Last week a return was opened for a pair of pants, and automatically approved.  No big deal, it has happened a few times before.  The pants didn’t fit, so the buyer had to pay to ship them back.  I received the return last night, opened the package and found that all of the tags had been removed.  Which is almost comical considering the number of tags these pants actually had on them!  Five different tags, all removed, not returned.

Grrr.  I mean, really?  First, why take the tags off before trying them on?  Second, would any other store let you return pants with no tags?  And third, the return was only for $12.  I was honestly tempted to just refund the money and be done, but on the other hand felt I shouldn’t just on principle.  I worry that sellers who are quick to refund when they aren’t actually in the wrong encourage buyers to continue their bad behavior.

So, I called eBay last night.  They said to upload photos of the pants in the condition received.  I did, and called back this morning.  I got transferred around a bit, but everyone I talked to was nice and seemed knowledgeable.  They agreed that it was a “faulty return” because the pants were not returned in the same condition, and that I would not have to refund the buyer’s money.  The case was escalated, and within about 5 minutes I got this e-mail from eBay:

eBay opened a case because of an issue with an item purchased from you. We reviewed the case and have decided to issue the buyer a refund of $12.00 without any impact to you.  

This case is now closed. You are not required to reimburse the buyer or eBay, and this case will not be counted in your seller performance evaluation.

Soooo.  I get to keep my $12.  But the buyer still gets their refund.  Which I fear will indeed encourage such bad behavior.  Oh well.  I did what I could.