CPU bent pins and buyer issue

[Vexr]

I sold a used FX series processor in its full retail packaging (the metal AMD tin that includes the stock HSF) in a padded envelope. There were no issues removing the CPU from my motherboard and I confirmed all pins were in alignment.

The buyer received the CPU and alleged several pins were bent, particularly around the edges. He provided photos of what appears to be an FX series CPU with bent pins.

I asked him to return the item (at my expense) for a full refund. My plan was to then pursue this with the Royal Mail as I sent it Recorded Delivery and insured up to £50, which covered the price I got for the processor.

The buyer decided otherwise, and without my agreement passed it to a computer repair shop. They've apparently straightened out the pins at a cost of nearly half the value of the CPU, which the buyer wants me to refund.

I feel a potentially very awkward dispute coming on here. Any advice?

 

[Rroff]

Sold where ebay?

Make sure you document everything as if there was any dispute they should have returned the item straight to you and/or had you remedy the situation.

 

[Vexr]

Sold where ebay?

Make sure you document everything as if there was any dispute they should have returned the item straight to you and/or had you remedy the situation.

Yes, and they paid with Paypal. Usual step for them to take would've been to request a return through eBay (which I asked the buyer to do) and they'd get a return postage label to use that I'd be charged for. I'd then verify the damage/that it's the same item, and send them the refund. I could then pursue the Royal Mail for compensation.

Sounds like partial refunds / getting things fixed through third parties then coming after the seller for the cost is a whole other quagmire (for the seller apparently). Obviously if I was a shop on the high street I'd say 'no chance' because they didn't follow the proper returns policy, but I'm aware the 'buyer's always right' when it comes to eBay.

With that in mind, makes me wonder if I should just roll over in goodwill, assuming he can at least provide a receipt for the work done.

Alternatively makes me wonder if I should have him duke it out with eBay/Paypal and see what they say - though going by their track record he'll be fully refunded, I won't get the CPU back, and things will have become far too complicated to get anything out of Royal Mail.

 

[Haze]

If you have chat history via ebay, don't pay him anything, you told him to return it and he never, his problem

 

[Journey]

You don't owe him anything, he chose to get it repaired (if he even bothered to). Straight up scam, report him to the place where you bought it from. He should have sent the faulty product back as you requested, he chose to do otherwise and if that was incur further cost to himself that was his choice not yours.

 

[Distracted]

Scam.

 

[JediFragger]

Scam.

For 25 poxy quid? Dude must be desperate eh!! Nah, sounds like he's just a bit dumb/stubborn.

 

[Distracted]

They have a damaged fx, they buy a new fx. They send a pic of the damaged fx to the seller claiming it arrived that way. The seller asks them to return it.

It should end here.

Instead the scammer, wanting to keep the item then sends the seller a pic of the pristine item claiming it to be the damaged item now fixed. They expect the seller to pay for the repair. They get to keep the new item and pay only half the asking price.

People will go to extraordinary lengths to save money / get something for less than it is worth.

 

[Glanza]

Ask him for a invoice from the shop he apparently got it repaired at to confirm with them.

 

[Semple]

Ask him for a invoice from the shop he apparently got it repaired at to confirm with them.

Absolutely this.

I would be friendly about it, just say something like you're perfectly happy to reimburse the cost of the repair if that's a solution that you preferred. Can you please forward me the receipt with details of the repair shop so I can obtain confirmation of the repair.

 

[Distracted]

I would ask them to return it to you, as you already have. Then once it is returned and you have confirmed that it is the correct CPU you can refund the buyer and persue the issue with royal mail if required.

If you have to you can explain to paypal that the insured delivery is why you instructed the buyer to return the item in the first place.

I would not refund them for the repair or seek evidence that it had been repaired. But perhaps i am being cynical and stubborn.

 

[pastymuncher]

Ask him for a invoice from the shop he apparently got it repaired at to confirm with them.

