eBay Return 2 Months Later!

[road2ruin]

I thinned out my garage collection a few months back and one of the clubs I sold was a TM Stealth 2 5 Wood. It was in very good condition and had no damage outside of the usual usage marks etc. Out of the blue I have just had a return request as the buyer claims the club is defective, the club head has just cracked while hitting ball on the range for the first time. This item was sold on the 29th April and he would have received it very shortly after so he’s claiming that having had the club for 2 months it’s only now that he’s tried it and it cracked first time. I know the state of the club and it’s highly unlikely that this happened, I just don’t believe him. The issue I have is that with all the scare stories about buyers vs sellers am I likely to end up having to refund him and then have a completely useless club back? I think it’s outside of the eBay returns policy however PayPals is 180 days and from what I gather they almost always side with the buyer.

Any advice to what I should do or am I going to have to suck it up and essentially pay out a load of cash back for a club that I think he’s damaged and now is trying his luck with?

 

[RichA]

I would have a good read of The Consumer Rights Act and see exactly what your legal obligations are for your situation.
Did you buy the club new yourself? Maybe it's within warranty from when you bought it. Regardless of warranty, aren't most manufacturers pretty good when it comes to replacing cracked heads as long as it's original owner and not a complete relic.

 

[IanM]

As an initial response, I'd reply politely with a something along the lines of... "Given the time that has elapsed since the sale, I'm unable to accept a return."

You might not hear anything further.

Guy is probably taking the michael

 

[PJ87]

Was it sold as a buy now or an aunction

 

[PaulMdj]

If you bought the Club new and you get it back I would return it to Taylormade via were you bought it, mates Stealth 2 Driver cracked and Taylormade replaced it with a QI10.
Taylormade have a 2 year guarantee.

Might lessen you losing out.

 

[Orikoru]

I think it’s outside of the eBay returns policy however PayPals is 180 days and from what I gather they almost always side with the buyer.

I could be wrong but I didn't think eBay were linked with or use PayPal anymore?

 

[jim8flog]

I could be wrong but I didn't think eBay were linked with or use PayPal anymore?

You are right in one respect Ebay no longer owns Paypal.

Payments can still be made via Paypal but in my opinion your contract as both a buyer and a seller is with Ebay and not Paypal.

I would agree with IamM

 

[road2ruin]

Thanks for all the comments.

As an update I have spoken to the guy directly and he's apologised for requesting a refund, he was angry that it happened and when he tried to message apparently the only way he could do so was by raising a case in eBay. Anyway, he's calmed down overnight and he's accepted that it's not my responsibility and it's just bad luck. I have provided him with the original proof of purchase and he's off to TaylorMade to see what they are willing to do about it. I have seen the damage and I'm pretty certain it wasn't user error as the face has a big crack running horizontally across it. Having had a bit of a Google it's not an unknown issue so hopefully he has some luck with them.