Trumped

I love rules; they help to define me, though at times, they confine me as well and I often fantasize about those who can break the rules and never give the consequences another thought.  I am currently dealing with such a person through an eBay transaction and while she is frustrating me to no end, I am intrigued on some level by her boldness (I wanted to write something else there but I am trying to keep this PC).  I have a 'no return' policy when I sell but this buyer decided that she did not like the item she had just bought so she emailed me that she was returning it anyway.  Despite re-stating my policy to her via email, she sent me another email last night with a tracking number apparently having sent the item back already.  Now, breaking this rule was foolhardy for quite a few reasons none the least of which was that she had voided her buyer protection from eBay by not having contacted me or them for approval for the return first.  The greater issue, however, is that I now have not only the item back but her payment as well.  Seems like the problem is all hers, right?  She broke the rule and now she is going to pay for it twice, no?  Ah, there's the rub, the part where my great upbringing comes into play, the part where not only do I know it would be unethical to keep both the money and the item, there is no way I ever would--even when the rep that I called from eBay told me in other words that that is exactly what I should do under the circumstances. Remember, I was taught by nuns so this was a no brainer for me.

I resent being put in this position because not only do I really need the money I will be refunding, the bottom line is that I hate knowing that she 'won' by breaking the rules.  Yes, I do know that I am being the 'bigger person' and doing the right thing, but that does not stop it from annoying the heck out of me as this woman blatantly did what she wanted and got away with it.  I suppose she is pretty lucky that she pulled this stunt with me as the next time she might not be met with an ethical seller and she may lose both her money and her purchase. It would serve her right!