Ebay, Buyer Has Not Collected

[RATTER15]

I sold 7 very large concrete balls on eBay to be collected by the buyer they weigh over 300kgs each. They were made specifically for him. I should have contacted him to say they were ready for collection, however, I wrote the email but it appears it wasn't actually sent as neither I nor he has any record of it, he is now claiming a full refund. I own up to not sending notification but it took him a further 4 weeks after they were ready for collection to make any contact, and then said he wants a full refund of over £500. It isn't easy to try to resolve this with eBay as all their advice lines only appear to cover items not delivered rather than not collected. I really don't want to be stuck with these balls, at that size they don't sell very easily and they take up a lot of room. Any advice please,

[RATTER15]

I imagine the transport costs of the balls would be around £500 but I'm not sure.

[Dagman]

Barry1010's suggestion of them being specifically made for him is a good one for trading standards to consider. Good luck.

[barry1010]

Trading Standards only get involved with buyers problems, not the sellers. They won't be interested and have no clout with buyers.

I've been thinking about this some more, Ratter. Not only did you fail to notify the buyer that the order was ready for collection, you failed to follow it up with another email or phone call to arrange collection.

You are probably right in thinking that the buyer had changed his mind and was looking for a way out but I think you have little choice but to refund. The

[davebro]

Maybe "The World's Strongest Man" could think up a new game to use them in?

[jno]

shot put, davebro?

[RATTER15]

davebro "Maybe "The World's Strongest Man" could think up a new game to use them in?" I already supply Atlas Stones for World's Strongest Man competitions, but even they cant lift 300kg balls the record currently stands at 286kg lifted by Tom Stoltman.

[davebro]

Maybe they could roll the balls up an increasingly steep slope & see who gets highest?

[davebro]

I know - mount them in a huge Newton's Cradle & sell it as an art installation (maybe what the original buyer intended!).