"Morning Mark,
This is the sort of stuff which is slowly driving me away from eBay. The reality is; if the buyer paid via Pay Pal, and has a confirmed address, and files a Pay Pal dispute, you will, most likely, have the money deducted from your Pay Pal account by Pay Pal!!
If he hasn't used Pay Pal, you're "safe" (except for negative feedback). I think a modest refund, as you offered, was quite reasonable.
Does this buyer know anything about old Regina freewheels? Does the mechanic? I would guess not much, if anything at all. They sound like they have some ball bearings missing!!
Good Luck,
Chuck Brooks"
I did not want to be the one to break it to you Mark, but Chuck has stated the new SOP for ebay buyers.
If he paid with Paypal all he has to do is file a "not as described" claim with Paypal. You can waste your time writing to Paypal with the facts, and trying to fight it. But even if they read your comments, which I do not think they do, it's basically a rubber stamp in favor for the buyer after a couple of weeks of "investigating".
Just happened to me with a completely unscrupulous buyer. To add insult to injury the product they made me take back and refund was packed poorly and damaged in transit back to me. By then I knew it was better for time-wise to just forget the whole thing than try to fight that.
Paypal, the new City Hall!
Jon Williams
Grants Pass OR USA