Absolutely this.

I would be friendly about it, just say something like you're perfectly happy to reimburse the cost of the repair if that's a solution that you preferred. Can you please forward me the receipt with details of the repair shop so I can obtain confirmation of the repair.

Don't do either of those. Why should the OP do that. If you have been communicating with him via Ebay messages then the Ebay staff will be able to read them. He made a choice to go and have it "repaired" after you had already offered him to return it at your expense. In the event of a dispute Ebay should side with you as you have met your obligations. It's not your fault if he has gone and done something else. There is a good chance that he will have invalidated any claim against you by going down this road as well.

 

[Loxa]

Exactly, the buyer did not follow any kind of claim or dispute protocol.

 

[SC0TTRS]

Buyer's choice to get repaired 3rd party, why should you have to payout.

You'll be fine OP, you gave him the option to return and he didn't take it.

 

[Minstadave]

Exactly, the buyer did not follow any kind of claim or dispute protocol.

Indeed, wouldn't pay a penny. Ask them to follow the normal dispute procedure. Make them aware you recorded the CPUs serial number.

 

[Semple]

Don't do either of those. Why should the OP do that. If you have been communicating with him via Ebay messages then the Ebay staff will be able to read them. He made a choice to go and have it "repaired" after you had already offered him to return it at your expense. In the event of a dispute Ebay should side with you as you have met your obligations. It's not your fault if he has gone and done something else. There is a good chance that he will have invalidated any claim against you by going down this road as well.

It sounds like you're not a familiar user of ebay when things go wrong.

 

[Glanza]

Don't do either of those. Why should the OP do that. If you have been communicating with him via Ebay messages then the Ebay staff will be able to read them. He made a choice to go and have it "repaired" after you had already offered him to return it at your expense. In the event of a dispute Ebay should side with you as you have met your obligations. It's not your fault if he has gone and done something else. There is a good chance that he will have invalidated any claim against you by going down this road as well.

I suggested that as if it is a scam then the buyer probably won't have any invoice / receipt for a computer shop to have repaired it. I've had to do that in the past when I used to sell on Ebay soon stopped his 'fake' claim.

 

[pastymuncher]

It sounds like you're not a familiar user of ebay when things go wrong.

I am well aware of the "Ebay always side with the buyer" that is always stated on here. That is not the case a lot of the time, especially when the buyer goes and does his own thing after the seller has offered him a return. If all communication has been done by Ebay messages then the staff will be able to see just what has been said and take appropriate action. If the buyer had raised a dispute he would have been offered a return, something that the seller had already done. He wouldn't have been told to go off and get it fixed at the sellers expense.

 

[Brazo]

It sounds like you're not a familiar user of ebay when things go wrong.

I always ‘win’ my disputes as a seller. Simply follow the eBay protocol and your fine.

Having an item repaired is something the buyer is entitled to do but it’s irrelevant for the purposes of eBay or trying to claw back any money. The buyer can send the cpu back (now fixed of course) very kind gesture btw, or keep it.

 

[Vexr]

Thanks for the responses everyone. All communication has been by eBay messages.

I replied making him aware of my concerns about not following the usual returns policy and that I'd be looking in to what action would be appropriate to take. A few exchanges of messages later, plus me realising I'd not got a decent un-blurred picture of the pins on the CPU from before I sent it (I know I didn't include one in the auction - I won't be making that mistake again), I decided to offer to go 50/50 on the repair cost with him, which he accepted, acknowledging that he was partially at fault for going to get it repaired instead of returning it.

Considering if he had returned it at my expense then that cost wouldn't be recoverable, that works out that I'm down about £7 (that's assuming I'd have been fully compensated by Royal Mail - another potential headache I'm happy to avoid). I think I can live with that. If he had insisted on the full repair cost, then we'd be going down the other route for sure.

Cheers all, and hopefully that'll be the end of the matter.