ebay buyer being an idiot - would appreciate any advice

benmurray85

So I sold my broken Macbook as spares/repairs on ebay.

Its landed with the buyer today and hes claiming that its been opened and as such was not as advertised and now wants to know "what Im going to do about it?" Im going to contact ebay but thats going to be tomorow evening at the latest.

I know ebay tend to side with the buyer and Im fearing that they will here but surely when hes bought an item that advertised clearly as broken they cant take his side?

Would appreciate any advice guys. Its seems the buyer obviously makes a business out of stripping mac's so he clearly talks the talk - which I dont! 

Cirrus

Well, I guess it depends on the specifics. What does "It's been opened" mean? As in the buyer was idiotically expecting something brand new in original packaging? Because that'd be stupid.

But do they mean it's been opened as in "I know about macbooks and bought this to fix it, but someone's clearly been inside the unit and fucked about with the innards to the point where nothing is useable" then that's possibly the kind of thing that should have been disclosed in the description.

And obviously there's a whole range of possibilities in between those two extremes. So I guess the question that needs answering is "What has been opened, and given that it was sold as non functional, why does it matter to the buyer? In what way does it devalue the item further?"

benmurray85

Thank you @Cirrus

In my ad I stated it had never been looked at by a professional however hes taken that as never been opened (taken apart etc) I bought it second hand and to my knowledge it has never been opened (I know previous owner and he hasnt been in it either) although I obviously cant guarantee that. 

However this guys had it roughly 24 and been inside it and is now saying theres allsorts wrong. My point remians though, it was sold as faulty. He knew he was taking a punt on it. You cant renage on that when you arent happy with the purchase, surely! My other argument will be that if he had concerns about the internals he shouldve asked before placing a bid or not bid at all?

Im wholeheartedly expecting ebay to side with him though. 

Cirrus

Hmmm. Well, yeah I'd be inclined to agree with you. Whether ebay/ paypal will though is anyones guess - you might not get lucky. I'd confront the guy, personally. Ask him what makes him think it's been opened, and why it matters since it was sold as spares/repairs which is a very broad description that could be anything from a sticky keyboard key to a pile of circuit boards.

I once sold a radio mic and receiver as spares/repairs, clearly described what the symptoms were (major audio dropouts, cracked PCB in the mic), and the guy who bought it got back to me complaining it didn't work.

I said I know it doesn't work.

He asked what I was going to do about it since he'd bought it as a birthday present for his girlfriend and she was going to be upset.

I said I wasn't going to do anything, and copy/ pasted the description into the reply.

Never heard anything else from him, he definitely didn't file any dispute. Probably too thick to work out how. Which does sadly mean I've got no first hand experience of what ebay will likely conclude.

FelineGuitars

Has the actual casing of the Macbook been opened?

Or has he just been inside it to rob a part he needs and now wants to get a refund too?

benmurray85

Thanks guys. @FelineGuitars I have never opened the casing but the buyer has been inside it as he has sent me pictures of the supposed "issues" theres certainly no damage but as you said he couldve just been pillaging parts, something that never even occurred to me!

Budgie

I'd definitely take the tack of... 'you mean you've opened it up'?, 'why'? I'd hazard a guess that Feline above is barking (ahem) up the right tree.

JezWynd

As you sold it as 'not working' then I would hope/expect that eBay would side with you.

benmurray85

Cheers guys, we'll see how it plays out but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is not going to go my way........

underdog

FelineGuitars;956365" said:

Has the actual casing of the Macbook been opened?Or has he just been inside it to rob a part he needs and now wants to get a refund too?

I'd say you're on right track there

Bygone_Tones

option 1 - he keeps it
option 2 - he sends it back for a full refund

simple as that, ebay cant force you to give a full refund unless he posts it back. never give partial refunds.

grungebob

You did not explicitly state it had never been opened ever only that a professional had never seen the inside of it. If you stipulated it was for spares or repairs and not working then I would hope you would be fine. Of course you could counter argue that you can't accept it back as he had admitted tinkering with it already and thus can not be returned in the same state it was sent in. Was it a buy it now or auction style listing as there's different rules for each ?

Sambostar

Bygone_Tones said:

option 1 - he keeps it
option 2 - he sends it back for a full refund

simple as that, ebay cant force you to give a full refund unless he posts it back. never give partial refunds.

Or Option 3: - He sends it back minus crucial parts, gets a refund and you are left with a plastic case which is worthless.

Skodadad

You will win the case if he opens it, I sell most stuff on eBay as spares repairs even if it's working. Then if the buyer turns out to be a complete robbing twat they are wasting their time. If not they are generally overjoyed with what they get. If your description was accurate I wouldn't worry. EBay is robbing bastard central now days. He basically bought it cheap because it was advertised spares repairs then expected it to be working or a simple fix. If he wants working items he should bid on working items. Give the guy a call, request his details from eBay. These keyboard warrior buyers turn into sheep when the phone rings.

BigMonka

Budgie said:

I'd definitely take the tack of... 'you mean you've opened it up'?, 'why'? I'd hazard a guess that Feline above is barking (ahem) up the right tree.

Yeah, if the case hadn't been opened before surely you'd be within your rights to not accept it back as its now in a worse condition than when you sent it (as you now can't sell it as unopened)

benmurray85

Update. Spoke to eBay yesterday and they initially sided with me (albeit in a rather lukewarm way!) but encouraged me to speak direct with the buyer

Phone him tonight and he was very difficult and super slippery. My concern is that he runs a business selling Mac's as spares so he clearly knows what he's talking about and exactly the right thing to say.

He's intimated that he will find a "greasy substance" inside the Mac which proves that I've been in there! Asked me for a partial refund (which I think will prove his undoing) and when I declined he shouted and hung up!!!

I've let eBay know everything that's gone on but as its all over phone calls I'm not sure how that'll work! Fingers crossed.

Sassafras

What's his feedback like?

Does he make a habit of pissing people off?

benmurray85

No not really. 1000+ with 97% positive.

ThorpyFX

benmurray85 said:

Update. Spoke to eBay yesterday and they initially sided with me (albeit in a rather lukewarm way!) but encouraged me to speak direct with the buyer

Phone him tonight and he was very difficult and super slippery. My concern is that he runs a business selling Mac's as spares so he clearly knows what he's talking about and exactly the right thing to say.

He's intimated that he will find a "greasy substance" inside the Mac which proves that I've been in there! Asked me for a partial refund (which I think will prove his undoing) and when I declined he shouted and hung up!!!

I've let eBay know everything that's gone on but as its all over phone calls I'm not sure how that'll work! Fingers crossed.

The guy seems to lack in moral fibre. Fight him as much as you can and be as difficult as you can.

benmurray85

and he's already put the request in for a complete refund and return.

question am I right in thinking that if this goes his way he might not even need to return the item? or have i made that up?

thanks guys. I hate any form of conflict and at the minute I really do not need this stress. might be minor ands trivial to some but this is going to cause several sleepless nights of worrying. appreciate your help guys

jamiexsilver

At the end of the day he bought something you clearly state was spares or repairs, the fact he owns a business selling repaired macs makes me think he's been in it robbed the bits and now wants his money back, I would fight this one tooth and nail mate.