Why is eBay saying I need to purchase and send someone a return label when they already sent one?
I have it set up so return labels are automatically issued. I have free returns. Somebody told me a skincare device they bought from me was not working. I've sold over 20 of these without complaints and it's over $50 so I asked her if she would file a return so I could inspect what was wrong with it. She opened a return and a label was automatically issued to her. A week later she escalated the case (before shipping it) and eBay said for me not to worry about it they were going to make her ship it back before I refund.
Now I just get the following email telling me that there's a problem with the label and that I need to send another label. I don't remember ever reading anything like this on these forums and I'm pretty confused as to why this has happened. Will I be charged for the first label they issued if she attempted to use it and then also have to pay for a second label?
 
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoAll right I just got this email:
 
 I really hope it's over now. I have no idea what that email I got earlier tonight was all about I really could make no sense of it. I reached out to eBay's Facebook after that but I really don't think they've read it yet and this appeal decision just came from someone else. Very confusing but obviously I'm happy with the outcome finally.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoThat CS message from "Chris" is so bad @sapphire_studio .
Don't forget to void the label on pirateship.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoI definitely appreciate the reminder. The first thing I did after I saw the email an hour ago that the case was reversed was to void that shipping label. Lol
Thanks for your earlier advice about making sure to create the label dispite the advice the reps gave me. I know how smart you are with these things and that was nagging at the back of my head and I'm sure prompted me to call again and finally upload that on friday.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoYea I totally agree. As I was reading it, I was thinking "Chris is an idiot."
This is my favorite part of the message. "The matter, however, has been closed because you already provided a return shipping label last April 26, 2024." Then three sentences later, he says "Since the shipping label was not provided to the buyer, the case has closed." Chris is definitely stoned on something.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoI think it could be a language barrier @iamalwaysright .
One thing is for sure: @sapphire_studio received very inconsistent advice from customer service and the last email was straight up incoherent. Hoping @kyle@ebay can have every CS contact reviewed on this transaction to see what went wrong and provide "coaching" where needed. It's disappointing the scammer found a way to game eBay's system, got a refund, and sapphire had such a hard time on something that should have been straightforward.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years ago@kyle@ebay
If you do have the time to look into this case that would be amazing because there were some crazy things that happened and many reps made mistakes.
 
ittybitnot
·2 years agoI think it could be a language barrier
@wastingtime101
While that could be true, I often imagine a CS rep with only three keys on their keyboard that actually function: Ctrl, C, and V thus all the mention of 'scripted' responses. LOL.
Historically speaking, there seems to have been a trend in what CS is allowed to do. There was a time when they could dispense with a SNAD claim for things that were described in a listing. i.e. my wagon with only three wheels scenario. Title says Wagon is missing a wheel. It is repeated in the condition and mentioned again three times in the description that there are only three wheels and one is missing. The place where the wheel is missing is substantiated by multiple photos of the hole that no longer has a wheel.
Old days: case dismissed, found in favor of the seller, return denied
Now: the seller's description is meaningless, and they have the choice of fronting the cost for a return to MAYBE get the item back, or letting the buyer keep the product for free. NO INTERVENTION IS ALLOWED by humans, only the eBay bot that is invited to "step in".
I truly remember the day when this started for me, and when I called CS, I was told 'not to worry' the case would be closed in my favor...LOL.... Five minutes later, got the email found in favor of the buyer. Called back, CS (same person by chance) said to just ignore that message, they send the same thing to everyone, and didn't have to do anything. That was simply a LIE, but it was at the beginning of the 'change' and nobody actually knew that lying had commenced. "Sorry the rep MIS-SPOKE, (but you are still hosed for doing/believing what they said).
I don't think eBay can give authority to any of these people to actually help anymore. It might cost eBay money.
I truly remember the day when even the board blues were no longer allowed to help posters here, too. It was a situation, that just the week before, was handled appropriately by an eBay staff member's assistance.
Same problem, same scenario, same eBay staff member told the seller to call customer service, since there was no way that they (staff member) could look into their account and help.....
Of course, I spoke up and said asked 'why? When you helped just last week with the exact same issue, with a link to the discussion provided.
I didn't get any vacation time, but I was ignored.
It is a trend that has seemingly escalated with expanded use of AI, (and CS call center reps with no keyboards). Actual assistance costs time and money. Bots in denial mode not so much.
