Global shipping item broken by Pitney Bowes after being accepted successfully at global shipping centre but I've lost out
Summary: cammin822 explained an issue regarding a refund for an item damaged during transit through the Global Shipping Program. After a voluntary refund was issued due to the buyer's report, eBay and Pitney Bowes could not assist in reclaiming the funds, even though the damage was not the seller's fault. Several participants advised cammin822 to seek assistance through the UK eBay Community, emphasizing the differences between the UK and US eBay processes.
I sold an item via the global shipping program which was broken in transit after successfully being accepted at the hub in the UK proving it was packaged correctly. Upon arrival at the final destination the buyer found the item broken and raised this with ebay. They got in touch with a couple of messages, the first being that they would handle everything and it was all covered, the second asking me what I wanted doing with the item (return or refund) which I replied to. I selected to refund straight away in the interests of good customer service for several reasons, the item was about 3kg, had gone to Australia and was clearly broken in the photographs sent by the buyer so getting it returned served no purpose to anyone.
Replying was apparently a mistake as this then closes the case with me having no recourse to recover my money despite all evidence that the damage was Pitney Bowes' fault. I contacted customer service whose response was that as I'd voluntarily refunded the money then there was nothing for them to do. My take is that I only replied to a question that ebay systems had asked me but this line of discussion could go in a circle forever. I was advised to contact Pitney Bowes directly but as suspected they would not speak to me as they are not my shipper, they are ebay's. I did get back in touch after doing this but the bottom line appears to be that first line support staff have absolutely power to refund funds/claim for shipping damage by Pitney Bowes after a refund has been issued. Reading around a bit, it does not look like this is an isolated case and I may just be venting into the ether here.
I understand that I mistakenly issued a manual refund to preserve good customer service, but under GSP policy, eBay is liable for international transit damage. I'm struggling to see why this can't be credited to rebate my sales funds, as the damage was entirely caused by eBay's shipping partner. In addition to customer service having no mechanism to deal with cases like this, it also appears that twitter/facebook support was shut his year, there is no avenue to either appeal or communicate with someone in the GSP team.
I would love someone from ebay to look at this (more than happy to supply more detail if something could be done) if anyone is reading. The sale was the best part of £100 so not an insignificant amount of money that I've lost.
cammin822
OP3 weeks agoWhoops! Sorry I hadn't realised that there were different location based fora, I've reposted on the UK one. Thanks for the heads up all.
mr_lincoln
·3 weeks agoHi @cammin822
I see you are located in the UK, this happens to be the US eBay Community and some processes and procedures vary between the two eBay domains. Here is a convenient link to the UK eBay Community. You will be better served by asking your question(s) there: eBay UK | eBay Community
kensgiftshop
·3 weeks agoSince you're in the UK, return to the UK site and ask about it there.
Don't know if many here in the US would know how the system works over there.
caldreamer
·3 weeks agoHi there,
Just wanted to let you know that you reached EBAY seller hub here in the United States. You might get a better answer if you post on EBAY UK.
Good luck to you!