How would you handle this?

[LynzM]

We've been selling lots of stuff on Amazon to make a little extra money, and get rid of stuff, in prep for our move next year.

Sold a copy of a computer game last week that, as far as we know, worked perfectly, no scratches on the discs, etc.

Got an email today that says the buyer's tried to download the game three times, and the first disc works fine, second won't work, and they want their money back.

Ok, now what? Ask them to pay return shipping and I'll refund their money, plus the shipping, if it truly doesn't work? Just give them the money back and suck it up if they're scamming me? Ugh.

[Breeze54]

1. What's Amazon's policy on SW sales?

How much is the shipping on 3 CD's?

It can't be that much.

It sounds like a pain in the ass and you could be sued

for a lot more then the shipping costs, if they want to be a-holes.

What's it worth to you? :shrug:

I'd never sell SW CD's of any kind over the net.

[LynzM]

2. Um, not exactly sure on the policy.

Looks like we're required to give refunds?

How could we get sued for asking them to return the materials, and reimbursing them the cost of the shipping, in addition to refunding the item? Could be a pain, but I hate the thought of being a sucker, too. Ugh.

[Breeze54]

3. I don't know, but I watch Judge Judy.

She and The People's Court have E-Bay people on a lot being sued.

Her decision always seems to be to refund the money and have the

buyers return the merchandise BUT if they excepted that it might

not be perfect, that's another story.

It depends on what you said in your AD, I guess.

I agree, though, that they may have copied it and now want the $ back.

Did the game work without the disks? If not, then maybe the cd's are bad!

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. "Judge Judy" is arbitration. It's not the same as going to court.

Judge Judy can do almost anything she likes, because her show is not a legal proceeding. It's binding arbitration, which is (obviously) binding on the participants. However, it's not necessarily contingent on the law.

[nadine_mn]

4. good point made about what your ad said

that would be the key - did you make any promises about the condition of it?

usually you don't get to keep both the refund and the merch, so you can ask for them to return the cds and you would refund the money spent. However - my concern is if they already copied the cd's - is it a licensing issue?
also depends on how much it was worth and did you take reasonable care to ship it.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. 1. Refund their money

2. Stop selling your stuff.

3. DON'T GOOOOOOO!!! :cry:

[philosophie_en_rose]

6. A few options

First, check your listing. Did you say that the software was "as is?" or specify a return policy?

Second, you should get the software back. The buyer needs to send with some sort of confirmation.

Then, decide whether to refund the money (plus or minus shipping).

Amazon does have a dispute resolution process. Amazon will cover the refund and work with you to determine whether you need to refund them. You might want to look into that.