Need feedback assistance when you have been left a red donut for car part, when you sold a book?
Need assistance with a fake tracking scam, where the computer you ordered morphed into a 2 ounce envelope sent with the eBay label tracking/barcode was delivered to your local tavern?
Need assistance like our OP @sapphire_studio with a convoluted mess?
Need assistance for.......
kyle@ebay
Hey @wastingtime101 it definitely sounds like a ball was dropped somewhere along the process, so we'll be sure to provide coaching for the agent (or agents) where the error occurred.
@sapphire_studio I'm glad to hear you already got your appeal granted! I was going to suggest an appeal until I read that post in here.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoWhat kind of insane nonsensical email is this?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoI’ve had this happen to me about 3-4 times. I can recall two of the times, the buyer was in Guam and I realized that eBay wasn’t able to issue a return label from Guam for some reason. The other incidents, I was never able to figure out why eBay was forcing me to manually send the buyer a label. Either eBay or the buyer effed up those times and they were forcing me to bail them out.
Ebay should have a record and can tell you if and when a label was issued, if and when the buyer clicked to download the label.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years ago@wastingtime101
So I was able to buy the label off pirate ship and send it to her through a message and contact customer service so they uploaded the tracking to the case. I sent her the label today because it was at the end of the 5-day hold period and I was told by a representative to wait until today in case she used the first label eBay sent her or she contacted me back (which she never did after serveral messages).
To my shock about 20 minutes ago I got a message that the case was closed in her favor because it had been successfully returned 🤯
Luckily the ebay Agent I just spoke to was very helpful and said that the rep that closed it in her favor was completely in the wrong and they will be coached. She reversed the case decision and she said they were going to ban the buyer. I mentioned that it was a brand new account and she said they would be able to ban her IP address. Who knows if that's true but I've never had a rep tell me they were going to do that to a buyer before.
I definitely was dealing with a scammer and I'm glad it all went okay. Hopefully she can't reverse it again.
sdneped
·2 years agoSo @sapphire_studio the eBay bot has already automatically (it wasn't a rep) forced a full refund to your buyer/scammer -- after the case had been on hold for exactly 5 days, at the same hour and minute the return request was escalated?
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoI got the email from Ebay that I need to send the buyer another return label at 5:04 pm and I got the message today (5 days later) at 5:28 pm. This morning they updated the case to include the new tracking number. I think she had to put in a phone call today and claim to someone she returned it. I don't know why a bot would automatically mark it as being delivered.
It's been 2 hours since I got off the phone with eBay and they reversed the decision. But I still don't see any evidence of that. I'm wondering when I'm supposed to get a message that says the case has been reversed.
qeqo_0
·2 years agoDo you know then, if the buyer was fully refunded at 5:28 pm.
And that refund (including your final value fees and the sales tax the buyer had paid) was deducted from you?
Now your appeal was denied, so you're out both your item and the refund to the buyer, @sapphire_studio and do you also have a defect for case closed without seller resolution -- plus you need to cancel the return label.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoNot only did I respond to that email and tell them that I had sent a label yesterday morning before the case closed, I also called eBay back and a rep opened up another appeal for me making it very clear that I had sent the label. I'm still hopeful that this will all get figured out. I have never contacted eBay on Facebook before but I will do that if this appeal doesn't work.
broto_64
·2 years agoHmmm...
I have had a situation once in the past (literally, once in well over a decade of selling) where a buyer supposedly did not get a label issued by ebay and I had to provide "another" one... I was really puzzled because it wasn't the buyer but ebay telling me that, and I called and got in touch with a rep and I finally did just like yourself, long story short however the rest of my transaction went without a hitch (the item was returned, I issued the refund), the reason I say this is supposedly (and according to the ebay rep I spoke to) it is possible for the ebay system to malfunction and fail to issue the buyer a label (despite that it tells us it did)... To this day I am not entirely certain of what exactly did transpire but since it was a one in thousands of transactions event I just let it go.
Your case however seems to be different than mine in one way:
What I believe happened here...
Is the second label may have been a ruse of some sort, the buyer was stalling so that the case would time out and they could "ask ebay to step in" which is how ebay found in the buyer's favor: You may wish to check and see if this case was closed "without seller resolution" as that would answer the question why the buyer was refunded without having to return the item.
Still odd thou, in terms of tracking...
I mean if the buyer doesn't return an item the case should always close in the seller's favor.
