So........I listed a small laptop as used / boots to bios recently and after a week or two got a buyer. In the ad I stated "right portion of windows COA is partially torn, full COA legible". I shipped it off to the buyer and after getting the laptop he requests a return a few days later as 'not as described' - stating that the screen was showing pink and green instead of the correct colors.

I tried to troubleshoot it, and he had installed a 20GB SSD in it and installed Windows. He stated the screen was faulty and he wanted to return it. I paid insurance on the laptop so figured I would approve the return to see what had happened to the laptop. The buyer returned the laptop in really crappy packing material (almost like he wanted it broken), but I booted the laptop up and find out that he has left his SSD in the laptop and that the other part of the COA has been torn off. He sends me a message saying that 'Thank you for understanding, as a gesture of understanding I left my SSD in the machine.'

I now have a laptop that:
1) I sent to the buyer
2) He says not as described, screen bad
3) Sent back to me with a SSD that isn't mine
4) Does not have a valid COA anymore

I appealed to Ebay stating that the item was returned with damage to the COA sticker that lowered the value of the laptop, and that the problem described by the buyer has not been replicated after multiple tests run. Ebay is quick to award the decision to the buyer and refunds him all the money (I also had to pay return shipping).


Does anyone have a way to handle this that can turn it into a positive situation?