Textbook return after THREE months?
November 20, 2013 9:27 AM   Subscribe

Today, I received a second refund request on my Amazon seller account under the A-to-Z Claims Guarantee. This is for a textbook I sold three months ago on Amazon. Should I accept the request?

I posted this question last month when the buyer requested a return of the book. She claimed she "no longer needed" the book because her professor switched textbooks, and she notified me of this two months after the order date.

Now, the buyer is claiming that the item was not as described. My original description of the book when I posted it was as follows: "Condition: Used, Acceptable. Good condition, except for significant water damage which has left the pages of this textbook wavy. No highlighting or writing. Pages 512 to 523 have a small tear (less than the size of a pea) in the lower right-hand edge of the pages. Fast shipping!"

The buyer submitted an A-to-Z Claim on Amazon that the item was not as described: "There seems to be some kind of smell such as mold coming from the pages of the book. Also there are water marks and wrinkly pages on majority of the textbook pages. I wanted to keep this text book but the smell coming from the pages are getting overwhelming."

When I sent the book to the buyer, it did not have mold in it. It did have significant water damage, as stated in my detailed description of the book's condition. I also listed this book at the price of $75, which was $25 less than the lowest price this used book was going for which was $100, because the book had water spilt on it and had wavy pages.

Since the first return request was because she no longer needed the book (2 months after the order date, past the fair return time of books window), I think that the former reason continues to be why she is requesting the return. Also, there was no mold on the book when I sent it to her; my description of the book was accurate.

How can I respond to this request without getting taken advantage of? Do I just need to accept the request? Can you offer any insight or suggestions on the best course of action in this circumstance? Thanks!
posted by horizonseeker to Work & Money (15 answers total)
 
2 months after the order date, past the fair return time of books window

If it's outside of the returnability date, then this is a question of do you want to be a nice guy or not.

Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't honor the return request for the following reasons:

1) outside of the return window
2) it's a fucking hassle, then you get stuck with the book again
3) her first return reason wasn't good enough
4) her first tactic didn't work so now she's (probably) making stuff up, and that would annoy me

I don't know what Amazon's seller policies are like, so I don't know if her bad review is going to cause a significant effect on your ability to continue selling stuff on Amazon.

It looks like the consensus last time was don't honor the request. So continue not honoring the request. Don't feel bad about it.
posted by phunniemee at 9:35 AM on November 20, 2013 [12 favorites]


Wow, no way should you accept the return! The answers a month ago still hold true.
posted by mibo at 9:37 AM on November 20, 2013 [7 favorites]


The buyer is using mold as an excuse because an "acceptable" item can have water damage, but mold is not:

"Items in any of the following conditions are unacceptable for listing on Amazon.com: [...] Item is not clean, including signs of mold, heavy staining, or corrosion." Source.

Amazon is also clear that there's nothing you have to do after two months:

"Used BMVD Products: Defects/damage/material difference should be reported to you by the buyer within 14 days of receipt, and the returned merchandise must be postmarked within 30 days of the delivery of the original shipment to the buyer." Source.

I have no idea why you continue to think you should pay any attention to this person. Pay attention to the advice in the original thread. It is still true.
posted by saeculorum at 9:38 AM on November 20, 2013 [9 favorites]


I wouldn't honor the request. However, in the future, if your book has significant water damage - even if it's still readable - I wouldn't label it as "good" condition. It's on the buyer to read the broader description, which she obviously didn't do, but I would still not consider that book to be in good conidition.
posted by Think_Long at 9:38 AM on November 20, 2013 [4 favorites]


It's on the buyer to read the broader description, which she obviously didn't do,

It's not even a case of this, though. I am like 99% certain that the buyer is just grasping at straws so they don't have to pay for a textbook they no longer need. If the water damage had been an issue, it would have been brought up the first time they tried to return it. And should have been brought up way sooner than 2 months. This is not about the water damage. This is about a person deciding o wait I want my 75 bucks back, sorry not sorry to the person I bought it from.
posted by phunniemee at 9:41 AM on November 20, 2013 [5 favorites]


"i'm awfully sorry, but i sold you a textbook, i did not rent it to you for free. you obviously have me confused with your local librarian. i don't know the dewey decimal system either."
posted by bruce at 9:42 AM on November 20, 2013 [9 favorites]


I wouldn't honor this request. Her two return reasons don't even make sense together: if she doesn't need the textbook, why is she continuing to use it? And how is it that the supposed smell is only now "unbearable"? She's making things up, hoping to find an acceptable reason for a return.

Also, yeah: no book with considerable water damage is in good condition, though I know that Amazon is considerably more lenient about such descriptions than most booksellers.
posted by johnofjack at 9:42 AM on November 20, 2013


OP appears to have listed the textbook as "Used - Acceptable" with the note that it was in good condition except for the wavy pages. Can we drop that derail?
posted by troika at 9:46 AM on November 20, 2013 [11 favorites]


Don't let her return it. If things escalate and Amazon gets involved, the previous return request itself combined with this one pretty good proof that she's trying to jerk you around.
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:49 AM on November 20, 2013 [8 favorites]


"Sorry, I'm unable to accept your return. Please see my and/or Amazon's terms for details."

This is classic "I'll buy the book and return it when I'm done with it" (or at the very least "My particular circumstances obligate unrelated parties") behavior.
posted by Rykey at 9:51 AM on November 20, 2013 [5 favorites]


You didn't accept the first refund request for a reason. Did that reason change?
posted by oceanjesse at 9:56 AM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]


I would deny this return request and contact Amazon seller services to report the user for potentially fraudulent behavior (or behavior in conflict with Amazon ToS). If this user does this frequently, Amazon may close their account.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:00 AM on November 20, 2013 [13 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks for the advice, all. I've responded to the claim directly to Amazon, so they will hopefully be looking into the matter and this buyer's other potentially fraudulent behavior. To be honest, I'm surprised that this kind of abuse of textbook buying and returning doesn't happen more often. I will update with additional information (and ask for help again) if the problem persists!
posted by horizonseeker at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


Good grief, what a jerk.

Hopefully you've got copies of all your previous communications with her, both TO her and FROM her? That should help if/when you need to prove to Amazon that she's trying to pull a fast one, what with her having one set of excuses at the two-month point and a completely DIFFERENT set of excuses at the three-month point.

And remember, if she leaves you a bad seller rating, you have the right to make an explanatory comment of your own.
posted by easily confused at 5:03 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


Three months?! Conveniently the length of a college semester... this person totally used the textbook all semester and now wishes she'd had it for free. No way would I let the return go through - you're totally right to deny the request and refer it to Amazon as fraudulent behavior. University bookstores don't allow returns after a few weeks into the semester for a reason.
posted by augustimagination at 12:15 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


« Older Are there any websites that lets you explore the...   |   Is it crazy to consider teaching a class 8 weeks... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.