Buyer requested refund because they didn't like item

[beautyisdead]

Thanks for the help - figured it out 

[movieman630]

Do yourself a favor and cut your losses.  It's $4.99 of which you made what?  Less than $1?  Just save yourself the headache it will cause when they leave you negative FB or worse.  Just refund, forget about it and consider it "The cost of doing business".  Save it for your taxes.  Then add them to your BBL.

[gurlcat]

You can issue a refund (full or partial) at any time, so since your goal in this case is to avoid a demerit strike for not responding to a request, just go ahead and hit the 'Refund now' button and follow the prompts to give the money back, then consider yourself lucky if the pens arrive back in the same condition and re-sellable.   

Also consider if this was your (very inexpensive) lesson about this not being a Mon-Fri job.  Checking messages/notification takes only a few seconds.  

[jerseyboymusic]

Also, do yourself a favor and load the Ebay app on your phone. Your business shouldn't be 9 - 5 M - F. You get notifications quickly and you need to check your Ebay during the weekends

[kensgiftshop]

Sounds like you got lucky and the buyer paid to return them.

Since they have started a return, I'd just refund without a return needed and be done with it.

When you get them back, relist them.

[aproudparent2010]

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@beautyisdead wrote:

This morning I woke to a request for a refund for some pens sold for $4.99. Apparently they requested the refund on Friday night,  but I don't typically check ebay on weekends, so I didn't see it then. I don't offer refunds but I'd give him the money back because it wasn't a huge deal to do so. My problem is I didn't accept the request (yet) because I then got a message from them saying they already sent the package in the mail even though I didn't accept the refund. They provided a tracking number too. I don't know what to do now since it says the his request for refund will end tomorrow and I won't have the package by then. I've never dealt with this before. Can I accept the request and add the tracking? Do I get the package and then go back and give the refund? 

You mean you don't offer returns, all sellers offer refunds...LOL

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[1786davycrockett]

@beautyisdead 

Since eBay is a 24 hour, 7 days a week worldwide operation, you may wish to reconsider your decision to not look at your eBay account from Friday nights until mid-Monday morning.

As you are discovering, your buyers are probably not going to wait until after the end of the weekend to open a case against you -- and most of these cases are time-sensitive:  you might actually LOSE a case by ignoring the possibility of its existence until you decide on Monday to check you eBay account.

Since it should only take a couple minutes to log into your eBay account, long-time sellers would advise you to check your account at least twice a day -- once in the morning, and once again just before you go to bed.

Good luck.

[turtles-trading-post]

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) I had a pleasant message conversation with a guy in Japan. It was Monday morning for him.  

A few weeks ago I was in bed around 3am. My cell phone pinged so I took a look. It was an easy question so I answered it. Person pings back “thanks for quick response”. 

My wife then says, “who the heck is doing eBay in the middle of the night?” I tell her the round the world 24/7 speech and that the guy was maybe in Europe as it was morning there.

Then I got curious and checked.. the guy was in New Jersey!  (Same time zone)  

[luckythewinner]

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@beautyisdead wrote:

This morning I woke to a request for a refund for some pens sold for $4.99. Apparently they requested the refund on Friday night,  but I don't typically check ebay on weekends, so I didn't see it then. I don't offer refunds but I'd give him the money back because it wasn't a huge deal to do so. My problem is I didn't accept the request (yet) because I then got a message from them saying they already sent the package in the mail even though I didn't accept the refund. They provided a tracking number too. I don't know what to do now since it says the his request for refund will end tomorrow and I won't have the package by then. I've never dealt with this before. Can I accept the request and add the tracking? Do I get the package and then go back and give the refund? 

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You said "I'd give him the money back because it wasn't a huge deal to do so"

Are you saying you are being prevented from simply giving him a refund?

[broto_64]

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@beautyisdead wrote:

This morning I woke to a request for a refund for some pens sold for $4.99. Apparently they requested the refund on Friday night,  but I don't typically check ebay on weekends, so I didn't see it then. I don't offer refunds but I'd give him the money back because it wasn't a huge deal to do so. My problem is I didn't accept the request (yet) because I then got a message from them saying they already sent the package in the mail even though I didn't accept the refund. They provided a tracking number too. I don't know what to do now since it says the his request for refund will end tomorrow and I won't have the package by then. I've never dealt with this before. Can I accept the request and add the tracking? Do I get the package and then go back and give the refund? 

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There is some confusion in the wording of your post regarding requests for refunds. I believe what you have open is a request to return an item for a refund and so the buyer decided to mail back the merchandise on their own volition and by so doing has stepped outside of ebay's buyer protection scheme and more importantly the MBG. It seems to me however that you are not entirely familiar with how this works.

If like the rest of your items this was listed under "No Returns" policy then it all depends on the reason buyer gave. If in fact the reason for the return was "Didn't like it" then you do not have to accept that return since it is a remorse reason, you can of course refund the buyer but that is entirely your choice. If however the reason for return was "Item Not as Described" then you will want to accept it since that reason will trigger the MBG.

I realize the above explanation likely has left you as informed as you were before you started to read so if I may suggest, I would take some time and familiarize yourself with the various ebay policies surrounding returns, requests for returns, refunds, and specifically the MBG and the various return policies available.

It is also a good idea when posting to get the wording straight, for example not to get sellers and buyers mixed up and vice versa and also to understand that returns and refunds on ebay are two separate transactions: Specifically a return involves the item, whereas a refund involves the money, it is a good idea to understand all this as ultimately the MBG (Ebay's Money Back Guarantee) as it relates to the various return policies that will dictate how most of it is handled.

[cstpos]

@beautyisdead  We put a line in our listing that states - We monitor our store during regular business hours - Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central Time. While we try to respond evenings, weekends, and holidays, you might not receive a reply for offers and messages until the next normal business day.

I do have my phone set up to receive message notifications, and I reply letting them know I will be able to respond first thing in the morning when the office is open. Some buyers want more pics or ask to confirm something in the listing. It only takes a minute to reply. Sometime, you really can't respond, so the notification comes in handy.

You could process the return using the tracking number the customer provided. Since it's such a small amount, I wouldn't worry too much over it. Maybe the buyer thought that since it was a remorse return and they would be responsible for the return shipping cost, they just went ahead and sent it.