An alternative may be a Vintage VJ74, several colour options, all Wilkinson hardware and vintage voiced (Alnico) pickups. Great bang for buck. Pop on some TI flats and you're sorted. 👍
Under the "Made in Japan" is the serial number, you can date the bass using this by putting it into the many fender dating websites available online - just do a Google search. 👍
If the buyer went through fleabay for the refund, then fleabay will issue the refund, PayPal will be the third party and have no influence whether the buyer gets their refund. So yes, I understand the context.