Buyer Has Not Received Item Yet And Is Requesting Refund

[dmresells]

A buyer purchased an item from me March 25. The item was shipped the next day. It is now April 4 and the item has still not been delivered to the buyer. I've checked tracking and the last updates are March 31 - In transit arriving late and April 1, in transit arriving late. The buyer has reported that their item hasn't arrived with a message of "It's now 4 days late, I'd like my money back. It's probably lost". I very much understand the buyers frustration because in the same situation I would be frustrated as well. Ebay is saying that I have until April 7 to either update tracking details for the buyer, refund the buyer, or send the buyer a message. What do you guys recommend? Of course my goal is to keep every customer happy and in this particular situation I do agree with the buyer. I guess my main concern is that since the item is still showing to be delivered, just extremely late... What happens if I refund the buyer and then they receive the item afterwards? They would basically have gotten the item for free and I would have no way of really knowing. Side note: this has happened to me before with an item I shipped about 2 years ago. The person never received the item then I waited to respond to the refund request until the last day and they still did not receive the item. So I refunded the buyer almost $200 and the item was never to be found. I'm not sure how this happens but any advice you guys have would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[aeparts1]

Why not? The buyer says they want their money back.

If they refund without an intercept they will lose the item when it arrives with the buyer & their $$$

[dbfolks166mt]

@aeparts1 wrote:

Before you refund, do an intercept & get the item sent back to you.

Do not do that.

     Agree at this point doing an intercept will only make the situation worse and the seller will have to pay for the intercept, I believe $25 and we have no idea what the OP sent, the value or how they shipped it. 

[dbfolks166mt]

Why not? The buyer says they want their money back.

If they refund without an intercept they will lose the item when it arrives with the buyer & their $$$

      The OP did not provide enough information in the original post to tell the OP to do an intercept. OP has since updated the situation. While an intercept is an option it should only be recommended once you have the complete picture. If you read the entire chain on this post you will see why an intercept was a knee jerk reaction. The OP will pay, I believe $25 for the intercept and you had no idea what they shipped, how they shipped it or what the value of the item was. Nor did the OP state that the buyer had officially filed an eBay INR case or if they had just messaged asking for their money back. 

[12345jamesstamps]

Many workers from USPS rural route workers walked off their jobs today due to getting a reduced pay by thousands of dollars. I don't know where your item is going. But this will affect small towns and such.

Buyers have to realize to expect the unexpected. Crazy weather last week with tornadoes in the USA plus crazy weather today in the midwest. 

You have until the 6th so I would do nothing yet. I wouldn't refund the buyer. You have tracking. I am pretty sure the buyer can read "in transit arriving late". And the buyer should understand the bad weather we have had lately.

[chapeau-noir]

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@dmresells wrote:

Thank you guys for your responses. I’m relatively new to the selling side of eBay so I’m trying to learn as much as possible and these forums have taught me alot. Some of you informed me to track the package directly through the usps website, which I did and it’s showing that the item will arrive today by 9PM. I had already messaged the buyer letting them know I’d look into it and do everything to make it right including s refund if the item was lost and I’ve since updated them that it is showing to deliver today. My only hope now is that with this delay that they don’t go and leave negative feedback.

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@dmresells  Delayed delivery happens from time to time, and oftentimes the buyer needs reassurance that you hear their concerns and are on the case, and you did exactly that, following through on tracking the package and arrival time and communicating that.  I wouldn't worry about negatives, etc., just about taking care of your buyer, which you have.

[soh.maryl]

And the estimated delivery date was . . .?

[coolections]

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@aeparts1 wrote:

Why not? The buyer says they want their money back.

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@aeparts1   Because they cannot have their money back. They will get what they purchased and nothing more.

[traditonalproducts]

Ebay deliveries are estimated time frames. From 3/26 to 4/1 is not late. I would agree with several others here to check the shipping websites and get the shipment re-routed back to you or make the buyer file a claim with ebay so that can hopefully get your product back before refunding.

[van-2677]

Happy to refund the buyer, we should spend our time on something else

[jasoheat_0]

i just had a return opened today from a buyer and the item is not due to be delivered until saturday , ebay employees act like the buyers are allowed to  do this now ( spoke with a leadership member , the real bad part is the third party payment system has already given him a full refund , and he did close the return , but nobody at ebay can explain HOW the return was allowed to be opened prior to the delivery date  and cannot guarantee that a charge back will not happen . This is becoming a nightmare ... when is ebay just going to follow there own policies , this is one of the reasons people do not trust ebay , NIGHTMARE again at ebay