No seller protection at all !

[tammiegoldenhair]

I sold a Native American Sterling silver belt . The buyer kept it till the last minute and then opened a return saying they just didn’t like it . The return was on the way back and is stuck along the way . I offer free returns so I would usually receive the return and then execute the refund . I called customer service to extend the date to allow time for it to arrive . The buyer called eBay to complain it’s taking too long and eBay refunded the 725.00 without waiting for the belt to arrive . What if it never arrives ? What if it’s damaged ? What if it’s a bag of rocks?  Who is eBay to refund without confirmation through tracking . I have called without resolve . There is nothing I can do they stole the money . There is zero seller protection any more ! 

[mr_lincoln]

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@tammiegoldenhair wrote:

indeed I did appeal and was awarded the refund but it was not without a very frustrating customer service experience. I have found as of late you can call 4 times and receive  four totally different answers . 

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@tammiegoldenhair 

Very glad to hear you were refunded by eBay ... they never should have refunded the Buyer in the first place.  

[mtgraves7984]

I'm guessing that it's the concho belt sold on November 30. For that to be lost breaks my heart. We sellers empathize.

What was the date the claim was opened? When did the buyer actually ship the belt back to you? (Does it show movement? -and- How long did the buyer have to ship it?) Was the buyer within the timeline to escalate it?

[bonjourami]

Isnt that exactly what happened to the op? She says after a certain length of time with the lost return pkg, the buyer was refunded. But the op says she was too, so thats a little strange.

[ittybitnot]

@tammiegoldenhair 

I am so glad YOU were refunded!!!!!!! 

[ittybitnot]

They are willing to accept the pkg being on its way to the seller as an attempted ....

@bonjourami 

Thanks so much for that information!  I had no idea that just "trying" had that result.   I certainly will remember this.  

[inhawaii]

I know it's not your fault but wouldn't you agree with me that the buyer should be refunded?

It's certainly not the buyers fault either.

Hopefully the item will eventually show up and you can re-sell it.

Good luck!

[wastingtime101]

Hey @tammiegoldenhair . It sounds like eBay gave you a one time courtesy refund.

Because this was "free returns" it means you, the seller, are responsible for the return shipping label. That means if the item gets lost, you still have to refund the buyer and because you provided the return label you had the opportunity to provide an insured label. Your coverage is to file a claim with the carrier.

If you used an eBay-generated return label there is no ability to add insurance. The way around that? Go to your return preferences and enable RMAs. If you do that, you will have the opportunity to purchase a return label outside of eBay and add things like insurance and/or sig confirmation and upload it to the return for the buyer to use.

As for extending the timeframe on the return to allow more time for delivery, eBay will do that but only if there has been a recent tracking scan. If it's been over a week with no scan, they won't grant an extension. Last I checked on extension it required a scan within the last 7 days domestic (or 10?) and 15 days international - those time frames may have changed.

If you want to enable RMAs so you can provide insured return labels on pricey items go forward, visit this page: https://www.ebay.com/rtn/Return/SellerRules

If it helps, pirateship is a good option for generating return labels off eBay.

[stainlessenginecovers]

It is known that if an item is returned and 'gets lost' or 'doesn't arrive' that it STILL ON THE SELLER to refund the buyer as long as the buyer has shown that they 'put it in the mail'. 

Has been that way for ions. 

I got a return and after it was 'sorta lost' (stated as 'still on the way but arriving late) that I got a message from eBay that said 'the item should have been to you by now, please refund the buyer by XXXX (which was in 3 days or so)...so I did, knowing it would show up. It did, about 3 days AFTER I refunded. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

It is known that if an item is returned and 'gets lost' or 'doesn't arrive' that it STILL ON THE SELLER to refund the buyer as long as the buyer has shown that they 'put it in the mail'. 

Has been that way for ions. 

I got a return and after it was 'sorta lost' (stated as 'still on the way but arriving late) that I got a message from eBay that said 'the item should have been to you by now, please refund the buyer by XXXX (which was in 3 days or so)...so I did, knowing it would show up. It did, about 3 days AFTER I refunded. 

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@stainlessenginecovers 

Sure don't like to hear something like that ... is that one of those "unwritten" things eBay does???

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

It is known that if an item is returned and 'gets lost' or 'doesn't arrive' that it STILL ON THE SELLER to refund the buyer as long as the buyer has shown that they 'put it in the mail'. 

Has been that way for ions. 

I got a return and after it was 'sorta lost' (stated as 'still on the way but arriving late) that I got a message from eBay that said 'the item should have been to you by now, please refund the buyer by XXXX (which was in 3 days or so)...so I did, knowing it would show up. It did, about 3 days AFTER I refunded. 

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@stainlessenginecovers 

Sure don't like to hear something like that ... is that one of those "unwritten" things eBay does???

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@mr_lincoln I don't know if it's 'written' as MANY things are not- but I've seen a Blue state it on one of these forum threads as well as I just experienced it. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

It is known that if an item is returned and 'gets lost' or 'doesn't arrive' that it STILL ON THE SELLER to refund the buyer as long as the buyer has shown that they 'put it in the mail'. 

Has been that way for ions. 

I got a return and after it was 'sorta lost' (stated as 'still on the way but arriving late) that I got a message from eBay that said 'the item should have been to you by now, please refund the buyer by XXXX (which was in 3 days or so)...so I did, knowing it would show up. It did, about 3 days AFTER I refunded. 

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@stainlessenginecovers 

Sure don't like to hear something like that ... is that one of those "unwritten" things eBay does???

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@mr_lincoln I don't know if it's 'written' as MANY things are not- but I've seen a Blue state it on one of these forum threads as well as I just experienced it. 

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@stainlessenginecovers 

I've seen the same on certain things over they years ... there are rules and then there are rules and there are exceptions to the rules ... if I were King I would change some rules ...