Buyer says cannot return due to Covid restrictions

[fabulous_fragrance]

I humbly ask for your opinions please. My buyer says the product she received is no longer good (doubtful, but slightly possible if it sat somewhere & got baked for days since it is lotion) but says she cannot return it because of Covid quarantine restrictions. She is in Armenia. USPS hasn’t shipped to Armenia for awhile because of Covid issues so it’s at least plausible that she cannot ship it back.

What would you do? How do I respond? I do not get many returns, but I have always required the product back as most of the time it is not defective at all.

[jayjaspersgarage]

1.  How much did it cost you?  Refund and move on.

2.  Stop selling to foreign countries.

[dbfolks166mt]

     So how did you get it to Armenia??  It may be that the return shipping would cost you more to have it returned even if they could, which I suspect they can, than the product is worth. If she filed an actual SNAD case through eBay and the product is worth paying the return shipping on I would hold your ground and demand the return of the product. There is good probability the buyer may be phishing and you will never hear from them again.

     Add to your BBL for sure and as suggested you may want to review the foreign countries you are willing to sell to. China, Russia and the rest of the FSU (which is where Armenia falls) are on the top of my do not sell to, ship to or buy from countries. 

[48hrs-clothing]

IMHO you have the following obvious choices.

If item was delivered to buyer more than 30 days ago and you believe your buyer and you don't want the item back then refund.

If item was delivered to buyer more than 30 days ago and you don't believe your buyer then you either ignore her messages or tell her that as per eBay's policies return period has elapsed.

If item was delivered to buyer less than 30 days ago and you believe your buyer and you don't want the item back then refund.

If item was delivered to buyer less than 30 days ago and you don't believe your buyer and you want the item back at your expense then ask buyer to get a quote for sending the item back and then open a return case, you send buyer the money to cover return cost and on receipt of returned item you issue a refund.

I am a seller and I would adhere to eBay's return policy of 30 days from date of receipt.

You know your product better than anyone else and if you believe it is possible for item to get badly effected and become un useable if it is not kept in suitable conditions including temperature then I would issue a refund to cover the price of item.

The fact that you have posted on this forum to me shows that you are a responsible seller and you would make the right decision for your business as well as for your customers.

[caldreamer]

If customer open return stating "defective" you are responsible for paying "return postage".   Better for you to just return money. 

[chapeau-noir]

I would just refund and move on - these are strange times, and even if she could ship it back, being shuffled in and out of cargo holds and baking on tarmac in airports will do no good for most beauty products and it would be costly. We just have to be flexible - I had to quit shipping overseas due to problems like this. 

[titipeo]

No country is 100% locked to the point they can't ship/mail anything. I call that **bleep** with capital B & S. 

If they got the item, it can be shipped back. You need to determine if this is worth it to you. I'm with @48hrs-clothing except, if under 30 days I still wouldn't refund. Let the buyer file the claim. They could be trying to get a free one on you. Since you already will loose, make them work for it. 

[nocoolnamejane]

Did you ship to Armenia or to the US?

[fabulous_fragrance]

Thank you everyone for the variety of responses. They are about what I expected. I do not want to simply refund and move on, but it is certainly the least tedious solution. Given the possibility that she is not lying about the state of the product, refunding is probably what I will do.

No official case has been opened, just messages at this time.

The package was shipped via a freight forwarder. I only ship directly to a select group of countries. I stopped shipping internationally last spring due to Covid, but recently started up again. In this case it wouldn’t have mattered since the shipping address provided was domestic.

[mkaczorsee]

A freight forwarder?  I think this voids the MBG. 

[vintagecraze50]

I would be concerned that this would become the new normal for scam buyers to use COVID restrictions as an excuse to get free items. And we certainly do not need another risk factor on here when there are so many other one’s to deal with.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@fabulous_fragrance wrote:

Thank you everyone for the variety of responses. They are about what I expected. I do not want to simply refund and move on, but it is certainly the least tedious solution. Given the possibility that she is not lying about the state of the product, refunding is probably what I will do.

No official case has been opened, just messages at this time.

The package was shipped via a freight forwarder. I only ship directly to a select group of countries. I stopped shipping internationally last spring due to Covid, but recently started up again. In this case it wouldn’t have mattered since the shipping address provided was domestic.

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With it being a freight forwarder I actually would not just refund.