Buyer wants refund advice

JW3500 · Sep 26, 2020

hey folks-

I sold a colony of 60 or so utter chaos on ebay a little over a month ago. There were a few polyps of fire and ice on the edge of the colony frag disc. The package was received and there were no shipping issues or complaints since then.

Just today I received a return request that the after removing the other polyps all of the utter chaos are dying. Everything in my tank continues to thrive. What would you do at this point? I want to be fair but its not like sending me the remaining 7 polpys is fair.

He is suggesting the fire and ice polyps killed the utter chaos. I do not know how the buyer attempted to remove them from the the utter chaos colony.

What is fair/right at this point?

j.falk · Sep 26, 2020

A month ago...I wouldn't refund or accept a return. A month's time for a return is ridiculous. More like they fragged what they wanted off it and are returning the leftovers to get a full refund...

Thunderrap · Sep 26, 2020

There is no company that would do a refund on a coral after a month. IMO they did something to that colony or their parameters are off or something. Be that as it may you don’t owe them anything.

JW3500 · Sep 26, 2020

I agree, I would never ask for that after a months time. Especially without any communication in-between that time. I wanted to ask the communities advice.

tankstudy · Sep 26, 2020

Fire and Ice also does not kill Utter Chaos. I can see competition for growth space but not extermination. Realistically, Utter chaos would grow over fire and ice as Utter chaos is much larger.

mariano · Sep 26, 2020

do not accept or approve the return, even at two weeks, that was enough time for him to decide if he wanted to keep it or not, not your fault he cant keep them alive .

Jilly92 · Sep 26, 2020

Jweis3500 said:
hey folks-

I sold a colony of 60 or so utter chaos on ebay a little over a month ago. There were a few polyps of fire and ice on the edge of the colony frag disc. The package was received and there were no shipping issues or complaints since then.

Just today I received a return request that the after removing the other polyps all of the utter chaos are dying. Everything in my tank continues to thrive. What would you do at this point? I want to be fair but its not like sending me the remaining 7 polpys is fair.

He is suggesting the fire and ice polyps killed the utter chaos. I do not know how the buyer attempted to remove them from the the utter chaos colony.

What is fair/right at this point?

Do what the stores do like a week return. A month is a little far fetched, Or tell him to send it back when the new heads return haha

Leemcg · Sep 26, 2020

I agree. No refund, return or anything. First it’s been a month. Second they removed other polyps from the frag, thereby altering it. You have no way of knowing how they did it. You owe them absolutely nothing.

JW3500 · Sep 26, 2020

Thanks for the input folks. I mean I purchased several high end zoas recently, one only 1 polyp. I know there is risk associated with purchases and if that 1 polyp melts away I won't contact the seller for a refund especially more than 30 days later.

I have no idea how that colony could have died over the past month or so. He swears the fire and ice killed them but I don't believe that either. Thanks for all of your feedback. Just a crappy situation.

Cell · Sep 26, 2020

Fire and ice zoas will probably overtake a shared rock with Utter Chaos, they just grow faster, but that's not really your fault/problem.

windemerejack · Sep 26, 2020

If it is the same as in uk then ebay money back guarantee lasts for 30 days and it does get exploited very often so you may struggle to win it unfortunately.

X-37B · Sep 26, 2020

Ebay will side 95% of the time with the buyer.
And their customer service is poor, imo.
I have had people say they never got the package even though usps said it was delivered and ebay refunded the buyer.
Let us know how it turns out.

j.falk · Sep 26, 2020

90's reefer said:
Ebay will side 95% of the time with the buyer.
And their customer service is poor, imo.
I have had people say they never got the package even though usps said it was delivered and ebay refunded the buyer.
Let us know how it turns out.

That may be true to some extent...but if he receives an item back that is not exactly what he sent, he can contact Ebay and they will usually cover the transaction provided he can send photos showing what he received back as well as stating that the buyer had the corals for a month and lost them due to negligence on their part. He, the seller, has no control over a buyer's tank and how it is cared for.

There are ways to fight back and win.

X-37B · Sep 26, 2020

j.falk said:
That may be true to some extent...but if he receives an item back that is not exactly what he sent, he can contact Ebay and they will usually cover the transaction provided he can send photos showing what he received back as well as stating that the buyer had the corals for a month and lost them due to negligence on their back. He, the seller, has no control over a buyer's tank and how it is cared for.

There are ways to fight back and win.

Yea, usually ! Thats just my experience selling on ebay for 15+ years.
Your mileage may vary, lol.

Saltyreef · Sep 26, 2020

Hes out of his time frame for a return regardless of what he says.

Ebay only sides with the buyer if they end up with a loophole somehow.
After a month on a piece of coral thats still alive shouldnt be anywhere near a loophole.

I sold a pair of new oculus VR glasses on ebay and they wanted to return due to incompatability with their phone.
But, I always select no returns. So they were unable to return.

Plus it sounds to me like his frags started to die after he cut into them.......

Now the only time i had an issue with a DOA, even the next day, i refunded the buyer.
Because it was a r2r member and im not about to "be that one guy"
Lol

black_beard_reefing · Sep 26, 2020

Yea when I sell frags I usually don’t ship that’s just me, I like to sell locally but I usually only do a week refund policy. A bit longer if I know you and know you know how to keep reefs. But once you start cutting what I send you I feel like refunds go out the window. It’s not my responsibility to refund you if you don’t have experience fragging and kill half the colony with your fragging techniques. Which is what seems like happened. He tried to frag it and it died now he wants his money back. No thank you wait for it to grow back out and try again buddy.

BrandonS · Sep 26, 2020

Did you sell it over ebay?

That is really crappy. would be curious if this guy has a habbit of this?

JW3500 · Sep 26, 2020

looks like it went the the paypal dispute resolution route. We will see how it goes. Thanks for the feedback/advice everyone.

BrandonS · Sep 26, 2020

fingers crossed for you.

BrandonS · Sep 26, 2020

black_beard_reefing said:
Yea when I sell frags I usually don’t ship that’s just me, I like to sell locally but I usually only do a week refund policy. A bit longer if I know you and know you know how to keep reefs. But once you start cutting what I send you I feel like refunds go out the window. It’s not my responsibility to refund you if you don’t have experience fragging and kill half the colony with your fragging techniques. Which is what seems like happened. He tried to frag it and it died now he wants his money back. No thank you wait for it to grow back out and try again buddy.

When I was a home inspector I would get calls from people who would "find something I should have found". I get there to take a look or do a repair and they are in the middle of a remodel with all the plaster and carpet torn out. I couldn't have seen what was in the walls behind the plaster. Sorry guy's not my fault. I do however have to have a disclaimer document that states this.

Did you state a standard DOA policy?