Should I have to refund someone because they didn't read?

United States
September 29, 2012 9:42am CST
I sold an e-book over a week ago on Tophatter. I got a message from the buyer saying that they hadn't received their book yet and I told them I would resend the e-mail because it probably went to their spam and would be impossible to find. She sent me another message saying that she didn't know it was an e-book and that she wanted a refund. There are two problems here, one possible, one definite. The possible is that I sent the e-book to her over a week ago. She has had time to download it, read it, and possibly even resell it. The definite problem is that the word e-book was in the title. This is a person buying an e-book. You can't tell me she doesn't know how to read. I can understand if I had only put the fact that it was an e-book in the description, but I put it in the title: "Blogger's Guide to Profits e-book w/ reseller rights" was the title. She asked for a refund and I am debating on whether or not I should be obligated to refund her because she didn't read. What do you think?
1 response
@SinfulRose (3527)
• Davao, Philippines
29 Sep 12
I wonder if it is best to be frank with your customer? I mean, ask her if she had downloaded an e-book before or ever seen one before and why the hell would she not find it in her e-mail if it was sent under a correct e-mail address? Something is fishy here for me, it's either she really didn't receive your e-book or she just doesn't know what it is or how it looks like. Because I know very well that just because it is called an e-book, doesn't mean it looks like a book in a digital sense.
• United States
29 Sep 12
She knew what an ebook is she just said she thought she had ordered a physical book rather than an ebook.
1 person likes this
• Davao, Philippines
30 Sep 12
Is that even an excuse to request a re-fund? If you ask me,"NO". It is not your mistake that she misread things. And besides, is there even actually a book on your e-book? Maybe it is best to notify customers before hand that you don't accept refunds requests next time around.
• United States
10 Oct 12
This is one of the problems with e-bay. You are in the right here, but the buyer has the ability to damage your seller rating because they feel like trying to get away with something. In the end it comes down to what you say in your return policy. If you refuse to refund, the seller will leave negative feedback which you can have removed if you can prove it was "feedback fraud" but usually what happens is they you have to suck up a bad situation one way or another.