How do I refund when a case is opened??

[ergsales808]

I sold an item on April 5th. Shipped it April 6th. Supplied tracking number. The item made it to Florida's but since April 14th there hasn't been any progress. The tracking shows 'in transit, arriving late'. The buyer opened a case on April 21st because she has not received the item. I was going to refund the money but eBay won't allow me to because there is an open case until May 1st. I tried looking for a link to contact eBay that I would like to refund the buyer but I can't find one. I'm new to selling and don't want this to go against me. Especially since I'm trying to resolve it but I can't. Help!

[supercharger-parts]

If you go to the case, is there a "refund buyer" button.  You can't do it from outside of the case, but I believe you can from the case.   Just curious what the last tracking scan was.

[ergsales808]

My mistake. The case is 'on hold' so I can't refund. The refund button isn't there anymore. The last tracking scan was 4/14 & updated as 'in transit, arriving late'. It was scanned at a USPS regional facility on 4/10.

[dnasilver]

Depending on where it is going in Florida and how it was shipped, there could be major delays. Florida had historic flooding which could have hit a distribution center. Certainly, the person in Florida would have been aware of the excessive rainfall.

[ergsales808]

It went to the regional center in Miami first class.