How am I supposed get return shipping refunded? Ebay support doesn't help.

[tomtot-o2d2jxt8ja]

Hello.

I recently bought a graphics card on German eBay and it turned out to be defective on arrival. I requested a refund and sent the item back. I did get refunded what I initially paid, but the problem is I had to pay the shipping back out of my own pocket.  When trying to make return shipping label I kept getting an error "Sorry we're not able to process the label at this time, please try again later."

After sending back the item I sent a screenshot of my PayPal transaction (I paid for shipping with PayPal) to seller expecting to be refunded what I initially paid for the item + the shipping costs. Well, I did get a refund for the item itself but not shipping.

I then emailed eBay support and got an answer to use "Free returns" service from PayPal and to click on a link to activate the service. Well, when opening the link it said there they don't accept new requests because service will not be provided after 27th of November. Fair enough. They also said they contacted seller about this.

I write another email explaining I can't use that service and the answer I received was "Thank you very much for your message. How can we help you." Confused and frustrated, I contact them again and end up getting the same answer like the first time, but this time in German.

Then I contacted seller again hoping he'd answer and he did. He said PayPal advised me to use PayPal's Free returns service and that they closed the case for him as a seller.

Realistically I'm not getting my money back, am I? eBay doesn't seem to even read my emails. Also, isn't seller supposed to cover the costs of return shipping if item is defective or damaged? Did I mess up in the process of returning the item? It was my first time experiencing all this and it really sucks that I'm out of nearly 20€ because seller didn't make sure they're selling a working product.

[soh.maryl]

eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers states that, when a buyer receives an item that's not as described (as you did), he has 30 days to open an item not as described case with eBay.  The seller is then required to send him a PREPAID RETURN SHIPPING LABEL.  When he receives that label, he returns the defective item to the seller and the seller is required to refund him his total payment.  If, as appears in your case, the seller was international, the seller will be required to reimburse him in advance for the return shipping.  So you missed that part when you read the MBG? 

[tomtot-o2d2jxt8ja]

Oh, so that's where return shipping label comes in I guess. I had an error with that because it kept saying "Sorry we're not able to process the label at this time, please try again later." and I didn't want to prolong anything because I was not familiar with entire return process (for the fear of missing date).

Are prepaid return shipping labels supposed to work internationally?

So I guess that's it then, I won't be seeing any refund. I'm more frustrated because of eBay's support to be honest. A simple "we can't help you anymore because you messed up in the return process" would suffice.

[lacemaker3 · Accepted solution]

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@tomtot-o2d2jxt8ja wrote:

Oh, so that's where return shipping label comes in I guess. I had an error with that because it kept saying "Sorry we're not able to process the label at this time, please try again later." and I didn't want to prolong anything because I was not familiar with entire return process (for the fear of missing date).

Are prepaid return shipping labels supposed to work internationally?

So I guess that's it then, I won't be seeing any refund. I'm more frustrated because of eBay's support to be honest. A simple "we can't help you anymore because you messed up in the return process" would suffice.

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@tomtot-o2d2jxt8ja,

Prepaid shipping labels are only available for domestic returns, not international returns. However, if the seller is responsible for the return shipping, then the buyer is supposed to work with the seller to arrange for the seller to send the funds in advance to cover the cost of the return shipping. If the seller does not cooperate with that, then eBay will refund the buyer without requiring the item to be returned.

If the buyer chooses to pay for the return themself, then eBay can't force the seller to reimburse the cost after the fact. In that case, the buyer has taken the cost and risk of the return on themselves. Unfortunately eBay doesn't explain this in the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy (they used to, but it was lost during some recent updates).

[stuff4divas]

@tomtot-o2d2jxt8ja 

Contact eBay via their social media sites with a private message:

https://Facebook.com/ebay

 AND-OR 

https://Twitter.com/askebay

Great customer service on both 

[tomtot-o2d2jxt8ja]

Your answer clarifies a lot.

So what I should've done instead before sending the item back is just wait and talk with buyer until they provided me with funds to cover the cost of shipping back I guess.

Oh well, that's what I ended up doing. Now I know better.

Thank your for answer

[soh.maryl]

"Are prepaid return shipping labels supposed to work internationally?"

I am so sorry I was not more clear in my response.  In the case of an international sale, the seller is supposed to reimburse the buyer in advance for the cost of returning the item.

[pjcdn2005]

@soh.maryl 

If, as appears in your case, the seller was international, the seller will be required to reimburse him in advance for the return shipping. So you missed that part when you read the MBG?

Perhaps you can show us where that part is stated?   I could be wrong but I'm fairly sure that there is no such statement anywhere on ebay help pages or during a return.   When a seller can't provide a return label at the time the return is accepted, the seller can check off that they can't send a label.  eBay then tells the buyer that since the seller cannot provide the label, they need to work with the seller to get a label.   Afaik that is the only information given and is not specific enough imo. 

[lacemaker3]

@pjcdn2005, I believe that is correct.

The MBG used to state explicitly, that if a buyer chose to pay for the return shipping themselves (when it was the supplier's responsibility), then eBay would not reimburse them for the cost the return shipping. I searched and searched before I replied earlier, but I couldn't find that verbiage anymore.

Other than that, I don't think there was ever a good explanation of what to do when an international return was required. In practice, we found out from experience that eBay would ask the seller and buyer to work together for the seller to pay the buyer for the return shipping, and if the buyer reported that the seller had not done that, then eBay would refund the buyer without a return. eBay CS would review the messages between buyer and seller to see what discussion had happened.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Looks like this was answered by many, but look at it this way. 

You cannot send the Steak back to the Chef if you ate the entire Steak. 

[pjcdn2005]

@lacemaker3 

That is still in there but it does not specify that the seller is supposed to reimburse the buyer before sending the item back.  

• When the seller is responsible for return shipping, the buyer must use the shipping label provided, or other return method agreed with the seller. If the buyer chooses to purchase their own label, they assume responsibility for return shipping, including the cost

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

That statement does infer that the buyer won’t be reimbursed if they pay for the label but  it does not say what the buyer should do if the seller isn’t cooperating and is not providing a label or the money.   There is very little information for both buyer and seller on what to do for an international return. And there is no ask ebay to step in link once the return has been accepted. I don’t think that it is useful or fair to suggest that a buyer should know exactly what they should have done when it really isn’t that clear.

[xadexane]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

There is very little information for both buyer and seller on what to do for an international return.

And there is no ask ebay to step in link once the return has been accepted. I don’t think that it is useful or fair to suggest that a buyer should know exactly what they should have done when it really isn’t that clear. 

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The very colorful Sony Trinitron wrote here 

-- that if a seller has accepted a return but can't provide a return label,

-- that the option to Ask eBay to step in does become available after 5 business days. 

But we know that's not true, as we just read here in another thread on this board. 

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@otoko_oidon wrote:

Yes, I started the return process 14 days ago (31 Oct).

eBay Purchase History -> "Item Arrived Damaged" -> Attached photo

And the seller accepted the return 11 days ago (03 Nov).

But the seller doesn't want to print the return label.

The seller is from my same country and the total cost was 7,11 €.

I sent him a few messages to tell him what to do, since he did not send me the return label. And since November 4, I have not received any response from him.

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Which is well over "the 5 business days a buyer is provided to upload [self-paid] tracking information/work out return shipping with the seller" as Trinitron stated, after which the Ask eBay to step in should appear.