When you refund a buyer for reason "other" do you take a hit?
Genuine FLOWBEE® Parts ... Foot / Feet ... Spacer / Spacers ... NEW!
Message from buyer:
When vendors use the plural of spacers, parts, pictures, etc. one may assume that they are purchasing several items. However this was not the case with your product. As I only received one item.
Reply:
Hello John, Sorry for the confusion. I have sold literally thousands of these without any problem. When you ordered this, not only do you have to choose the piece you want but you also have to select a quantity.You selected the 1.5" spacer and a quantity of 1. That's what I sent you. I have been selling on ebay for over 25 years. I want you to be happy. I am going to give you a full refund on the spacer and you may keep it. There are other sellers on ebay selling a "set of spacers". I hope you can find what you need. Aloha and have a great day. James
35 comments
broto_64
·5 months agoNope, what I do is instruct the buyer to open a return for refund and then I will issue the refund once that is open and there is no need to actually ship the item(s) back. To give me extra time I have enabled RMA requirements, and then when I see the return open I do NOT issue a label but simply issue the refund instead.
That way I have it that the buyer opened a return, because too many returns count against buyers as well and this works particularly well with "dense" buyers.
Always make "at fault" buyers open a return, I appreciate your willingness to go the extra mile... In this case I'd likely do the same thing but again I would make the buyer open a return, because in these tough economic times there's also a possibility certain buyers are complaining about any old thing just to see if they get a free refund.
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoI prefer they don't open a return (especially if it's remorse) because too many returns count against me to. I'm all for having the fewest INRs and Returns possible and will talk to buyers and respond to messages to sort things out. Most of the time when I get a message that is leading to an INR, waiting a few days means the package eventually arrives (this is for untracked stuff like single postage stamps). If they open an INR and there's no tracking, there's no winning that because there's a time limit to sort things out with the buyer and after so many days eBay can step in.
C.
inhawaii
OP4 months agoI agree with you, but in this case the part costs me nothing.
I think I currently have 50-100 in stock.
I'm only out the shipping.
I can eat this one.
lakefor94
·4 months agoI munch some of those $5 shipping charges as well at times. Especially when business is brisk.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoLooks like an excellent response!
stephenmorgan
·5 months agoI had a buyer once who purchased from a variation listing of 18 items, one item. When they received item they message that they wanted all items. I message back that if the purchased more than one at a time I could reduce the shipping cost. They message back that they thought they were suppose to get all 18 items for the price of one. I explained that no, each item selected is a separate purchase. They did not ask for a refund.
I did however go to all my variation listings and add to the title, Pick and Choose the ones you want or Price individually.
inhawaii
OP5 months agoI find it fascinating.
When people are buying from a variations listing for let's say a T-shirt, do you think that they think they are getting all 3 sizes and all 5 colors? 15 T-shirts for $9.95. Nice! LOL
gurlcat
·5 months agoAnd if they did I bet you would refund them. 🤣 I really don't understand your willingness to play along sometimes, but oh well it's not my money.
lakefor94
·5 months agoWell @gurlcat,
@inhawaii happens to be one of eBay's most reputable sellers. Consistently delivers outstanding customer service. Like I have said before, “it does not get any better on this planet.” A Superstar in his own right.
This is no lie: He once sent me a Flowbee attachment, absolutely FREE. Something I will always cherish. I know it is on a table here somewhere.
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoI play along too, but I block people that come across as dense or that I think are using my listing mistake to get a refund/partial refund (when it should be obvious what I was selling). If I believe I really did mislead because I said something wrong in the listing, then I don't block, I apologize and take care of the buyer.
When I say "dense", I'm not trying to insult my buyers. I had a buyer purchase an Egypt 1 Pound 1980 coin and he got angry that it only weighed 1/6 of an ounce and he expected a whole pound of silver for $18. He actually returned the coin (which surprised me because I thought I was being scammed), but I wasn't going to deal with him again.
C.
ten_o_nine
·5 months agoI think but not sure that using "other " for a full refund works in 2 ways.
If item was shipped, tracked, and delivered - No hit
If item not shipped, tracked, or delivered - The algorithm thinks OOS, and issues a defect.
I stand to be corrected.
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoNo, I think you're right. Also the reason doesn't have to be "other" the algorithm reads several reasons in this manner to award OOS defects.
I have never taken a hit on refunding anything that had tracking showing delivered (or even tracking showing shipped if I refunded before delivery). Others have taken a hit on refunding untracked orders (but still shipping the damaged item) because the algorithm read the refund as OOS.
C.
luckythewinner
·5 months agoWhen you refund a buyer for reason "other" do you take a hit?
Well, you told the buyer you were going to refund them. Let us know what you chose and whether you took a hit or not.
inhawaii
OP5 months agoRefunded the buyer today.
Anyone know how long before a "hit" would show?
Is it instantaneous?
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoWait 24 hours.
If there's tracking showing you shipped something, you won't take a hit.
