Hi There.. we've been in retail for 26 years.... but recently we've started selling new products.. namely electronics and toys... We're having a few issues with items being bought, shipped out, treated badly by the customers and then returned as faulty.. We have one particular one now for a £750 item that has been utterly battered.. and 'the customer claims the damage is as a result of a fault (which it isn't).. we can pretty much prove beyond any doubt they have miss-used it.. but how do we deal with potential chargebacks etc as they bought via PayPal online... any hep appreciated as its driving me nuts
Are the items fit for purpose? Perhaps choose different customers or sell different items. Customers have rights - occasionally a few abuse the rights just like occasionally retailers abuse customers. Presumably selling online? Block those customers / refund them without sending.
That's the issue with Paypal. They will usually side with the customer, and accumulating too many disputes will result in your account getting fund holds. You have to ask yourself - is it worth it? If you do want to defend it with Paypal, just make sure you document everything. Take photos. It sometimes works. We had one once where Paypal refunded the customer but didn't charge us (it wasn't our fault), which only encourages this kind of customer behaviour.
I get the - did not buy item - claim via PayPal several times a year. I reply to each one and theses days PayPal do not find us as a retailer at fault. So no money from us. Strange how people buy from eBay then do not recognise the eBay deduction in their credit card or bank statement. Quite happy to have the goods though. A couple of times have had to claim myself via PayPal against retailers. A torch that stops working after 4 days. Could not get it working again.
Ebay, now allow you to deduct from full refunds if you have evidence. They also found for me when Royal Mail said delivered, and customer said not. The key seems to be evidence. Once they see damaged gear after more than a day or two - they don't like being ripped off either.
I have the evidence.. a video of the product before despatch.. and a video and photo full report (which we send to the manufacturer) for this item.. Under the Consumer ProtectionAct a customer cannot expect a refund if they have caused the damage.. the burden of proof is on them.. We have the proof that the item was in perfect condition on despatch.. the item has been returned a wreck.. It 'is' a good quality branded item, so yes, it's fit for purpose..... But like a car, or a bike, or a model car, or anything that you ride and has wheels you can ride it too fast, too hard, on the wrong surface and crash it and damage it.. The point im trying to get at is there are protections for the consumer... but are there protections for Retailers.. AND, the thrust of my thread.. has anyone any experience of the same thing.. Which is customers returning an item thats clearly been abused, but suggesting it is faulty... ??
If you have proof use it, decide on a policy and stick to it. I used to have a large number of clients claiming non delivery, so I increased postage and used recorded delivery which stopped 95% of false claims. On the other handful I asked for a written statement which would be passed onto Royal Mails fraud department who were conducting an investigation, that usually caused another 3% to suddenly find their deliveries. Deal with it, at those amounts it will not take long to hurt you badly.
I buy quite a lot of stuff on eBay. Without a problem. My current torch is from eBay and has worked fine for the past year.
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