Concerning Returns. Is there any reason to even bothering to dispute them?

[faithfashionfriends]

I had a return on Friday. The most ridiculous one yet. A lady opened a return saying my Coldwater Creek pants didn't have spandex in them. Pic#4 clearly showed a pic of the tag showing 4% Spandex in the pants. BTW I had No Returns on this listing. So I called Ebay that day and asked if there was anyway to go ahead an just close the return knowing that probably wasn't going to happen. They told me that I had to wait until 3 business days. They told me to call back on Wednesday. Well I guess you know where this is going. I go the SR# of of the call for evidence of what they told me do. I messaged the woman politely and told her to check pic#4 and see that the tag was displaying the Spandex clearly on the pants. She admitted that the tag said it,but still said the "Seller" was misrepresenting the pants and that it wasn't as described because she just wanted to return them and some other very confusing stuff I couldn't figure out. I think she thought Coldwater was a person and Creek was his last name. Who knows. Anyway,I got up Wednesday morning  you probably know what happened. The returned already closed in the Buyer's favor at 1:30am that day. Know way I could have called Ebay any sooner or done anything to prevent it because I had to wait 3 working days. Come to find out Ebay has a Buyer Protection and even though I had No Returns on this listing and my item WAS  as described perfectly the lady won the Return. You know I was mad because it was the most ridiculous return I have even heard of.  Luckily I got an agent to file an appeal,but it still didn't work. The Buyer is always right on Ebay. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me when I had a clear case of Buyer's Remorse and the Buyer wins a case.  So do we even bother to dispute a return or just give them their money back and forget about it?😓

[mtgraves7984]

"Come to find out Ebay has a Buyer Protection..."

@faithfashionfriends 

And in answer to your question... it's best not to fight them. eBay's Money Back Guarantee has a buyer's back.

Moving forward, know to be proactive so that you won't get any 'dings'. All you have left to save is your Seller Metrics.

[12345jamesstamps]

When I have a resolution for an item not as described I usually respond to the person before responding to the resolution. We have a number of days before responding to the resolution. I try to see if the buyer emails me back as to what the problem is and what solution to take. If I get no response I usually think they just want a refund. I make them wait a day before the refund is due in the resolution which means they will not get their refund right away and I feel good making them wait for a refund. But I do refunds because buyer usually always win anyway. At least I have the satisfaction of making them wait longer for the refund.

Always be polite and business-like when communicating with the buyer.

I refunded one buyer and he got mad...he didn't want a refund...he wanted the item lost in the mail.

I sent another one free and never heard from them about the second one sent.

Again, This is what I do and there are other suggestions from people here you can use.

[faithfashionfriends]

Seller Metrics? LOL. I have done everything perfectly. They refuse to promote me to Top Seller. Something as simple as USPS losing your package can mess up your Seller Metrics. Is that what your talking about? If you mean selling items. I am 30% above last year's sales already. No problem with that. My 12 years on Ebay and 30 years of retail clothing experience helps me with so much on Ebay. I just think Ebay needs to change their Return Policy. I am not the only one who thinks this of course. Thanks for your input. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

Experience in 'clothing' should tell you that you need to except returns. Buyers will just force it on you using SNAD and that hurts your metrics. Lost packages don't occur nearly as often as someone may want to return a piece of clothing. 

Just about everyone selling clothing (not here) excepts them. 

[faithfashionfriends]

I am quoting my message to the Buyer the first day of the refund," Could you so kindly check pic#4. Thank you!" I couldn't be kinder and more professional. The fact is the lady's return was ridiculous and it was so funny it was even hard to message her,but I did my best to keep my composure. Ebay commended me on my message. 

[faithfashionfriends]

Actually I worked for MGR. If you ever heard of that company. They consisted of Merry-Go-Round and Dejaiz. They had a No Returns policy. I loved it! Man it was a great company. They matched your 401K!

[powell-memorabilia]

Twelve years on eBay, and just two clear-cut buyer's remorse forced returns.  Seems to me that you shouldn't stress about an unfortunate buyer once every six years.  Seriously - save your sanity, your time, and your energy.

[faithfashionfriends]

BTW. I have to let you know I did reach Escalations in the American Call Center later tonight and she actually overturned the decision. It happens sometimes. I got my money back. So happy. The reason? I had listed my item perfectly describing it by showing the tag which had the 4% Spandex label on it. Also in the Buyer's message she agreed that my tag was right and just said she wanted to still return the item anyway. Ebay was fair in their new decision. So maybe it is worth it to fight if your doing your job right. 

[faithfashionfriends]

Not true. My returns are .001% I have about 1 return per 500 sales. That is pretty low. The key to low return is good product description and listing measurements if your selling clothes. Something very few sellers do. I can't figure out why Sellers insist on not listing measurements. It does take more time to list,but the returns are almost nonexistent except for freaks such as this lady. That is the only returns I ever get. 

[powell-memorabilia]

well done 🙂

[faithfashionfriends]

I love sending my Buyers free stuff. Your right about just making the Buyers happy. That isn't popular too much in today's retail world. My feedback is 100% for that very reason. I see we have about the same amount of feedback so I we have about the same time on Ebay. I only fight a few scuffles when I feel there was absolutely no reason for a return such as this instance. Good thing is I did finally win in the end,but it took about 3 calls to finally get the answer I was looking for. $24 is a good sale. 

[simba6]

Bottom line, no.

Just add some to all your prices to cover such loss.  It's just another cost of doing business.

[kensgiftshop]

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@faithfashionfriends wrote:

BTW. I have to let you know I did reach Escalations in the American Call Center later tonight and she actually overturned the decision. It happens sometimes. I got my money back. So happy. The reason? I had listed my item perfectly describing it by showing the tag which had the 4% Spandex label on it. Also in the Buyer's message she agreed that my tag was right and just said she wanted to still return the item anyway. Ebay was fair in their new decision. So maybe it is worth it to fight if your doing your job right. 

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Depends on how you look at it.

Myself, I want my customers happy and returning.

I wouldn't make them keep something they don't want.

[bbravo65]

(quote from your words...)

"...except for freaks such as this lady..."

...I hope that the "lady" you mentioned on your quote didn't get into this Community forum to read what you called her..."freak"...

...store shopping probably better when buying clothes as physical visions (seeing, touching, trying) plus 30 to 90 days (JCP/90days) hassle-free return window...