Perhaps that second label, when the ebay rep supposedly updated the tracking caused the software to malfunction (allowing the buyer to escalate and get a refund)... Hard to say but I am glad to see you got it resolved.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoThe conspiracy theorist in me wonders about the second callback I got from the American rep. So I had requested a call back and already spoken to one rep who told me I didn't need to create another label. Then an hour label an American woman called me (the caller ID did say "eBay") and she seemed to already know all about the case without me explaining anything. She just instructed me yes don't do anything and seemed almost pushy about it. So a little part of me wonders if this is some sort of inside job. It's just weird so many glitches happened: eBay didn't issue the first label like they always do, eBay issued another label that supposedly didn't work, I got two calls back for that first call back request, and somehow the case closed due to her returning it when she had just got in the label that morning.
Anyway who knows.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoIt doesn’t sound like they reversed it per se. But rather the buyer kept the money and the item and you were awarded an appeal where eBay just paid you out of their own pocket. The buyer didn’t lose anything so rest assured that your appeals decision is final.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoYeah apparently she just appealed it for me and then I got a email this morning that denied my appeal because I didn't give them the documentation they requested. I responded to the email that I did send the label to the eBay messages like I was instructed to.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoI just got a second call back and I didn't request it. She was an American and she laughed and said sometimes the system does that. So I took the opportunity to run everything by her and she agreed with everything the first representative said earlier. She said it was some sort of glitch that the first label was never sent like it should have and that they did Issue a label yesterday and that there's nothing I need to do. She also agreed that the representative made a mistake when they sent me that email telling me that I need to provide a new label.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years ago"She was an American"...who lives where....
I usually ask on the phone how's the weather there?
I wish you the best of luck...but never heard on this platform it was an American in the USA....but maybe in another country.
And I usually read all posts here every morning over coffee. Could be a first in years.
Good luck and let us know what happens.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoI had an ebay phone number for a few years that connected to the American call center. I pulled it from a Daily Refinement YouTube video. I think they gave that number to people who had attended eBay Open and it was called concierge service. It stopped working a few months ago. Since the second call back itself was a glitch maybe it glitched out and had the American call center (maybe Anchor Suport?) reach out to me. She was definitely American and for some reason it was just a lot easier to trust what she was telling me. I will probably still call in 4 days though to be safe.
lakefor94
·2 years agoDon't hesitate to use the eBay for Business on Facebook.
When it comes down to it, those reps can get problems fixed if they choose to do so.
They seem to have a lot more tools at their disposal and probably access/permissions the overseas reps do not have.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoWhat if they answer, “Good.â€
Your move 🙂
I’d probably ask what’s the Mega Ball lottery jackpot at? And if they say they don’t know or a random number I’d call them a LIAR!! There’s no such thing as Mega Ball in the US you American poser. You’ve been bamboozled.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoI got a call at 7am on a Sunday morning from someone with an accent telling me they were calling to help me with my computer. i had been sleeping. I said "What time is it right now?" I got "uh...." I said "that's what I thought". and hung up.
In Canada getting a call from someone with an accent is pretty common, we have lots of foreign reps at my work so other languages can be spoken with people who aren't very advanced in speaking English, lots of people have accents of some kind. So we don't immediately assume it's an overseas scam call by an accent, but getting a call at 7am was a bit of a tip off (plus the fact I didn't have any problems with my computer).
My former spouse used to keep the computer tech scammers on the line as long as possible. They told him to turn on the computer and do some stuff, and asked him what he was looking at. He said "a picture of my cat".
C.
broto_64
·2 years agoI am sorry but I live in the US and I would have no idea that there's no Mega Ball in the US because I don't do lottery (I don't buy lottery tickets, I don't look at them, I don't get involved, gambling isn't for me and the further I am from it the better) so if you asked me that question in an attempt to trap me you would end up wrongly judging me.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoSo to clarify the first time eBay told me not to worry and they were making them return it was not a phone call that was an automatic email sent after she somehow escalated the case.
Just now I requested a call back and I'm not sure if I can trust the advice I got or not. He did seem very confident. He said that for some reason the label was not issued originally and they only issued it yesterday when she called and escalated the case. He said that it takes a couple days for the label to actually show up for the buyer and so she called again today. He told me that the eBay representative today was wrong to ask me to send another label and that I am still covered with the label that they sent yesterday. He told me to take no further action and that it is up to her to either return the item or not.
