What to do next about return that hasn't arrived yet

[splendidthreads]

I have an item being returned. I agreed with the return on Feb 11th and it was put in the mail to me on Feb 16th. On the 11th, Ebay held money for the refund.  

Since then, it has not moved.  I requested tracking updates from USPS and it is still showing as sitting in the regional origin facility.

That's all fine and good, except that I am getting notices from Ebay that the buyer indicated they returned the item and it should have arrived by now, that I should refund by March 5th.  At the top of the case details page, it says, "Refund the buyer

The item should already have been delivered. Please inspect the item carefully upon receipt and issue a refund to the buyer by Mar 5."

I've sold for years, but this is a new one to me. So a few questions.

Am I supposed to issue a refund even though the item hasn't been returned to me yet? I have no reason to doubt that it has been put into the mail, so a refund IS due. I'd prefer to get the item back before it's issued though. 

Is Ebay going to release the hold on the 5th so that the money goes back into my account or will they release the money to the buyer?  

If they do release it to the buyer, what recourse do I have if the item never gets delivered here? 

If I don't click the refund button by the 5th, is this considered to be a "case closed without seller resolution"? 

Thanks in advance!

[frodobagginskennedy]

You are going to have to refund no matter if you get a brick back or not.  The PO is backed up.  Since you provided the return label according to eBay you are responsible for the return.  Since you see it in the mail system and you know the deadline is march 5 just refund on the 4 th.  If not the buyer will ask eBay to step in and you will refund anyway and get a nasty defect on your selling account.

[rebell45]

You can go to the USPS website and file the Help request form. https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm

Sometimes that will get a package moving again. If it doesn't, file the Missing Mail Search Request after 7 business days.

And yes, as @frodobagginskennedy said, refund through the Resolution Center case today.

Since you  are in Managed Payments eBay will use your other funds to issue the refund and then take the hold off a few days after the refund is complete, so make sure you funds to cover it in your bank account or other available funds.

[supercharger-parts]

I've had similar messages several times and I always wait until the item is delivered to refund.  The buyer has the responsibility to get the package to me for me to refund them.  If the tracking does not show that it has been returned to you, you don't have an obligation to refund.  If you are concerned you could use facebook or twitter to contact customer service.  I personally would not refund until it is delivered or has an attempted delivery scan (because that counts as delivered according to eBay).  

[splendidthreads]

Thanks for all of the replies. 

Rebel, do you know if I can fill that form out if I am the recipient?  I got as far as the contact information and stopped, thinking that the sender should probably be the one the post office contacts.  

I had forgotten how they do returns in managed payments, where they double dip, holding the amount from payouts but then actually taking the refund from the bank account.  Thanks for that reminder.  

On the positive side, the buyer is patient and seems to be fine with waiting for the item to be returned.  It's Ebay that is rushing it.  I'd think that since they have the return tracking number, they'd be able to see it hasn't been delivered yet.   

[rebell45]

@splendidthreads Rebel, do you know if I can fill that form out if I am the recipient?

Yes, either party can do it.

[pjcdn2005]

I've received the message before and did not refund as the item hadn't arrived. I don't see it as a date that you have to refund by unless tracking actually shows delivery. The generic message I received said that the buyer had indicated that they had shipped the item back and that I should have received it  by now so I should refund by xx date.  But in both cases the buyer hadn't mailed the item back and I'm sure that they never said that they shipped it...it was just a generic message.

However, if there is tracking showing that the item was mailed, I'm not sure  if the buyer can ask ebay to step in even if the item hasn't been delivered yet..perhaps someone else knows. Just a fyi...if you are the one who paid for return shipping then you would eventually be expected to refund even if the item got lost