Returned item has been damaged

[mirandabee]

Hi. I sold a dress three weeks ago and sent it recorded delivery. I got an email a couple of days ago from the buyer saying that she had been on holiday and had only just picked it up from the post office. She said that the dress had a small fault and could she return it. I checked the tracking, which confirmed that she had only just recently collected it from the sorting office. I agreed that she could return it, and have just received it. The fault itself is a loose piece of cotton from the fabric, rather than a pull in the fabric which she had claimed. I had to look a few times to find it in the first place. Problem is, it looks like she has squeezed herself into the dress and it hasn't fitted her. The area by the hook and eye are really pulled, which has damaged the fabric slightly. Also, the boning on the bust area of the dress has bent. Ugh. It's certainly not in the same condition as when I sent it out. Looks like she simply changed her mind and has returned it. Do I just put this down to a bad experience and refund her? Or is there anything else I can do?

[lljkk]

Oh that sucks. I had something similar, buyer returned a large DVD set because 1 of 6 DVDs was faulty. Problem was, that the (considerable) casing was almost completely destroyed in the return post. I guess I could have claimed off of Royal Mail, but couldn't face the entire faff. I would have needed buyer's Proof of Posting, for instance, to do it. And it came down to buyer packaging the item poorly, anyway.

You can't easily prove when & how the damage happened to the dress, can you? Can you repair the damage at all?

[LineRunnerWithBellsOn]

I would be interested to know the right way to handle these situations.

I wonder if you should report the buyer and let ebay do a no-fault refund if that's the way it wants to go?

[mirandabee]

How does a no-fault refund work? Does it count against you?

[LineRunnerWithBellsOn]

fergoose has talked about them on here. Maybe she'll help.

[fergoose]

the only no fault refund I have heard of is a not as described case opened by a buyer - I don't think they would do one in this case, but is worth asking

I would ask ebay live help if I were you. Normally if a buyer has damaged an item I have seen sellers tell the buyer to pay postage as they are returning it to the buyer as it is damaged - but I dunno if you would be successful doing that. I would at least contact the buyer and tell them item not returned in condition in which it was sent to them and they have damaged it and see what they say?

[mirandabee]

Thanks. I'll contact the buyer - it's worth a try!