@Laura321
@Laura321 wrote:
Hi thanks for your response. The item was a sofa and chair. It was sold as a whole, he has collected everything but one piece the chair. This was 3 weeks ago. I have the final piece stored but am going to have to have it moved this week or incur charges. I'm not willing to refund for the uncollected item I sold as a set. Can the buyer dispute the sale even after my efforts to contact and now a month passing from the sale?
Hi there,
Yes, the buyer can still file a dispute. If you provide eBay or PayPal (whichever site he uses to dispute) with evidence of their lack of communication (emails, reminders etc.) and the uncompleted collection of the items in question, the case could be decided in your favour.
The problem is however; as you've sold the items under one purchase, if the buyer did file a dispute and it was found in their favour, you will be debited for the entire order amount as a refund. In addition to this, the buyer could refuse to deliver the items back to your possession unless you cover the cost.
It would be in the interests of both parties here to avoid a dispute, as the situation is quite complex and there was no delivery involved - which means he could claim that all of the items are still in your possession also. In future, I would recommend requiring the buyer to sign for partial collection, which means they cannot claim at a later date that they didn't receive all of their purchased items.
I would advise to either refund the part which he hasn't collected after a period of 1-2 months of no response OR if the buyer's address is accessible, you could visit in person and query it directly.
It is worth noting that the buyer has 180 days from the date of the purchase to file a dispute. After this time period, the level of defence he has to make a claim for a refund is bare minimum.
I know that it is unpractical to retain the items for 6 months, but it's the most solid option to avoid any claims in the next few months once they've decided to return to PayPal. This is because if you dispose of or re-sale that particular part of the purchase, despite their lack of communication, their claim will become harder to compete with and the end result could be in their favour.
Best Wishes,
Jason C
