Ebay buyer says goods damaged - won't cooperate with UPS

[goingthedistance]

Greetings everyone. We sold some items on Ebay and the buyer is saying they arrived damaged. The items were packed and shipped by the UPS Store, and we purchased insurance. We promptly notified UPS and opened a claim with them. The buyer has not been available for UPS to inspect the damaged items. UPS has since closed the claim because of lack of response from the buyer. The buyer also has not provided any pictures to support his assertion that the items were received damaged. Now the buyer is harrassing us asking for a refund and saying it is our responsibility to settle the claim with UPS and give him a refund.

What is the buyer's responsibility to cooperate with UPS? The buyer has possession of the items and has not proved any damages at all; he just claims they are damaged. Also, if we say "fine, return the items and we will refund your money" who should pay the return shipping? Do we refund any shipping costs as well?

Thanks.

 

[Princesca]

I would handle this through ebay customer service.

 

[tzeitel]

I agree with the PP, contact Ebay. I do not ship through UPS but it seems like you covered all the bases by having UPS pack the items and including insurance Ebay is "funny" about always siding with buyers but since the buyer has not co-operated with the claim I am not sure what they will say

How long has it been since the auction ended? How did the buyer pay? I am guessing he has not started a claim with Ebay since he is harrassing you to settle w/o going through them. Just make sure you have all the UPS documentation handy when you speak with Ebay - good luck!


edit - sorry forgot to add. If it was my fault I would refund shipping. With your situation I would think UPS is responsible since they packed the items for you. Since UPS tried to contact the buyer with no success I would tell the buyer that now it is their responsibility to mail the package and shipping is non refundable since they did not get back to UPS.