Am I completely missing something, or does my approach help frivilous returns go away?

[caseypl]

I see other sellers telling people that if they don't allow a return, Ebay steps in, refunds the buyer, and then they get a defect. Hasn't happened to me yet. There are a couple returns I've allowed or just issued a refund for an allegedly damaged in shipping item.

But there were a couple silly return cases opened. One was where a buyer claimed a red tail light was not red. Rather than panic and assume the worst since a NAD case was opened I simply asked the buyer through the return section what they meant by it not being red? No response. Case closed after 30 days. No refund was automatically given by Ebay to the buyer. No negative feedback. No chargeback. 

So I kind of feel an obligation to point out this side of the coin when I see others advising sellers that once a NAD case is opened, it's all over. It's not. Don't panic. 

[itscalledapostingid]

I suspect the taillight return was opened for a reason other than NAD or it was opened after more than 30 days.

[baydistributionllc]

That entitled garbage counts on your service metrics and can never be removed.

You will notice a fee hike when you get too many.

If you get abused with too many abusive requests, completed or not, ebay will come abuse you some more with higher fees.