E bay returns

I have a question concerning ebay returns. Someone had bought a HP Thin Client for the tune of $4.00 plus shipping. This person called me and said he hooked it up to his television and he is not getting reception. I told him the Thin Client hooks up to your PC not you tv. No where in the listing does it say to hook it up to your tv. Now the guy wants to return it for a full refund under the guise the "item is not as described". I figure I will offer a $4.00 refund and he can keep it. What would someone else do in this situation? https://www.ebay.com/itm/28286404958...=STRK:MEREX:IT

For 4 bucks, I would have refunded at first hint of trouble

I will preface this by saying I am not trying to be "pessimistic" but "realistic" having gone through this on more than one occasion.

People are idiots, some people are out to scam on Ebay. It is a sad reality. Refund the $4 and move along. I took nearly a month of my time, and spent even more money getting a $300 computer "forensically reviewed" to prove a guy broke my item. I filed police reports. I fought Ebay tooth and nail- and in the end this is what I had:
1. More Grey Hair
2. A Broken Computer
3. A $40 forensic fee
4. Costs to ship back to me

And Ebay completely sided with the buyer and left me out to dry. I got no Vaseline for the rectal pounding I took.

So without trying to sounding rude in anyway: Eat the $4 and save your sanity. In Ebay's eyes: He is right (even though he is an idiot) and you will lose. Sad reality of Ebay!
:(

To clarify - the buyer paid for shipping and the $4. He wants to return the item with me paying the return shipping and the $4 back and a full refund. Not to sound mean but yes, some people are idiot sticks. Why should I pay because this guy didn't know what he was buying? I guess I will offer the $4 and hope he accepts.

I completely agree with sledge. A buyer can take your item, proceed to break/damage/hook up incorrectly and simply return it saying "not as described". You could have numerous pictures of the before and after damage and even a lengthy description. ebay simply states "we cannot validate anything with pictures or your description. I recently had a buyer hook a washer timer up backwards and proceed to completely destroy it. They claimed that it looked that way when it arrived. I fought with ebay on the return only be told "we cannot make any decisions based on pictures of the damage or your description". Definitely save yourself the time and take the $4 hit. Ebay will always side with the buyer. The best thing you can do is block that buyer and possibly put them on a blacklist. Other than that there is not much you can do.

If it was my transaction I would definitely refund the moron and add to the never shrinking 'blocked bidder list'. Because of the low $ amount, it really is not worth the fight.
Seen in your listing that you have 8 more. I would list the remaining ones as 'Buy it Now' and add some to the price of those to help with your loss.

I would also get a smile from the message sent approving/closing the return. With the sound of this guy probably something along the lines of...
Thank you again for your purchase, there will be no need to return this item. Full refund will now be initiated. Please donate to someone that can put to use or responsibly recycle locally.

Agee to refund the $4 for the item and do it before you have to pay to ship it back, too. I got stung by this thief, look at his feedback to see how I got even....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Vin...-/152833511725

Overall I agree if he will take the $4 let go. Take a deep breath and keep listing.

Now he said it didn't work in a way it was not intended. So that would not be "not as described" and I have had ebay side with me on similar cases.

The key is to communicate with the buyers using ebay messages(I'm certain you are) so that can be used in a case against you.

I have on the few occasions this type thing has come up. I asked (as many times as needed) that the ebay rep read the message between me and the buyer.

On one occasion I had a buyer threaten me with negative feedback. When I read that I just smiled. That in ebay terms is blackmail and the buyer will loose.

Again $4 is not worth the time, I would tell him to keep it and refund the $4. You could end up paying for the shipping as well.

73, Mike

I never sell anything less than $20 on eBay. Complete waste of time.

I generally accept returns no problem, no matter what they state. However, while ebay can give them their money back, if I receive something tampered with in return, it's mail fraud, I generally report that and let them handle it from there. If the dollar amount is really high, I pay the 35 dollar fee and file a small claims case against them. Two times last year and I am batting two of two. The first called me when they received notice the second didn't pay the judgement against them until they needed to use their credit for something I guess. I have one out now for non-payment of a binding contract to purchase (won the bid on a large item).

Ebay policy does not provide immunity from the law. Period. Ebay franchises fraud, they know it happens, and by being proactive about fraud ebay would lose revenue.

Amygreywolf,
Out of curiosity, what where the items/$ amounts?

north of 1000 each. one was a 1080ti we repaired a vrm on and resold it as used, a miner bought it, then claimed it was defective and sent back another card (wrong serial number) What he didnt know is the gpu has the serial and lot number on it if you take the heatsink off and clean it to look. Thought he was being slick swapping stickers. That actually was mail fraud. When we sued they put a derogatory on his credit report. Apparently open and unpaid judgements (actual small claims) not satisfied are a 10 or more point hit to the report.

Did a lot of cell phones for parts for auction and got burned on a not as described fraud, i was sent back just broken screens and shells and not even the same models...probably a 4500 dollar lot, we sued, won and werent paid back. I filed for reposession for satisifaction of debt in the state of California. So after receiving notarized paperwork and paying to have it delivered to their place of business I called the store (cell phone repair) and told them this is their last chance to satisfy this judgement including all the fees before I hire a company to come in with the sheriff's department to repossess the contents of your store for debt satisfaction. I offered them to make a wire transfer to my bank and that I would call the clerk of courts and rescind the repossession order. This isn't just a business thing either, in many states you can file for repossession in the satisfaction of debt. The order of things though starts with small claims. You pay the fee, name the defendant and the amount, reason for, cite the transaction in the document and await to be heard after 30 days has passed from the time the defendant receives notice (certified letter in most cases). Just because the defendant doesn't show up is not a reason to win your case. You have to prove with actual documentation why you are owed the stated amount of money. In this case you should file a mail fraud case and have a case number with the post office before you appear in small claims. Ebay policy/TOS does not cover fraud at all, they state all kinds of legal non-responsibility but like any contract, it is only legal if it's law abiding and ebay is not law abiding and they know it. You can name ebay as well, I would, as you have no effective way to recover your fees and time otherwise, you can even sue to get your feedback back as surely you will receive a negative for calling concern to the fraud.

Proof is pretty easy, pictures of what you sent, tracking numbers and then ebay transactions/messages and tracking numbers for the return then pictures of contents for what you received. For us that's always been video. Can't refute the security camera, and that gentleman is why in this world you are responsible for protecting your own assets, ebay will not do it for you.

With hose numbers would definitely file small claims court against the scammer. Awesome results! and sure beats the canned 'straight from India call center' help from the eBay seller support.