How can I tell if Ebay paid the refund or the Seller paid?

[doll-lover10]

I purchased a doll and when I received it the seller had swapped the hands on the doll before shipping to me.  When I contacted the seller they said they meant to put it in the description but forgot and they would try to pay me in a week once they got paid again.  I opened a case and the seller's response was they did not accept returns or refunds.  That evening I was refunded the complete amount doll+shipping+taxes.   Now the seller is saying they want me to return the doll.  They say they were the one that paid.  I want to make sure they paid and not Ebay.  I have very low trust in this person who would swap parts without telling the buyer and ship out.  thank you

[stephenmorgan]

If you ask for a return and seller does not respond then eBay can give you a refund and they will get he money from the seller.

Did eBay not notify you of the refund and what to do with item?

[doll-lover10]

Hello, thank you for responding.  No Ebay did not contact me.  I did not receive any instructions from Ebay to return the item or an option to print a label.  The case just said Refunded and return closed.  The seller then reach out to me and asked me to contact Ebay which I did NOT.  

[lacemaker3 · Accepted solution]

@doll-lover10,

It sounds like you opened a case for Not as Described, which was correct. When that happens, you are entitled to a refund, and if the seller doesn't give it to you voluntarily, then eBay will give it to you and charge the seller for it. They do occasionally give a courtesy refund (without charging the seller) but they don't usually do that in a straightforward case like this.

If the seller wants to get the item back, then they should accept the return and wait for the item to be shipped back before they refund. In this situation, eBay will give you a prepaid return shipping label, in the case, and wait until the item is returned to the seller for them to make the refund.

I'm not sure of the timing in your case, but either the seller made a mistake and chose to give a refund right away (not realizing that means that the doll won't be returned) or the seller did nothing, and eBay stepped in because of that. When eBay has to step in because the seller didn't accept the return, they assume that the seller doesn't want the doll back, and just give the refund.

So, the seller was supposed to provide a prepaid return shipping label if they wanted the doll back. They didn't do that, so eBay just refunded your payment, rather than make the seller pay for the return shipping as well. Your seller doesn't have very much feedback (37 received as a seller), but they are not a complete newbie. This looks like the seller made a mistake, but they should have known that "no returns" doesn't apply if the item was not described correctly, and that they are responsible when they make a mistake like that.

Yes, the seller had to pay for the refund you got. And they were supposed to pay for the return shipping, if they wanted the doll back. At this point, if it were me, I would send the doll back only if the seller pays for the return shipping upfront. It's what they were supposed to do. But there's no way for them to do that through eBay, so you would have to give the seller your PayPal email address, and tell them how much it would cost you to send it back. If you are comfortable doing that, then you could make that offer to the seller. But I would not pay for the return shipping yourself, or expect the seller to pay you back for it after the doll is sent back.

[doll-lover10]

Thank you so very much for this detailed information.  I've been bombarded with emails from this seller to contact Ebay for a shipping label, request to open the case, etc.  I finally received a return label from the seller this morning and will run to the post office.  Thanks again for your and everyone else's help!!