Disclaimer: there are errors on both sides and I will openly admit mine first and foremost. I delayed to ship the item out due to mandatory overtime and not having the opportunity to ship. Our area isn't good for having a postal pick up so me dropping off was the option at the time. I made sure to respond to Taks email inquiries about it to keep open communication.
The other error was the possibility of the suit having a mildew odor. We had taken care of a mildew issue a few months prior in our basement (costumes are stored upstairs) and no one else spoke up about any smells so I didn't feel the need to state it in my auction as I normally would about any possible odors. I take 100% responsibility on that if it does have any odor. I wanted to provide options first as well as offering to send supplies to help make things work if they wished. Had I known beforehand it held a mildew smell I would have either listed it with a warning or not listed it at all.
Included are the emails that were sent between us, the auction listing, and screenshots from Telegram. Most shots from Telegram were of other people demanding Tak keep the costume so I won't be including that as that's not relevant.
INFORMATION WALK THROUGH:
It started off as an auction sale that went smoothly. Tak asked to make payments and completed them at the end of June. Between going out to Idaho for my father's surgery in July (I let them know I would be gone) and mandatory overtime, I wasn't able to ship until the end of August, keeping tabs with Tak as they emailed me.
They received the costume at the start of September and noted the strong smell of mildew a week later in an email and asked what could be done. I walked them through a baking soda and vinegar process I had used in the past with great success. I didn't hear from them till almost a month later on October 15th. They mentioned throwing out several of the pieces and purchasing an expensive cleaner that failed to remove the smell, asking if a refund was possible at that time. I got back with them Oct 20th asking what pieces remained to gauge the proper refund and offered to help them resell it if they wanted to.
No response came till November 1st asking for a 2/3 refund plus cash to cover the chemicals they purchased as well as a list of things they had thrown away such as the arm extensions, chest padding, and tail core. The feet were also 'damaged' while washing. During this time I found telegram chats from the buyer in a Furry Business group making it very clear they had no intentions of returning the suit while others encouraged to do a full charge back and throw the costume out entirely. Most of the chat was others demanding they keep the costume/throw it away while pushing for a full refund. I've only included the screenshot where they are openly stating not wanting to send it back. Due to dodging my requests for it, I have no other reason not to believe that is their intention.
I emailed her around November 3rd stating I would refund more than their asking price if they returned the item in question, I would provide the funds extra for the shipping. I figured I could use it as a "what if this gets fried in the dryer" tutorial before recording the leg pattern and dismantling the costume myself. I also offered to send one final cleaner I had here if they wished to try it. Their response was opening 6 PayPal claims in attempts to get their full payment back without responding to me or mailing back the costume.
PayPal doesn't cover multiple payments on a single item so after providing the initial invoice as proof of it being one item, the cases were closed. I'm still willing to refund her a little over 2/3 of the auction with the return of the costume to me as it is. Since some of the pieces are either damaged or gone, I cannot refund in full.
Had they returned the costume in place of the refund, I wouldn't feel the need for this posting. Since they ignored my return request and tried to do a charge back on the entire amount paid, I do feel people should know of this. They claim in a few of their messages that I said no returns were allowed in my auction. I have included the auction description section involving this to show otherwise. I have sent them 3 emails, one before they posted to PayPal and 2 after reminding them that I would give a refund around what remains of the costume and that offer still stands if the costume is returned. I don't believe they are a bad client as they generally did respond quickly and paid on a reasonable payment plan. That said, not returning the item and trying to force a full charge back is not in good taste so this is more of a cautionary rather than a beware.
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