What is your initial interpretation of THIS?!
Let's this get out of the way - this post is not about me having to accept a return. I do free returns. I even do 60-days at times, so this has nothing to do with any of that. I don't care about the return. This post is about making sure I am not missing something and that my understanding of what the buyer stated when they opened the return is correct. I'm posting the message that was in the return. What does this sound like to you?
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You can see in the return comment that the buyer says they had to wait for their family member to send the item back to them.
12 comments
house*of*paws
·5 months agoHey @christworks
Unfortunately, you don’t have clear evidence that an ‘extra shipping step’ was involved.
As I believe has already been mentioned, the item could have been mailed directly to a guest address … or handed over to the ‘family member’ in person.
Neither is there evidence that the family member mailed it back to the buyer … just that the person (for whom the item was purchased) seemed to live far enough away for it to ‘take time’ to get it back.
What I THINK happened is that there was likely at least one ‘second shipping’ that can’t be proven.
christworks
OP5 months agoI am not sure why people believe I shipped it to a 3rd party. If that was the case, I would have put that in my post. The buyer name and the delivery name are one in the same.
The buyer never wrote me back after I asked what they meant by having to wait until their family member sent it back.
I find it odd they would even mention any of that. They were within the return window, so why tell me all those details? In psychology, people who are lying or manipulating often volunteer extra, unnecessary details. They give answers to questions that have not been asked or perhaps would not have been asked at all. In this case had the buyer simply opened the return without so much detail, I would not have thought anything of it. It wasn't the fact they said it didn't work, it was the fact they went into detail about having to wait until their family member sent it back and how their family member bought a new battery for it and so on. It caused my **bleep** detector to go up, which is why I pushed back as I did.
gator08041971
·5 months agoEh, I still think what I said stands. You really only have an option to allow a return if they request one. Fighting it usually fails in some fashion, unless they are outside of your return window or fail to meet the requirements of the return in the first place. While the request and their extra info may be odd, it really doesn't change the substance of the issue, that being a return request of the item.
Good luck though.
house*of*paws
·5 months agoI didn't believe you shipped it to a 3rd party ... but I didn't assume that you would necessarily know if you did. [I'm not a seller, so don't know the extent of the information a seller is given when a buyer purchases an item. I considered the possibility that a buyer might use their own name with a 'guest address' ... so that a seller might not be aware that the item was being shipped to a 3rd person.]
What we KNOW is that the item ended up with a 3rd person. We DO NOT KNOW whether it was shipped to the 3rd person.
We also KNOW that the item is currently NOT with the buyer by the buyer's own statement.
We DO NOT KNOW how the buyer plans to get it back from the person who currently has it.
It is possible that the buyer handed the item off to their relative ... and that the relative plans to hand it back to them.
While I think it is likely that an 'extra shipping' took place ... and/or WILL take place when the relative returns the item to the buyer ... I don't think is that you would be able to PROVE it to eBay if the buyer filed a NAD return request within 30 days.
The 'over explaining' you mention could reflect the buyer's doubts whether their relative is equipped to install the item themselves. OR perhaps the buyer was merely concerned that they might not get the item back in time to return it within eBay's time period.
[Sorry for the confusion and my long-windedness. I didn't get enough sleep to explain myself clearly.]
ryry-jj
·5 months agoSounds like it was a gift for a family member...and that family member said it didn't work, so the gift giver said to return it to them and they will return it to you
It reads as a bit of TMI....I'm with you, I'll accept a return for any reason if they buyer is happy with the purchase, remorse or not.
gator08041971
·5 months ago@christworks
Problem is, it could have been a relative, and they had to give/ship it to them, or it could be a reseller that did a drop ship and they are trying to facilitate a return.
At this point, if they are within your return window on that item, the only option you really have is to do the return. Worst case scenario if your listing was setup for it, is to refund them for less than the original amount, if you get back the item in a condition other than how it was shipped to begin with. (up to 50% refund)
Whether it was a 10 dollar sale or a 100 dollar sale, we sellers are at the mercy of the buyer, unfortunately. Since you can't prove anything specifically, and even though its very likely to be a drop ship sell that went sideways, what else is there to do?
Refusing won't lead you anywhere helpful for you, so... I know its not an answer anyone wants to hear, but its how it will end up being. You can always report the buyer after you get the item back if need be too.
Good luck.
christworks
OP5 months ago@albertabrightalberta I have 30 day free returns. Returning is fine, but I needed thoughts on whether it sounded like the remote had been mailed for the exact reason you cited. I did not want to bring that up. I wanted to see if anybody else would, as that helps me to know what I want to do with this since they opened as an INAD.
The buyer is also a seller. When I learned that, I messaged them bascially letting them know that because they mailed it to someon else, if the remote is not working, it might be due to this 3rd party, who was not involved in this transaction did something to mess it up. I straight up told them if they send it back, they will not get a full refund because they sent it to a 3rd party. They responded that they did not mail it and that they handed it to their family member. Okay. Fine. So what does, "I had to wait until they sent it back to me" mean? It sure sounds like it was mailed at some point, possibly from their family member back to them. This person has been selling since 1998.
natoman777
·5 months agoSo, I also would throw in there that they might be old. I have been on eBay since 1999 but I am only 55 (not too old). Some older buyers/sellers on here have less understanding of how things work now with eBay. If it is out of your return window I wouldn't accept the return. Since they are a seller you also have to consider that they resold it and are trying to get money back from their purchase from you. It's amazing what some people will do
albertabrightalberta
·5 months agoMy opinion is that this is a case similar to a buyer who uses a freight forwarder and loses their MBG. But instead of the FF being the middle man, the buyer is the middle man, forwarded it to the "family member" and the family member claims it's not working properly.
What was your return policy on the item? Is it within that timeframe?
If it is within your 30/60 day return period and your buyer has the item back, the song-and-dance wasn't even necessary.
If it's outside the return period and the "forwarded to a family member" is their justification for the delay in either filing a NAD claim or return request, you aren't obligated to take it back.
Even if they filed a NAD claim, you could argue that they voided their MBG by "redirecting" the item to the relative.
simba6
·5 months agoCan't be sure what they mean by a claim in. If an eBay SNAD was filed you would have been notified.
The trouble could be with the fireplace too. Did you look in messages? They might have " filed " in in there?
christworks
OP5 months agoI'm sorry, they opened a return. No problem there. Does it sound like the buyer mailed the item to someone else after they recieved it? Is that how it reads to you? She said she had to wait for him to send it to her before she opened a claim.
And yes, that was my thought, too. Something is wrong with the fireplace or they ordered the wrong model.
stephenmorgan
·5 months agoIt could be they mailed it to their family member after receipt.
It could be it was ordered and they had you send it to their family member to start with.
It could mean a family member picked it up in person from them but they are going to mail it back to them instead of dropping it off in person. You know like maybe a visiting child from college who needed it but the return period will be expired before they visit again.