I'm a bit confused with this return process after an Item was sent back to me from Authentication
Hello all.
I've never had to deal with a return before, but I recently sold an item that had to go get Authenticated through eBays Authentication Program, and there were some discrepancies in the listing, to which Authentication sent the item back to me and started a return process with the buyer.
I was provided a link to the inspection details that went over everything, including tracking info for the return to me, and a button for issuing a refund to the buyer. Initially it said I had to "Refund by" April 22nd to complete the return. I also spoke to the buyer right after I read the Authentication email, over a week ago, and the buyer said they were already refunded their money, so I'm a bit confused with this situation. I initially thought that once I received the package and signed for it, it would then release the hold on the money and take the funds out of my account(which I see the hold in the "Payments" tab),. I thought everything would be completed automatically, but now, after receiving the package and it being marked as delivered, I see an update to the page saying I have to "Issue a Refund" by tomorrow, the 10th, not the 22nd. I find that a bit weird that the date jumped back so much.
So one of my questions is.... It sounds like it's a similar situation to shipping an item out on time("By April 10th"), so I would have to issue the funds by Tomorrow at 11:59PM, right? or today by 11:59PM?
At the same time, on the inspection page it also says "Please inspect the item and send the refund. If you don’t send a refund or report an issue by Apr 10, the refund amount may be automatically deducted from your funds."
So I'm confused by the above, and that's why I ask if it means tonight at 11:59PM or tomorrow, if it's going to deduct it automatically tomorrow. Also, since they say the funds will just be automatically taken out tomorrow anyways, is there even a need for me to do anything myself? If I do have to do it myself and not wait for the automatic refund, when would have to send the funds by? Do I have to even do anything myself now or what? At the same time, I want to know... If they do "automatically" take out the funds for the return, am I going to get some sort of strike / penalty against my account, or what happens in those cases?
I'm just overall really confused with this situation, especially since the buyer said they already got their funds back over a week ago(I assume the refund from me goes to eBay now), and it initially gave me a refund date almost 2 weeks later than what it is currently, so I want to know what the actual situation with this is, and how I should handle it, so I can learn about returns and how they work, for this time and the future. Is this setup also standard for Returns, or is this something different due to it dealing with Authentication?
Thank you for any help with this.
albertabrightalberta
·4 months ago@ratoliprova
Please explain how you're going to avoid the same issue with the authenticator this time.
I see that you've relisted the bracelet for more than double the original price, presumably telling the buyer to make whatever offer you've agreed to.
But the bracelet still has to go to the authenticators. What adjustments or corrections were made to make sure it passes this time?
ETA: For whatever reason, item 267634398771 isn't showing when I look at your listings. I found the listing in the research tool.
krazzykats
·4 months agoRefunding buyers on eBay
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ratoliprova
OP4 months ago@krazzykats Thank you. I tried looking through there. I do see a mention about Fee Credits, and it talking about INR and other returns, but I'm not sure about this case since it's dealt all with eBay and not a buyer.
There was also no mention of any strikes being added to my account, but I did see something about Seller Protection for the item being rem'd in the case of neg feedback, etc.
Do you have any info yourself besides the link? I should have until the end of tomorrow for this (April 10th) correct?
At the same time.. I would hope that since I tried to resolve this sooner, that I might be able to get the fee issues waived. Losing the fees on this sale would be extremely bad, as it was a lot of money.
Thank you for your help!
krazzykats
·4 months agoThe best advice is to issue the refund now. If eBay processes it for you, it could result in a defect on your account. There’s really no other choice but to refund so why worry about whether it’s 11:59 or not?
If a refund is needed, just do it and move on. Otherwise, you are going to continue to stress and overthink this until 11:59 and beyond.
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albertabrightalberta
·4 months ago@ratoliprova
I'm not at all comfortable with the reassurances CS gave you.
If ebay "automatically" issues the refund, I believe you will get a ding for not doing it yourself. And if that happens, not only will you have the ding but you'll also lose the credit for the final value fee. (Ebay retains the fee when sellers don't handle the refund themselves.)
I recommend you issue the refund and find a way to get the funds into your account to cover the refund. (You don't want it to bounce for insufficient funds!)
ratoliprova
OP4 months ago@albertabrightalberta Thank you for this information.
I asked multiple times and she said there was nothing to worry about, but if something like this happens I will appeal it, especially if they told me nothing would happen to my account.
Do you have any resources or anything to verify to me that they will add a ding/strike to the account and that they would keep final value fees as well?
It still says I have to refund BY April 10th, so I assume I will be okay as long as I get it done tomorrow? I assume this is the same as with shipping an item, that you have until 11:59PM that night to get it done? I would rather get it over with, but I have to wait to get the funds tomorrow. You said I don't want the charge to bounce either, so what would happen if that were the case? Right now I just am neg in my funds, and that's what the phone rep made it seem like that's where I would just pay off the balance from, and that I wouldn't have to worry about any issues with my account.
