Well I received my first replies today. I asked for a partial refund thru paypal. An amount I thought was fair considering they were cut down bars. A price I would have paid if I had known they were cut previously.
His only reply to that was " I did not cut them bars"
To all my messages he stated he had been away, so I should just send back the bars
So herein is another dilema. Do I stand a chance actually getting my refund if I send them back? After he gets them back he can just keep the bars and the money. Right? Or do I request a refund prior to sending them back? Plus should I have to pay for the shipping fees or does he??
If the seller doesn't agree to the partial refund amount in the given time allowed for a dispute (20 days) just raise to a 'claim' and let Paypal take care of it.
You should get the partial refund amount from Paypal and they will then chase the seller for their money. If he has agreed to a full refund, copy the evidence in the Paypal dispute, document the tracking details (send signed-for) and again if not settled before the 20 days raise to a claim. As postage was including in the original sale you'll effectively get it back with a full refund.
To be honest all this seems a bit unnecessary to me as you paid through Paypal. A bit of research in to the refund process and you'll have found out that you're covered for this sort of thing.
Don't get me wrong it's good of you to let RAD members know who to perhaps avoid on eBay (there's a place for that in the For Sale section).
Anyway, hope that helps