Dilema! Please help?

danceislove

danceislove

New Member
Ok so I need some advice. I just sold my first dress on ballroomdancers .com. I have sold several dresses before, but always on ebay so this is a little different. I just sold a gown to a woman who never discussed any kind of return policy or anything of the sort with me, nor did I ever say I allowed returns.

She has now emailed me and said:
"I received the gown it is gorgeous, but unfortunately it does not fit me right, I must be bigger on the top than you, It looks AWFUL on me.What is your return policy? I can get this shipped out to you overnight tomorrow, if you let me know what to do.Thanks so much, I so appreciate the effort, but it just will not work for me and it is so beautiful, but I am sure someone else will benefit from this gown. I am just so thankful, companies and individuals like you allow us to buy and return if necessary."

 If she had said she had intended on returning it I would not have sold it to her.

I told her:
"I am very sorry to hear this, but I do not have a return policy. If fit was something you were concerned about that is something you should have discussed with me before hand. You could look into having it altered or resell it. You could resell it on ballroomdancers .com, ebay, dance-forums .com, artrhythms .com or many other places. I am truly sorry it doesn't fit :( If you need assistance with finding a place to sell it I can help you research that.
Apologies,"

Is this acceptable? I'm not in the wrong am I?? I do not feel as though I am. I mean the situation is unfortunate, but could have been prevented if she had talked to me about it beforehand.

Please someone, give me a reality check (or support ;))
 
Did this person send you a check? If she did then she may be able to stop payment, even after payment has gone through, and then you have a royal pain to deal with. This happened to me recently, so now I will never ever accept checks again. The amount is too small to go to small claims court and be worth my while.
 
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. She should have asked you about your return policy before buying the gown.
 
She paid me with an e-check through paypal. Can she really do that? Just stop the payment? It has already cleared my paypal account. That isn't fair if she can do that!
 
If you have already received payment via PayPal, probably the only recourse she has is to file a dispute, but in that case they will hear both sides of the story, and you made no guarantees as to the fit. I am certain they would rule in your favor. Keep copies of all correspondence in case you need it.
 
I think if she had asked, I MIGHT have tried to work something out with her, with her paying all shipping costs (as stores make one do.) But her message to you was very manipulative, the tone of it was just very, "I'll trick you into letting me return it" and presumptuous. Which to me makes you much nicer in response than I would have been!
 
wooh said:
I think if she had asked, I MIGHT have tried to work something out with her, with her paying all shipping costs (as stores make one do.) But her message to you was very manipulative, the tone of it was just very, "I'll trick you into letting me return it" and presumptuous. Which to me makes you much nicer in response than I would have been!
Click to expand...

Oh I'm so glad someone else thought her email was rude too! Whew :rolleyes: It was the whole 'I'll just pretend you said I could return so you'll think you did and you'll let me' routine....
 
If, for any reason, you decide to accept the return, make sure that it is not possible that she had the dress over a weekend. You don't want to get into the situation where someone "buys" the dress, wears it at a comp on the weekend, and then tries to return it.

When I sell dresses over the internet, I have a 100% satisfaction guaranteed policy, with one caveat: I send the dresses to the buyer so they get them on a Monday or a Tuesday, and they HAVE to return them by Friday (via FedEx) or else they have to pay me a weekend rental fee. And the buyer pays for shipping and insurance both ways.

In all my days, only one person has returned a dress under my policy. Fortunately, I was able to sell it to someone else. The good news was that it didn't cost me anything for the potential buyer to try the dress on.
 
Please help??

Ok so the woman is now trying to bully me and is threatening me with legal action which I think is ridiculous.
She's telling me that:
"I am returning your gown via Fed-EX Overnight. I do expect a refund.
After consulting with my attorney- you never made any reference or statement on your ad or in your communications to me that this dress was non-refundable,etc. Only time you mentioned that was when I stated I would be returning it.
So, I am prepared to accept a return amount in the sum of $250.00 to compensate you for your time and inconvenience. If I do not recieve my money with the next 10 days since I am shipping gown out today. I will go after you legally and ask for damages in the amount of 3 times the purchase price making it $900.00 and as my attorney stated to me, I will win.
I have bought gowns from others at the same site you had your's posted and if they did not fit these individuals were all very happy to refund my money. With no additional compensation. Knowing that sometimes gowns do not fit the same on everyone.
Please, think about your actions and do not force me to take legal action because this is not how I like doing business. I try to be fair and professional in all I do.
Please look for the gown delivery tomorrow. Thanking you in advance."


I have not sent her a response yet, but this is my draft.

"If you were buying the dress to try it on then you should have said so. I have been asked in the past by people if they could purchase and return a dress from me and I have said no. That is what people do, they check first to make sure they could return it. You did not ask. You did not say you were concerned with whether or not it was going to fit, you did not ask me if you could return it if it did not fit. If you had I would not have sold it to you. It is not my policy to sell dresses for people to try on. There is no universal return policy on ballroomdancers.com or on ebay. That is why people ask before they purchase. Save yourself the shipping charges, the dress is not returnable. The situation is unfortunate, but could have been prevented if she had talked to me about it beforehand.
Respectfully,"

Please help this woman is being nuts! :confused: How do I handle this lady? I'm still very confident that I am in the right here.
 
NielsenE said:
since she's gotten a lawyer involved, I'd suggest you do the same before responding to her
Click to expand...

Well here's the thing, according to her emails she is a real estate agent...so I'm sure she just talked to some real estate attorney in her office or something. I mean she paid $290 for the dress, is that really worth attorney fees over?
 
Try contacting PayPal about this. They've dealt with this crap a thousand times, I'm sure. You are a not a business with a policy of accepting returns for non-fit issues. *She* assumed too much here. And "damages"?:confused: What damages? Sounds like she's taking a ride on the looney train, plus I think she's blowing smoke. Were I in her shoes and I bought a gown that ended up not fitting me (and I always ask about returns BEFORE paying), I'd suck it up and re-sell it. Cripes!
 
The woman sounds nuts. Next thing you know, she'll be suing you for $54million. ;-)

If you know of anyone who is a lawyer, that you could ask informally, I'd do it. The scary thing is, anyone can file a lawsuit for just about any reason. And that's all she has to do for you to be spending just as much (if not more) to fight it, than it would be to return it. As much as it would suck to refund her money (and she's so way off base), it could actually end up being worth it.

If you know how to research statutes yourself, then I'd suggest that, if you don't have someone you could ask.
 
This is complete brainstorming, so I have no idea what the legal implications would be, but...

Maybe contact FedEx and see what their policy is about refusing delivery. I know you can refuse delivery from the USPS...I wonder if FedEx is the same way. (And, of course, ask what happens to the package--exactly--if it's refused.)

I wonder if you could refuse delivery and that would give you an added layer of protection. As in, you did not act in any way that would indicate a willingness to allow the return. If you refuse, she can't say that you took the gown back, but refused the credit.

Just thinking out loud, here.
 
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