I just wish it was more clear to me when I had to get the funds in by, and that I had to do something myself. I just thought it was automatic when the delivery went through, or that I could issue it earlier myself, but it would happen automatically. Since eBay already paid the buyer I thought the hold would release upon delivery and signature from me, but that was only yesterday.... So they only gave me 2 days after delivery to handle this? It mentions to report any issues with delivery or refund by the 10th, so the report would only have 2 days to be complete after inspection of the item.
I also asked the phone rep if they could extend the deadline for this, and they just made it seem like there was nothing to worry about(maybe they couldn't extend the deadline for me anyways?), so I REALLY hope I won't lose out on fees and such, because that's a lot of money. I would think that eBay's rep would have some responsibility if I was given the wrong information, but who knows. I'm not looking to screw around and have to deal with a huge hassle, so I hope I still have the 10th to handle all of this.
So if I have until the 10th to issue a refund, does that mean I have until the end of the day on the 10th, Friday/Tomorrow, to handle this? Or are they going to automatically take out the funds mid-day tomorrow? I assume I have until the end of the day, and the funds would be taken out next Business day.
As mentioned in my OP, it says "Please inspect the item and send the refund. If you don’t send a refund or report an issue by Apr 10, the refund amount **may** be automatically deducted from your funds."
So I assume AFTER the 10th I would be charged? and most likely on a business day, so Monday? Or is this thought incorrect? I thought I read something that they could charge it mid-day, tomorrow the 10th, but from the above it seems like it should be after? I also had read some comments saying it's usually after. It's also confusing because it says "may be deducted" not "will," like there isn't full certainty how this will play out.
Currently it just doesn't give me any information on the inspection page anymore, just telling me the refund failed and to try again, which I can't until I have the funds. So maybe that gave me some time too, but who knows. EDIT: On the Refunds page it still says by April 10th.
I just want to make sure that I have AT LEAST a little bit of time, until the end of tomorrow to handle this.
Thank you for your help and if you have any resources you can share, that specifically state that I would get penalized not only with a strike/ding but losing out on Final Value Fees, please let me know.. I couldn't find anything on account strikes for refund issues, besides the AI stuff. EDIT: I found a few eBay Community posts that had similar comments to yours about strikes, and others saying it would be taken out of the account the next day, but I'm unsure if that's true or not:ENDEDIT. Besides that, all I have is what the Phone Rep said she read up on, because she spent like 5 mins keeping us on hold trying to find info on what I was asking, and she said that there shouldn't be an issue. She made it seem like it was a crazy thought that I would even consider something like a strike happening to my account, and that there should be nothing to worry about. We were on the call for quite a while too, as I just kept asking to make sure. She also made it seem like she spoke to someone else about this issue as well, assuming someone higher up, and that this other person would have known more and that was the answer she got. She seemed like she knew what she was saying, but who knows.
So hopefully I will have a little more time to handle this, and hopefully the Phone Rep was correct in case of issue, but I should hopefully be able to get this done tomorrow if I'm given that time, and then nothing should hopefully happen to my account, because that would be extremely awful if I got account penalties.
and the thing is, it seems like a lot of these issues and comments about refunds stem from a buyer not getting their money back, and eBay having "To step in for the buyer," which causes issues.... Where in my case, the Buyer was already refunded, and eBay is just waiting for the money back themselves. So it makes me wonder if there is a difference between the 2.
Thank you again for any more help and any resources talking about the strikes/dings, that you can provide!
EDIT: I did find this thread, still reading through it though https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/So-what-REALLY-happens-if-the-seller-doesn-t-send-refund-48/td-p/33916945
EDIT 2: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Do-I-have-the-whole-day-of-the-deadline-to-issue-a-return/td-p/35414896
christworks
·4 months ago@ratoliprova If your eBay account is in the negative, then eBay will rely on the card or bank information you provided. If there is not enough money to cover the refund, then it may not go through. When you look at the return, does eBay still tell you to refund as it did before?
I had to double check, but eBay does refund buyers when something does not pass inspection. Bascially, eBay pays the buyer, holds your funds, and then upon receipt you pay eBay back.
These screen shots are taken from the general return policy and the authentication policy.
I may be wrong about the account strike. They do not mention it in the policy, but I would not wait around just in case. As long as you have followed the steps they have shown you on the return screen, you are fine. Just make sure whatever card you are using there are sufficient funds or credit to cover the refund.
ratoliprova
OP4 months ago@christworks Thank you!
I just got off the phone with eBay phone support, and the lady basically told me that I shouldn't worry if it's a few days late and that it will just neg my funds until I pay it off, and if it takes too long then it will go to another department and collections. She made it seem like nothing would really happen to my account and that I will still be able to sell and make money to repay the funds.
