Buyer wants refund due to damage before tracking shows delivered.

[brandonc333]

I just sold an item and the buyer is requesting a refund due to damage when the tracking is showing it is 2 states away in transit. They requested it Saturday night at 11:30pm. When FedEx is saying it was going through Arizona at 10:43 pm on Saturday night. I know FedEx can be behind on updating their tracking but this seems very fishy. The estimated date is Tuesday. What can I do about this? They showed no pictures of the damage. Only comment they said was "ruined". Can FedEx tracking be that far off? Can eBay deny the damage claim if not even delivered? Thanks for any help.

[fab_finds4u]

Maybe they put on their strap on wings and  eagle eyes and flew to the truck and peeked in and saw the package was damaged!

Maybe it's  been delivered and tracking is slow to update.

Buyers generally don't have to provide proof of damage.

I heard that may be changing, and it should, but eBay will take forever to roll out something new.

[brandonc333]

Thanks for response  Can eBay look at tracking and see that it's no where close to buyer and prove they are lying? Or they just always take buyers word over tracking info?

[fab_finds4u]

They don't decide case by case. If the buyer files a not as described claim you'll be forced to provide a return label and refund when it's returned or refund and let them keep it.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Did the buyer actually open a claim/case with eBay or did they just message you making the request for the refund? Looking at your sold items I don't see anything with a  particularly high dollar sale amount and scammers seldom go after low dollar value items but these days nothing surprises me. It's possible they think because of the low value you won't ask for a return for refund. 

     You could have FedEx intercept and return the item if it is indeed still in transit. 

[caseypl]

I don't ever really have a problem with low or high dollar stuff, but always with my $130 items for whatever reason. Fedex is rarely rarely ever off on tracking. I would message the buyer and ask if they made a mistake and messaged you about another item they had an issue with. Give them a possible out. Let them know you looked at Fedex tracking and saw it hasn't arrived yet and you will be contacting the carrier and ebay if there are conflicting reports. You may not hear back from the buyer. 

[12345jamesstamps]

Make them open a resolution first by saying they need to open one to do a refund.

Then provide return label. After item returned you can refund.

I prefer not to refund until they open a resolution and return item.

I don't just refund people because they want one.

I like to make the buyer to have to re-mail it to do some work.

Sounds like they are trying to see if you just refund buyers by a buyer 

asking for a refund with no returning of item. I would not say item has or has not

been delivered to them in an email. Be polite and business-like.

I told one of my buyers to open a resolution so I can do the refund and that eBay

keeps track of buyers asking for refunds. Buyer never opened a resolution and

never contacted me again and didn't leave negative feedback.

I'm sure eBay doesn't keep track of buyers asking for too many refunds like Amazon

and warns them...but it worked for me. Just my own personal experience.

[luckythewinner]

---

@brandonc333 wrote:

I know FedEx can be behind on updating their tracking but this seems very fishy. The estimated date is Tuesday. What can I do about this? They showed no pictures of the damage. Only comment they said was "ruined". Can FedEx tracking be that far off? Can eBay deny the damage claim if not even delivered? Thanks for any help.

---

The buyer could be lying, or the buyer could be mistaken, or the tracking could be wrong. None of the three are unheard of.

I once had a buyer in England file an "Item Not Received" on a package that showed delivered. Three months later the item was returned to me stamped "Undeliverable - Addressee Unknown". 

[femmefan1946]

I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund.

I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund.

I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund.

I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund.

There is a limit on the time the buyer has before returning.

It's possible that will elapse before he receives it.

More to the point however.

The buyer does not want the item.

He does not want to pay for it.

He may destroy it and demand a refund for Not As Described.

I regret that you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund.

Get it back and resell it.

I'm sure eBay doesn't keep track of buyers asking for too many refunds like Amazon

and warns them...but it worked for me.

We occasionally see a poster complaining that he is not allowed to use the Money Back Guarantee anymore, which indicates that the complainant has over-used the system.