I also did respond to the original email I got from ebay and explained that it was eBay who had issued that original label not me.
It's not even showing up as an open return right now. It's showing up as a case that is on hold for 5 days.
He wrote everything in the notes that he told me and he said if I wanted I could call back in 4 days if she hadn't mailed it back yet.
She opened the account the sams day that she bought this from me and has not purchased from anybody else. It is not an international sale.
If I genuinely thought something was wrong with it I would just refund her. I just have a gut feeling she's trying to get this for free especially because of how many I've successfully sold. Plus it was odd the way she initially communicated to me demanding a refund with very little details.
Thanks for everyone's help.
ise710
·2 years agoIt seems @sapphire_studio that you've been played, 2 reps in a row.
1. An eBay return label appears immediately
a. on the buyer's Returns page during a return request, to print, email, or download
b. when it is re/issued within the case which was escalated from a return request -- never 2 days later.
2. When an eBay return label is sent to the buyer within a case, a new deadline gives the buyer 240 clock hours (10 days) from that hour and minute it was issued to get the label in the mail.
And when tracking shows that the label was delivered/undeliverable somewhere in your area, eBay forces a refund* a few minutes later, instead of allowing you the usual 2 business days to voluntarily refund.
3. The fact that you still see the case on hold for the original 4 or 5 days indicates the buyer did not get a return label, and eBay will force a refund* with no return needed after that deadline.
*including your FVF, because it was escalated
It's not a new buyer.
nenu-5410
·2 years agoHas there been any update @sapphire_studio? Has it been mailed back yet, or is it still showing up as a case that is on hold.
sapphire_studio
OP2 years agoI reached out to the buyer explaining the situation and asking if they had a label and it is crickets from them. The eBay representative that answered my email told me to send a label. I don't even know where to put the label there doesn't seem to be any place maybe because it's a open case and not an open return. I answered the email back and asked for more clarification regarding what the two phone reps told me and I got another response that really was very canned telling me to send the label and Report them. I will call today to talk to somebody else about all of this.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoBuy a label from pirateship @sapphire_studio and send it through eBay messages. Then reply to the email from CS and send them a copy of the label, send them a screenshot of the eBay message where you send the label to the buyer, and ask them to add the tracking number to the return.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoAh, the old “I wrote all these notes into this call so anyone who talks to you about this can read them†line huh. I get skeptical with that, but what can you do when eBay has all the power here?
Many times I call back and ask about the issue even by giving them the SR call number for the agent to look up so I don’t have to repeat myself to bring that agent up to speed, and they end up responding “I don’t see any notes attached to this issue. So how can I help, explain everything to me.†or “All I see is a note written here that says ‘seller has a return postage issue’ and nothing more.â€
That makes me wonder what actually happened? Did my initial CS rep lie to me about writing detailed notes, or did this latter rep lie to me about actually looking up the SR call number to read the notes?
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoI work with legal matters, and at my job if that's all the note taking that was done on a call, reps would be fired. (And there is high turnover in our call center, I used to fill in there when they were short staffed). Recording stuff is very important (and they do tape all calls, and listen to them too... at my work).
C.
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoSee, by what you just said I'm positive your previous job wasn't with ebay. 😀
I swear there was a point in time that when agents told me that, I'd ask them to read back to me what they wrote in the notes just to make sure we're on the same page. And the ones who would say "We're not authorized to do that" I'm like riiiiiiiight, okay sure.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoI got a call once from a crazy who told me to look up his file and "read the notes" to him. I said we're not doing that. (Actually what I say is "It doesn't work that way"). I found out quickly who the caller was, and the caller has his own lawyer, which means we don't have to talk to him. So I'm free to tell him to call his lawyer and hang up on him. (BTW, the reason I called him crazy is because on the previous call he had with us, he was threatening self harm and we had to do a report on him, he was calling back to see if we recorded all that stuff from the previous call). It's one of the few times we passed a call off to a manager since they're trained to handle these situations.
C.
orangehound
·2 years agoI had the same thing happen before with a customer - that is, for some reason they could not access the return shipping label, and eBay was clueless how to help them.
I just got a label on PirateShip and uploaded a PDF of it to the eBay return. The customer eventually returned the item with the label I provided.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoWhat would I do so I can continue with my every day routines?
Just do a full refund and block the buyer.
