, but did state that I would be willing to refund if he would provide me with photos showing damage. I still have not had a response from the Seller and it has been 2 weeks. I contacted PayPal requesting the close the dispute based on the fact that I was willing to refund with proof of damage being provided and their response was that I was to communicate with the Buyer or escalate the dispute to a claim, which means an additional 30 days of waiting for my funds to be released. What happens if I leave well enough alone and don't escalate to a claim and just let the time run out on the dispute, which is now approximately 9 days? If the Buyer does not respond and does not escalate to a claim, will the funds be released to me? Or will they go to the Buyer? I have tried to communicate and settle with this Buyer 5 times, I simply think that he is not telling the truth at this point. I think that the item was received intact and as described, therefore that is the reason he won't/can't provide the photos. Has anyone else had this experience? What happens next? Thanks for any help!!!  

[BigKahuna97 · Accepted solution]

At this point the buyer has to face the facts that he is responsible of returning the item to you for a refund or he can keep the item and not receive a refund.

If I were in your shoes I would just leave the dispute as is and see if he fails to ship the item back for his refund.  If he does fail to ship it back I would highly consider this a possible scam situation where he just wanted the item for free.

[timestreasures]

Hope you can cancel any bids this buyer places in the future, or block him from bidding on your auctions. Good luck!! I smell SCAM too.

[quirksbyannie]

I definitely blocked him as a Buyer! I don't like dealing with nasty people...there are too many nice people out there!!!! And I do get my funds back, if he doesn't escalate the dispute to a claim by tomorrow, which I don't expect, since he hasn't responded to my 5 messages to resolve this problem!  

[Lucky7_Deals]

BigKahuna is right. The buyer is probably a scammer who was trying to get this item for free, much like the guy here at PayPal Community who goes by the handle, Watchout. It really is too bad when you get problem buyers/theives such as this, and you should definitely put this guy on your ebay Buyer Block List.

[quirksbyannie]

Added him to the block list right away...I sell a lot of Cast Iron, so I didn't want to take a chance that he would buy something else! So there is someone in the PayPal Community that is KNOWN for this kind of thing? His handle/name is "Watchout" or are you saying I need to watch out...or BOTH? 

[older-and-wiser]

Yes, exactly.

[ABBA2]

I've decided it takes all kinds on this type deal.  You asked if anyone else had a problem like this ...there's  always a crook in the cupboard.  I had a buyer who said a wolf sculpture I sold and shipped  him was broken and he wanted a refund.  I told him I listed it as no returns/refunds in the beginning but would as a favor IF HE SENT IT BACK to me.  He did and I refunded the amount he paid.  Now he wants the amount he spent to return it - his comment ... MOST PEOPLE JUST WANT A PICTURE OF THE ITEM BROKEN.  Now I know where he got the idea;  but the strange part is that when I received it and checked it out, it was broken in a way that was simple to FIX.  He was trying to cheat and beat.  I'm about to send him the money for his shipment just to be done with the fellow - so SELLER beware of the BUYER.  They are trying to scam any way they can.  He could have had a very expensive statue for nada - that he purchased for almost nada to begin with. 

[quirksbyannie]

It is truly unfortunate that there are so many dishonest people out there in the eBay community. I have had 4 bad experiences with Buyers as of late. A couple of them trying to scam and a couple others that were just nasty for no reason, because I was completely agreeable, pleasant, and professional! There are just ugly, unhappy people in this world that want to take everyone they can down with them. Yuck!