Buyer abusing money back guarantee

[mtbanana10]

I sold an item on Sunday, December 19. I shipped it the morning of Monday, December 20 via USPS Priority Mail. There was a carrier delay of a few days, and instead of arriving before Christmas, it arrived on December 27.

The day after Christmas, the buyer left negative feedback and then demanded a refund. I refused since they hadn't even received the item yet. That's where things stood until yesterday, when they requested a refund under the eBay money back guarantee - they selected the reason that the item was defective/didn't match the description. However, in the text field, they said it's because the item arrived after Christmas. They have not at any point actually claimed the item was defective or different from the description.

EBay decided the case in the buyer's favor and is allowing the return. I'll be out approximately $75 for shipping both ways.

I don't understand why the return is being allowed. The listing clearly stated no returns. The delivery estimate in the listing was just that, an estimate, not a guarantee. The buyer never let me know they needed the item by Christmas, or asked about shipping options with a guaranteed delivery date. I did everything in my power as a seller to complete the transaction to the buyer's satisfaction. The only problem was the carrier delay of about three days.

EBay customer service gave me no options as a seller. The only thing I can do is report the buyer for abusing the money back guarantee, but they said that won't change anything with this transaction, just prevent the buyer from doing this to other sellers in the future.

I'm an occasional seller and have never had any issues with a transaction before. I don't understand why eBay is allowing this return. Do I have any recourse or do I just have to eat the $75 in shipping costs because of a brief carrier delay outside of my control?

[lady_madonna]

@mtbanana10 

You are between a rock and a hard place.

When a buyer files the Return Request specifying >>"they selected the reason that the item was defective/didn't match the description."<< , you are required to accept the Return Request, <begrudgingly> provide a prepaid return shipping label and <begrudgingly> refund upon receiving the returned item.

Your "no returns" policy only refers to instances of buyers remorse.

This has nothing to do with the shipping delay, but this is one buyer that knows the ropes and knew they could file the "Not as described" dispute in order to receive a refund.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[mtbanana10]

So any buyer on literally any item can do this and get away with it? Is there no way to appeal eBay's decision on the case to allow the return? Again, customer service was quite unhelpful in explaining anything.

[wooden_flower]

Just to add to what @lady_madonna  already described, late arrival is covered under not as described in the money back guarantee, if the item arrived after the latest estimated delivery date.

See special cover and exclusions when the item doesn't match the listing -

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

[mtbanana10]

Thanks for your reply. I had no clue delivery outside the estimated window qualified as "item not as described". That's honestly pretty nuts.

In this era of carrier delays being extremely common, since sellers have no control over that OR the delivery date estimate, how does one avoid losing money constantly in situations like this?

I was trying to make some extra money for bills by selling something. Instead, I basically paid $75 to go through a bunch of stress and have my perfect feedback record tanked, through absolutely no fault of my own, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Why on earth does anyone sell on eBay knowing this can happen?