Won't get a "ding" on your account. If eBay does the refund you will.
Losing 50 bucks means I have to sell more....just my own opinion.
Why would you want something back opened? And pay for return shipping?
It's just a bad buyer perhaps...and would you actually get what you mailed?
Plus...usually doing a refund the buyer usually leaves no feedback vs. the negative.
Give a buyer the runaround and we can assume it will not be a positive feedback.
gurlcat
·2 years agoWhat is the minimum $ amount you would consider worth interrupting your every day routine? -Asking for my scammer friends.
broto_64
·2 years agoAny amount, any sale, if there's a scam I'm going after it.
Yes sir, that's not even a question, in fact I'm surprised you'd ask.
gurlcat
·2 years agoOh me too .... but ...... I didn't ask (you), LOL. I was asking the person who said they'd just give a scammer $50.
I know this is going to sound high-and-mightly, virtue signaling, etc. but I wouldn't feel right letting a scammer achieve their goal not just because of the money, but to make them think twice about scamming the next seller. Frankly I always find the "refund and move on" advice pretty cavalier and shortsighted. ESPECIALLY when the OP was clearly asking for a way to avoid refunding. Note in this^ case the replier literally changed the question to "What would I do so I can continue with my everyday routines?" -Uh, nope, that's not what the OP asked at all. Also the implied suggestion that $50 is a trivial amount of money is .... well never mind. Suffice it to say, surely every seller has some amount of money that would hurt too much to just let a scammer have, so that's what I was asking about.
kako_5344
·2 years agoOnce a return has been accepted and a return label issued, the buyer does not have a button to escalate. Instead, they have to fabricate a reason why they cannot use the label when they contact eBay.
This buyer for example pretending that the post office won't take a First-Class RETURN SERVICE label weighing over 16 ounces (the limit is 70 pounds) but eBay has to take the buyer at their word, put the case on hold, and write telling the seller to arrange the return for the refund.
The buyer knows that eBay cannot monitor whether this has happened, since the seller will be, for example, sending a prepaid return label by email, which eBay cannot see. eBay is depending on the buyer to voluntarily tell eBay that they got a satisfactory label. Instead, the buyer will go silent, the deadline passes, and eBay will force the refund.
So it's vital that you reply to that eBay message, saying that you've issued that label (get that at Pirate or here) along with that tracking number, to stop that clock.
ittybitnot
·2 years ago@kako_5344
Interesting insight. Thank you!
ittybitnot
·2 years ago... and eBay said for me not to worry about it they were going to make her ship it back before I refund.
@sapphire_studio
If you contacted eBay via chat or call back, you cannot really trust what those people tell you. Following their advice can often lead to worse problems, especially when they tell you to do "nothing" and they will make the buyer send it back. . Seems to me, if "there was a problem with the label" eBay ought to send it again, or send another one. But that is just being logical, which is not always an eBay attribute when confusion arises.
There is a chance if the first label is not used, you may not be charged for it, but I would hesitate to purchase another on your own dime. Can you even do that on eBay through the case? Was this perhaps an international sale? Did you ask the buyer what was wrong with the label that was auto sent?
Best bet would be to contact eBay via one of their social media platforms. One is to use the blue message button on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness
It puts you in contact with actual eBay employees based in the US who have the authority to take care of business. (You may wish to post late at night tomorrow or early Monday morning for the best results). Explain as you have here, and see what they say. In the meantime it is best NOT to let your new deadline expire if you don't get instant results.
I am not certain, but if it comes down to it, you can purchase a return label on Pirateship that won't be charged to you unless it is used. They have good customer service that can advise you and do save a copy of the download should you pursue that route.
Lots of out of the ordinary glitches around here the past few days, so there is really no telling what is actually going on. If you find out, do come back and let us know in case the problem surfaces again.
lakefor94
·2 years ago"you can purchase a return label on Pirateship that won't be charged to you unless it is used."
When I buy from PirateShip, they charge my credit card right away and if they label goes unused, I would have to go back into PirateShip and void the label. They do allow more than 5 Days but I can't remember exactly how long.
@sapphire_studio
I agree that after sending the label thru eBay messages to contact eBay thru Facebook and have them verify you sent the label and to update the case.
lakefor94
·2 years agoYou only get charged for the eBay label if it is used. I would buy my own label on Pirateship and see if I could upload it to the case and also send it to the buyer in eBay messages.