Haven't been reading all 12 pages but I do think both sides do bear responsibility in this.

But wanting a full refund a slightly unfair to the seller, especially when he has stated that it was 95% condition, while slightly misleading, he has not totally covered up the fact that it was not in perfect condition.

And the buyer bears the responsibility of buying something this precious to him online and without looking at it, also for not asking the exact reason why the seller mention is 95% condition.

Since the damaged cover is the source of dispute, can't both parties fork out half to exchange it? At least it'll sort this out?

As se7en said, the normal rules apply to him as well and he'll be assigned a disputed tag if this isn't solved in three days. There is no rule that a seller have to post pictures that mentions all the scratches on the item. Heck, I see alot of people selling items without any pictures, but ask us to come view it ourselves due to many reasons.

And I do not see any mention of the phone being defected in terms of the performance, so it doesn't deserve a 80% listing, though we know this is a very grey area that no one can fully judge as it's up to the seller and buyer.

The buyer know there was a problem with the unit, and while it might be a trick / oversight by the seller not to post the area in dispute, it is also the buyer's responsibility to check the item before buying it. Especially with this amount involved. Thats why I said both parties are at fault.

As a buyer he has the right to demand for a refund, but as a seller viking has the right to contest it as well. I would say both should bear the charges of a new casing because that is the only area of dispute unless there is a performance defect due to the scratches (oh the cause of the scratches).

You know what? Viking should take the phone back, THEN claim there is an extra scratch appearing in the casing, then reclaim money from buyer.

Let's see how the buyer will say to this then, shall we?

Why do people always assume elite member with tag is a perfect being? Them having a tag merely means they have a better reputation, seen here in viking turning up and bothering to explain himself.

Not having a tag merely means they can disappear like the other ten, twenty cases we've seen, just underneath this thread too.

Stop using the tag as a focus of argument here and focus on the case. This is nothing more than a simple dispute between a buyer and a seller.

Hell, I have a couple of dents in my Acer laptop, I'm sooooo suing them.

I suggested it along with many others, apparently he's not down with that. Viking should start a thread on how the buyer is trying to cheat him too, then both can get dispute tag and all of us can be happy.

Anyhow, I feel for both parties as they more or less, do have the same right of dispute as the other.

Maybe he's from government school

So, if viking WILL be willing to change the casing FOC, you'll drop the case? Or would you go on and whine about how there is dead pixel on screen? Or how you will then claim petrol and money + time wasted at RM8 per hour? Maybe psychology distress caused by your students who mocked you for having a scarred Asus PDA? Or how viking tarnished your reputation to the online community?

If you had a DOA or serious crack on arrival, then I'll side with you. But considering this is 1) a second hand unit 2)viking accepted blame even with no concrete proof and 3)viking NEVER said that it was a perfectly out of the box spanking new unit, I'd had been prepared for cosmetic scarring of the product.

Yes, viking should be blamed for the oversight, but don't even dare to think you do not need to escape any responsibility in this case. I'm sorry if this is harsh, but it's the simple thinking of "hey, if he have a tag, then everything will go well!" that has lead to cheating cases time and time again. Take this as a inexpensive lesson, because if you look around, there are people that have lost more than 3k on some cases because they were trusting.

If I was viking, I'll simply take the tag anyhow. I'll divert my potential customers to this thread and I think they will gain more respect for me, instead of losing it looking at how he has approached this problem.