I kept asking about a Strike and she was very confused saying that she doesn't see anything indicating that a strike would happen, and she asked me where I heard about it to which I mentioned searching for it as well as here on the Community. I did read something that there could be a strike for returns that could affect my seller account, higher fees, and restricted search availability, but that was from the Search AI that appears, so that could be incorrect information...
I just kept asking to make sure that I would be okay and how much time I had, and she made it seem like it was no big deal as long as I pay it off within a certain amount of time. I kept asking about the automatic thing with eBay and she just made it seem like it would just affect the payments part, so I assume it would just release the hold and then I would just have a neg in my balance, even though it's already there. It's just a confusing situation, because it seems like I don't have to do anything and I wont get penalized either way.
She basically made it seem like there would be no strike or anything against my account, and I think she made comments that she's seen people have neg balance before and had to catch up.
I just don't have the funds currently in my bank, but I'm expecting the buyer to purchase the item again, hopefully tomorrow, so I will have the funds then. It's an expensive item, so that's why I don't have funds currently. I was just waiting for the buyer to buy it again, but it's pretty much down to the wire now that I see it says April 10th, and not the 22nd, hence why I'm a bit nervous and trying to get the proper info, to not have any issues.
I just was a bit nervous that I would get striked and that there would be issues, but she made it seem like that would not happen, even though I was a bit paranoid about it. It's good to see that you didn't see anything about a strike either, and I had to laugh when reading that, because I was so paranoid about it and kept asking her about it and she just didn't see it happening. Who knows though.
I know people have mentioned that basic eBay support can be useless and not really helpful, but she did seem to be very helpful for what I was asking. i'm not sure her level of eBay support either.
I did ask if I could appeal a strike if I somehow did get one, and I asked if there were notes added to my account that we spoke, and she mentioned that any strike can be appealed and that she is making notes that we spoke, etc, so hopefully if something happens, they will see I did try and be able to remove it... But it sounds like this isn't the case and I have nothing to actually worry about as long as I pay off the funds in a reasonable amount of time. I will take the blame though, as I had no clue this would happen, I also thought it said April 22nd, so I'm very confused. I also thought I would be able to just Overdraft my account before getting the funds, but it seems I actually need proper funds or else eBay wont let the transaction through.
IT's also possible it said "Return by April 22nd," and then after the Return it says "Refund by April 10th," which makes no sense if the Return was available until the 22nd, but I have to pay back before the 10th. It also is confusing that I wasn't given the actual refund date before(it mentioned this on the end of of the blue transaction bar, which normally is shown in orders).
I really thought it did say Refund by the 22nd though, but I don't have any proof or screenshots. I just find it a bit confusing that the buyer was paid, eBay already has a hold in my account for the amount, and it says "Available funds" as a neg balance as well, but still wants me to issue the refund. I assume that the hold will just release by tomorrow then and I will be in the red for my funds. Which is fine as I rather have that then a strike or something that could affect my account standing. I try really hard to be a great seller and I have great feedback, so I don't want my account to get dinged for something silly.
It also might be possible that when eBay says they will automatically take out the funds, that it will just release the hold and everything will stay as is, instead of issuing a strike or something.
Does this sound plausible?
I thought it would just take it out itself, no big deal, but when you said they could issue a Strike, that made me nervous and want to know more.
Hopefully the Phone Rep was correct and that I will be okay. Either way, if I'm given until the end of the day on the 10th, then I should hopefully have the money by then, as long as this buyer purchases.
Thanks for all of your help thus far, and any other help you can offer, as well as answers to my questions above.
ratoliprova
OP4 months agoSo I tried to issue the refund, but I'm being given an error stating.
"Your refund did not go through. Please use a different payment option and try again."
I had set up a card to use specifically for the fees, instead of my bank account, so I'm not sure if I have to get it directly from my bank, or what's going on?
Now I'm a bit nervous because I wasn't expecting issues.
christworks
·4 months ago@ratoliprova
Refund your buyer. You do not want eBay having to do it for you as you will get a strike on your account. You have the item back. There is no need for you to beat around the bush about it.
ratoliprova
OP4 months ago@christworks Thank you! That's what I wanted to know, if I would get a strike or anything. The buyer already got their money back over a week ago apparently, so that's why this was confusing, as I didn't think I had to do anything more. It also has my account in the negative, so I just figured it was holding the money until it got delivered, then it would just take it out of my bank/funds and get rid of the hold on the money. I will go take care of that now then. In general I would have to get it done by tonight though, right? or do I have until the day it specifies(April 10, tomorrow)?
Since it says it will automatically take it out tomorrow I assume that I would have until tonight to do it then?
Thank you again for your help!