C.
pastimpressions
·5 months agoHey @inhawaii
In lieu of a refund could I please have some Hair in a Can? I could use that more than the Flowbee 😀
gurlcat
·5 months ago@inhawaii You should send @pastimpressions one hair since he didn't say hairS. He did say 'some' so make sure it has some length to it. But just 1.
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoThe plural of hair is hair, if it's a non-countable amount. Like "wash your hair". If you counted 2 gray hairs, then the plural would be hairs.
If they asked for "hair in a can" and didn't say "hairs" I would interpret that to mean they want an uncountable amount of hair in a can. If they said hairs, you would have to count the strands.
Sorry, couldn't resist sharing that...
C.
inhawaii
OP5 months agoThat's so funny.
I've never ever thought about that before.
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoDon't be too impressed, I had to look that up to be sure. I was remembering how I called last week to have someone cut my hair (being plural), so I had to check if hairs was even a word... apparently it is plural for hair but only if you can actually count them.
C.
kibble-net
·5 months agoNo, you won't take a hit for this.
The buyer, however, has taken multiple hits to their IQ.
buyersellerfinder
·5 months agoI applaud your professional reply to the buyer.
Assuming the buyer is legit and not scamming you - I can see his arguement.
Even selecting "1" quantity may have left the impression that the buyer would receive "1" set/lot of multiple items.
Consider deleting all the plurals in your title description.
Instead stating something like, "Select Item and Select Quantity".
inhawaii
OP5 months agoWhen you buy, it literally makes you...
Select the item.
Select the quantity.
12345jamesstamps
·5 months agoDoes it tell buyer to 'select the item, select the quantity'...when making the purchase on an iPhone?
Just a thought...iPhone listings are somewhat different as oppose to using a computer.
inhawaii
OP5 months agoYes. You can't buy it without selecting the part you want and the quantity. Just impossible.
buyersellerfinder
·5 months agoI understand and agree.
I mean even if the buyer thought he was buying 1 lot of items - how many exactly did he think he was getting?
That is the basis of a sales contract.
1 out of 10,000 people will read a sentence differently than you intended.
I'm just trying to show you a different point-of-view....
Why would the seller bother to put plurals in the listing if the drop down menu forces a buyer to choose item type and quantity anyways?
Just another way to look at it...
Genuine FLOWBEE® Part ... Foot or Spacer ... NEW!
Removes all possible ambiguity.
I would probably be ok with...
Genuine FLOWBEE® Parts ... Foot or Spacer ... NEW!
jdbelt1960
·5 months agoThat is how I would have handled it. I don't think a seller gets dings unless Ebay has to step in. I have once given a partial refund (it was not requested) using other. I had no problems with Ebay.
sin-n-dex
·5 months agoI would have refunded that as "not as described" (even though it is as described), I've never had a defect for refunding something with NAD as the reason.
Also in my experience if you ship something and tracking shows something was actually shipped to the buyer, then you do not get a defect for issuing a full refund.
C.
12345jamesstamps
·5 months agoIs there a claim for a refund?
Would I refund without a claim? Not always.
I refunded a buyer due to damage and got hit with an 'out of stock' ding a long time ago.
Will artificial intelligence be on your side when you hit 'other'?
It's not 100 % a safe bet.
And trying to undo damage control...giving a refund without a request...doesn't always please the buyer.
I gave a refund to someone a week ago because buyer couldn't figure how to open a claim...I give the refund minus one penny. I did not get a ding...I did 'item not received'.
I got a natural response from the buyer...still there.
babyers88
·4 months agoyou are referencing items that have not yet been shipped and delivered, the OP is referencing refunding a buyer AFTER the item has been shipped and/or delivered already.
also to answer the OP no, you do not get a ding or hit of any kind by refunding all or part of the sale after the fact.
also for instance (example) if you refunded 50% of the sale and later the buyer opened a claim or return request you would then only be required to refund the remaining 50%, any refund already completed is automatically deducted from the original balance and everything is shown as such in the sold history of said item.
Also... if you refunded say $20 out of a $80 purchase, your actual refund amount deducted would really only be like $18 or so and the rest ebay deducts from there portion of the selling fee's & taxes charged
12345jamesstamps
·4 months ago'you are referencing items that have not yet been shipped'....you have it wrong.
I was implying SOME buyers who buy...buy items on an iPhone and can't read everything.
I was explaining WHAT might have happened...not what is going to happen here.
AND, as far as what could happen....artificial intelligence is now in place and anything might happen as a glitch.
I had such a problem.
Reading OLD eBay rules and regulations were implemented before artificial intelligence.
fern*wood
·4 months agoDidn't you get out of stock for refunding because you couldn't prove you shipped the item?
lakefor94
·5 months agoI usually always pick, "Because I am such an awesome seller"
No hits on that one.
onefootflipper
·5 months agoI nearly always use other as the reason.
christworks
·5 months ago@inhawaii I've never had an account hit using "other." I don't know if you would by using INAD since the buyer has not opened a return, but I've never tried that. I always select other.