This Is Just A Bad Day

Some months back, someone in Australia ordered some ScopeRollers for a Losmandy G11 mount. Immediately on arrival, he claimed that they weren't stable enough for astrophotography, and demanded a refund.  I said, "Sure."  This was in early July.  But rather than trust me to issue a refund, he went through PayPal's Dispute Resolution system, which should have been a tipoff.

I of course agreed to a refund pending return of the ScopeRollers.  I waited.  And waited.  When I asked him for a tracking number, he told me that he shipped it the cheapest way, and there was no tracking number.  But I figured that I would see them soon enough.  Then I asked again--and found out that his "partner" shipped them the 29th or 30th of July.  And I just realized: no matter how he shipped them, he would have a copy of the customs declaration to prove that the ScopeRollers were shipped.

But of course, past 45 days, PayPal makes the pending refund final.  This is the first fraudulent behavior I have experienced after more than 400 orders.  But it still leaves a pretty foul taste in my mouth, because it is apparent that from his immediate movement to the Dispute Resolution system, that this guy had no intention of paying for the product, or returning it.  I have contacted Dispute Resolution, not because I expect to get my money, but in the hopes that they will drop him as a customer.  This is so obviously fraud on his part.

ScopeRoller is not a particularly vigorous business, and perhaps December 31 will be the end of it.  I might put all remaining items on an inventory clearance basis, just to get rid of the dozen or so sets that are complete, or most of the way there.