EBay Resolution Resolved

Recently I had a situation on EBay that was discouraging. I received a message that someone who bought an item from my account said that it didn't match the description of what I had posted. This perplexed me and angered me as I had obtained the information directly from the company's website. When I opened the message, I further read that it didn't power up when the device was plugged in. I found this odd as I had recently had used it. I didn't know what to do, write this guy back telling him to show me proof or tell him that he just had a change of heart and didn't want the item any longer. By the way, I am going to be as vague as possible to protect the identity of the person in question. The first message I received said:

?????? let us know that "Item (my words)" didn't match the description and has requested a refund. A case is open and you can view the case and the buyer's message in the eBay Resolution Center.

I thought "what"? How can this be. I mulled it over and decided to call EBay's customer care center. The woman on the other end was extremely plesant. Her attitude was top notch. She kept her cool while my blood began to boil that someone would even say this when I ensured that I had the correct information. She reassured me that she wanted to help me to win this dispute. I should respond to the individual. I went on to read:

Buyer's message:
IT DOES NOT POWER UP!I HOOK IT UP,PLUG IN, NO DIAL TONE,NOTHING ON LCD SCREEN,NONE OF 3 GREEN BUTTON IS ON! How can you set it up without the power in this thing? I bought this fax machine to replace the exact same(item) which works just fine except a couple buttons on dial pad. Anyway, This is first time I buy something from ebay,2 items,2 junk. bad experience.

I told the EBay customer care specialist again suggested that I contact him to try to resolve it. If I did it this way and could not resolve it through messages, I could have him return it, paying shipping cost, and I could refund him. I asked what would happen when I received it and it worked. She assured me I would be protected and still be paid. She stressed the fact that they value their customers. So, I took her advice and contacted him. I asked him what he wanted to do and if he wanted to keep it to use it as parts for the one he has. I also asked if he would be willing to take a cell phone video of him plugging it in and that it didn't come on. I apologized that I couldn't be there to help him with it as I had initially had problems getting it set up on my computer as well. He told me that he would think about it and get back to me the next day and that EBay is a great platform. Not even twenty minutes later I received a message from the resolution center that the dispute had been closed. The next day the funds from that purchase showed up in my paypal account.

The moral of this story is, follow the advice of the customer care specialists when resolving disputes. They know what they are doing. The woman who I interacted with was herself a seller for quite sometime prior to working for EBay. That gave me much confidence that she knew her stuff. It was evident due to the way this turned out.  The buyer even left a positive comment.

As Hannibal from the A-Team would say, "I love it when a plan comes together." And the plan was to follow some simple advice.

I found this to be a very encouraging experience. I'm glad they are there to help.