Question about refund for you Ebay sellers

[Smarsh]

A guy bought 3 Coralife bulbs from me ( I took them out of my brand new lighting fixture and replaced them with Pheonix bulbs). They were working. He bought them on April 30th.

I got an email from him yesterday stating that they do not work. None of them. He wants to know how we can rectify this situation.

I am not sure what to do about it. It's been almost 2 months since he bought them. I don't know whats happened to them since he bought them.

what would you do, or what do you think I should do?

Sandy

 

[Eklikewhoa]

2months ago? Maybe his ballast can't fire them or he screwed something up.

I would probably not refund being that long ago, I know I would have at least test fired them if I was the buyer but being unbias.....did you test fire them before selling?

 

[bluegrass]

That's just too long IMO. I wouldn't buy something and not test it for 2 months and expect anything.

 

[Smarsh]

Yes they were all working before I sold them. I checked them in the lighting fixture before I replaced them. So when they left my house they were working fine.

He states that when he put them in his fixture they did not work and then he put his old bulbs back in and his worked.

I don't think I should have to refund his money either, but with the way ebay is now doing feedback I didn't want him to post something negative and ruin my 100 percent feedback if I can't respond to it.

He said he took pictures of the bulbs side by side (his and mine) and that they are the same. I never thought to ask him about his ballast or about the bulbs that he has in his ballast now. I only thought to ask him if they were the correct wattage.

Sandy

 

[SouthernR]

I agree ^ sounds a lil shady waiting 2 months to claim they don't work, and he only has 45 days to file a paypal claim/dispute so......

 

[Ch0cStarfish]

Maybe he should ship them back to you first. Then you can check them again in your fixture to see if they work. 2 months seems like a long time to wait to tell you they don't work.

 

[reef-nut]

Two days sure, two months no way!!!

 

[Russellaqua]

2 months, forget it. Sounds like they're trying to get something for nothing. Even if something did happen to them in shipping, he should have checked them the moment he got them to make sure they worked. I always do with my bulbs.

 

[Eklikewhoa]

Doesn't ebay have a set amount of time to leave feedback?

 

[EyeCatchingCoral]

I wouldnt worry about him posting a negative. You can reply to it and show people you were not at fault. I dont think you should refund.

 

[SouthernR]

Doesn't ebay have a set amount of time to leave feedback?

I believe 60 days

 

[Chong]

2 months is a long time IMO.

 

[oceaninabox]

As an ebay expert I can tell you that your rights to post a Negative as a seller is null and void. You can thank eBay's new policies which went into effect in June to only allow for the buyer to post Negative feedback. This is one of the biggest complaints us eBayers tried to fight with the week long boycott back in April. We knew it would be instances just like this where the buyer in all there wrong doings would forfeit any realistic feedback that the seller is justified in leaving. Unfortunately, you have nothing on your side. And quite honestly if you push the envelope the buyer regardless of what you do to rectify can still leave you a big fat NEGATIVE and there isnt a darn thing you can do about it....... How's that for a fair trading environment? I do however suggest you fight back to eBay because until they go back to the old (fair) policy there isnt anything as a seller we can do. Our rights have been stripped. eBay originally thought this would allow the buyer to voice their feedback without fear of retaliation of the seller. Little did they know they were taking or rights away form us(or did they)? They feel it wouldnt be eBay without the buyers........WRONG.....You dont have buyers if you dont have sellers.

 

[theplatypus]

THis is only my 2nd post here so my opinion probably isn't worth much. WIth that being said, two months is way too long to be asking for a refund.

 

[Eklikewhoa]

eGay.

 

[Smarsh]

I didn't think I should be responsible for refunding his money either. The lights were working perfectly when I shipped them. I have no idea what has happened to them since he got them. If he had tried them when he got them then I would have no problems refunding his money, even two weeks after he got them, but 2 months is a little beyond a refund.

Thanks all for your help. I've never had this happen before so I wasn't sure what I should do.

Sandy

 

[shred5]

I would have him ship them back at his cost and you test them, most likely he will not want too and that is the end of it.... I would not refund his money but it is very possible they were defective bulbs but most likely it is his ballast.


oceaninabox I am both a seller and a buyer on ebay and I can understand why this came about with the new feedback rules.. In the last year I have never got feedback from the seller untill i I left feedback. Basically the seller was holding the buyer hostage. If I bought something off ebay and it was not what it was supposed to be there was nothing I could do about it. I have perfect feedback and did not want to hurt it. There really is not perfect way to do this though. As a seller you are really screwed especially if you use paypal. Paypal does protect the buyer. A buyer can dispute anything and get his money back and to me that is really unfair.

Dave

 

[Smarsh]

I had tested them before they were sent. I can't believe that all three, brand new bulbs in a brand new fixture that I bought were bad.

I will see if he will ship them back, but then how do I know I am getting back the bulbs that I sold to him. I don't know. He could very well be using the same bulbs in his fixture now. So really I am screwed any way you look at it.

Sandy

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I would not do anything. Two months is way to long for an email like this. Even if he can leave a negative your other 99.9% will speak for itself.

 

[Ch0cStarfish]

I haven't used ebay for quite a while but I wouldn't be hesitant to buy from someone that has 99% positive feedback. It sucks if people try to manipulate you with the feedback system.