Advice on refunds

[springmoone.livejournal.com]

Here's the situation:

I sold a partial fursuit (head, hands, tail) via an auction site to a buyer. They paid in installments and that was all fine, and I sent them the suit. It arrived safely, but upon inspection they decided they didn't like it because it was hot, the mouth was not as mobile as they would have liked, and the vision was not what they expected. I offered to take the suit back to work on it (make vision adjustments, fix the jaw, and add a fan) for free. They would still like a full refund, minus shipping charges.

However, I'm short the money for the refund. The payments came in in small installments and that all went right out the door to pay for printmaking class supplies (one of the reasons that I made and sold the suit in the first place). If the suit was returned I would be able to work on it and re-sell it, but there's no guarantee that I'd be able to get the same amount that it originally sold for.

Should I ask one more time to take it back for repairs/refurb or is a refund justified in this situation? Should I suck it up and borrow from a friend to pay the buyer back? I don't know how to handle this. Even if I did re-sell the suit I might still end up in the red. I can't responsibly take on more work/projects to make up for the shortfall, and I'm not having luck in my "day job" search right now.

Edit: It was a premade

Edit II: The buyer has been working on their own head and has realized they can be quite hot (especially in the summer sun). I am going to put a fan in the head (good experience for me anyway) and all will be well.

Comments

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

If you go down the refund route, since you were paid in installments, perhaps you could propose paying the refund in installments? This would allow you funds to make any changes you need to sell the suit and ultimately ensure that everyone gets what they want. They just have to be willing to loan it to you for a while. Which is really only fair, since you made a suit particularly for them and now they don't want it and aren't giving you the chance to make reasonable amendments for free.