Refused package

[theoverflowingcart]

Hey guys,

This is a first for me so I'm hopeful that you have some suggestions. I sent a priority flat rate envelope to my customer. Shipping was free on the listing, since nothing is actually free-I paid ship costs thru eBay shipping. She refused the package claiming they were trying to collect additional postage from her upon delivery. I have spoken with USPS and there is no record of them attempting to collect from her. The package is on its way back to me and of course I won't get a call back from USPS for 3 days. Am I supposed to eat the shipping I paid to send this package? She wanted me to resolve and reship..... 

[lacemaker3 · Accepted solution]

@theoverflowingcart

The eBay Money Back guarantee says:

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Generally, the buyer is responsible for accepting the item when it arrives. If the buyer refuses delivery, their claim is not eligible for the eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Exceptions:

• The buyer can provide, via written proof from the carrier, that they refused the package because it arrived empty or was damaged in shipping.

• The buyer accepted and opened the package only to determine that it was an empty box.

• The item arrived COD because it didn't have enough postage on it.

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I think this should show up on the tracking scans when you view the tracking history. There should also be stamps on the package showing the COD amount that was requested. However, if she wants you to reship it, then it doesn't seem likely that she is just trying to get out of the purchase because of buyer's remorse.

If the tracking history shows nothing, then wait and see what is on the package when you receive it back. If it was COD, then you should apologise and reship it. If there's no evidence of postage due, then you can ask her to pay for the reshipping, and if she doesn't want to, then you can cancel and give a partial refund from PayPal. They will refund the 2.9% fee, but eBay doesn't give a final value fee credit for partial refunds, so you should take that 10% fee into account.

As long as the package wasn't overweight (over 70 lbs), and you put the correct flat rate postage for that size of envelope (not the postage for a variable rate PM package), then it seems unlikely that there would be postage due. The only thing I could think of would be if you used an express mail envelope instead of a priority mail envelope, some of them are about the same size.

If there's anything unusual in the tracking history, post back here and let us know.