Need advice how to handle an eBay deal

[pumpkinfish]

I recently cleared out some cars in the fleet to start a few new projects and sold them on eBay. One of the buyers messaged me last night that the servo didn't work in one of my vehicles. I know it worked when I last used it, but obviously have no way of proving that now. The car doesn't have a servo saver so I have no way of knowing if he tagged a pipe and it broke then. I think it was an Airtronics 94102 in there if I remember correctly. I'm not sure what I should do to handle the situation. Obviously it was sold as is, and the price the buyer paid was reflective of a rare car not high end electrics in it. I know I have been burnt in the past with stuff I bought and just wrote it off and put my own electronics in the car I bought or had to clean that "one last ride" dirt off. I know not everyone has the same laid attitude I have. So how do I handle this he said, she said situation? What if he escalates it to eBay? What do they do?

Thanks!

[klavy69]

we all know paypal/ebay will side with the buyer so if it was me and it was a recent sale as in the last few weeks I'd offer up a refund once its back in my hands. Worse case scenario with this is you have your car back to resell again and not scammed by paypal.
A little more risky is you see if he'll let you send him another servo which you can prove works/worked to make him happy. 94102 servos aren't exactly rare and you pry have one layin around. Keep all the emails, communications and whatever else you might think pertains to it and hope if he still escalates it to a claim that paypal will listen.

good luck

Todd

[dldiaz]

That's a tough one - I always worry about something like this happening after a sale.
If your description clearly stated "sold as is", and if your preferences included "no returns",
I would think you have a good defense if the buyer tries to make a claim.

1) Did your description say specifically that the servo worked?

2) Have you asked the buyer what they want to do?

3) Has the buyer left feedback yet?

[shodog]

Unless you're advertising it ready to run, one should assume none of the radiogear works. However I would offer up a $15 refund for the servo just to make this thorn go away

[Coelacanth]

I'm with shodog. Sometimes a buyer likes everything about their purchase but one minor thing, and a small partial refund can smooth things over without going through the hassle of shipping it all back & reselling it. I've even been in the buyer's situation a couple times, but I was sure to make my complaint with the seller only after making 100% certain that there was absolutely no mention of the defect or flaw anywhere in the description, and certainly wouldn't have complained if the auction was specified as "No Returns". In other words, if the seller was deliberately deceptive about flaws or defects in the item, taking care to NOT show them in the pictures, and saying the item is "like new" for example, and I found obvious flaws, I'd message the seller to let them know I was displeased because the description was deliberately misleading.

In your future auctions, I would state that the car was all working before shipping, but due to the nature of ELECTRONICS and SHIPPING, there's no guarantee that it will be 100% functional upon receipt; it's a used car chassis, not new.

[GoMachV]

....but due to the nature of the hobby, there's no guarantee that it will be 100% functional upon receipt; it's a used car chassis, not new.

Fixed it for ya!

[pumpkinfish]

I said no returns in the listing. Guy said he put a new servo in it at the track for $60 and the car is flawless otherwise and loves it. My inital thoughts is he didn't like how slow it was, because lets face it...a basic servo is slow as heck. I didn't advertise a new digital servo. Just a basic one. So I am thinking I'll tell him my hobby shop has perfectly acceptable Spektrum servos for $27 (which I have been running in my B5m weekly since last winter with zero issues) and I'm willing to refund an even $30 no more. That sound like a good plan?

[GoMachV]

$30 is overly generous imo.

[EvolutionRevolution]

I said no returns in the listing. Guy said he put a new servo in it at the track for $60 and the car is flawless otherwise and loves it. My inital thoughts is he didn't like how slow it was, because lets face it...a basic servo is slow as heck. I didn't advertise a new digital servo. Just a basic one. So I am thinking I'll tell him my hobby shop has perfectly acceptable Spektrum servos for $27 (which I have been running in my B5m weekly since last winter with zero issues) and I'm willing to refund an even $30 no more. That sound like a good plan?

It was his choice to put in a 60 dollar servo. A standard servo like the one in the car can be had for as little as 5 bucks (...new). IIRC, standard Futaba servos are around 10-15 bucks, so I'd say that should be more than enough.

[dldiaz]

If the guy is already using the model at the race track - I wouldn't feel obligated to refund anything.
Maybe offer a $5 courtesy refund, but mainly just save all the correspondence in case of an eBay dispute.

Are you worried about protecting a 100% Feedback record?

Also: Has the buyer suggested a solution? Is he asking for the $60 servo reimbursement???

[Phin]

Honestly you shouldn't feel obligated to give any partial refund at this point since as didiaz pointed out he has run the car. You should have offered him a return for a full refund of what the buyer initially paid (auction price+shipping) but it would be the buyers obligation to pay return shipping. If you wished to do more you could have also offered to cover return shipping but it's not ebay policy that a seller need to. At this point though the buyer cannot return the item in the exact condition he received it in since he has admitted that he has raced it.

EBay does not support partial refunds and it's against the rules for the buyer to request one....especially with the threat of leaving you negative feedback.

[Lowgear]

If it were me, I'd tell them in a nice way to go pound sand. Seems like the person has a lot of nerve.

[Coelacanth]

EBay does not support partial refunds and it's against the rules for the buyer to request one....especially with the threat of leaving you negative feedback.

This is certainly true, but from a buyer's perspective, if the item description is deliberately misleading, or pictures carefully selected to hide obvious flaws, that's against the rules too. I realize in this instance, everything in pumpkinfish's auction was fair & honest, but that isn't always the case. I've been able to smooth over a couple transactions that would've otherwise gone sideways by requesting a partial refund. In those cases, it wasn't worth the hassle to ship the item back for refund (the shipping cost would've basically negated any refund), and those descriptions were misleading--whether intentional or not, isn't the point. Obvious flaws were not described or shown in the several pictures. Just saying.

[Jim85IROC]

I'd offer him $15. It's not your problem that he put a $60 servo in. If it had an old, slow servo in it when he bought it, $15 is more than enough to cover the cost of a similar servo.

[pumpkinfish]

Just to follow up I gave him $15 stating that to replace the servo of like, kind and condition. I also told him that it was his choice to put in a high dollar servo. I haven't heard anything more from him.