Refunds for "Shipped" Items

[jacobfw]

A scenario I've run into several times is when items are being returned, but are marked as shipped, however the seller still has the item.  From the buyer's pov, eBay now expects me to ship the item back, which again, I can't do.   With more experienced sellers this isn't an issue, but I've had several times where the seller isn't, and it has ended up taking quite a bit longer to get things completed.

What I would like is when requesting a return let the buyer select an option indicating that the seller still has the item.  This does not have to be a hard and fast rule; if the seller has indeed shipped the item, they should be able to change it back, but it would make things faster and avoid some headaches.

An alternative suggestion is since most of the carrier's tracking apis lets you know when they have possession of the item, you could check that before requesting the buyer needs to ship the item back.  That would also help discourage lazy sellers who mark items as shipped immediately, only to sit and wait for a week or two before actually handing the item off to the carriers.

[mtgraves7984]

What I would like is when requesting a return let the buyer select an option indicating that the seller still has the item.

@jacobfw 

Agreed... you can't return an item that you don't have.

If you don't receive an item before the Estimated Delivery Date on the Order, you can open an Item Not Received claim.

Get help with an item that hasn't arrived | eBay

[kensgiftshop]

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@jacobfw wrote:

What I would like is when requesting a return let the buyer select an option indicating that the seller still has the item. 

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If the seller still has the item, why would a buyer need to file for a return?

If the buyer doesn't receive the item, they need to open an Item Not Received case.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @jacobfw 

Buyers should never file a return request before receiving the item.  I can’t figure out why they do that.  

Why did you do it … if, in fact, you did?  [It sounds like you’ve done it more than once.]

The only time one should file a return request is after the item has been delivered.

[jacobfw]

It depends.  The majority of it has been times when, as I mentioned, the seller has taken their sweet time to actually ship it.  Handful of other were times when I found out something about the item the day or so after I purchased it and discovered it wouldn't do what I needed.  The seller agreed to refund it, but they weren't very experienced with that part of the process.  Then when we try to refund it, because the item is marked as shipped, it's starts the whole "ship the item back" process.  Again, I'm fairly certain there is a way to skip it, but not all sellers know that.

So the real issue here is that ebay let's sellers marked something as "shipped" when IT'S NOT SHIPPED.

"Shipped" should mean the carrier has it, not "I'm getting to it, give me a few days."

You're welcome to argue that's what it suppose to mean, but I can tell you that in practice, no it does not.

Again, the carrier api's make it really, really freaking easy to determine whether or not the carrier has the package.  I do not understand why ebay does not take advantage of this to penalize sellers, especially when they already monitor the package tracking.

[kensgiftshop]

Seller doesn't mark the item shipped, Ebay does that as soon as the seller buys a shipping label through Ebay.

Why should the seller be penalized for something that Ebay does?

[house*of*paws]

@jacobfw 

Thank you for the information.

It sounds like you’re incorrectly filing ‘return requests’ when you want to have the transaction CANCELLED.   That completely messes up any attempt for a refund.

You should file a ‘return request’ ONLY when you have the item in your hand.

You can file an ‘Item not received’ claim after the estimated delivery date has passed.

You have been improvising/ using the return request for reasons it wasn’t intended for.  I’m sorry, but eBay isn’t likely to revamp its policies (or reality) so that you can ‘return’ items you haven’t received yet.  

We all need to follow eBay’s rules as written.  You are expecting sellers to do what they haven’t been given the tools to do.

[jacobfw]

You're right; I should be able to request a cancellation. 

But there's one, teeny tiny problem with that

!!! I CAN'T WHEN THE ORDER IS MARKED AS SHIPPED !!!

This is the whole problem.  The item is marked as shipped when the seller still has it.

Again, Ebay has all the information at it's disposal to NOT do it.

The Carrier's tracking api's provide an indication of when they have the item.

Which means that seller's can buy the label (which as I understand it they don't get charged for until they actually hand it off to the carrier) and then just NOT do anything for several days or a week or more as I indicated in my original post) but if I want to cancel it, it suddenly turns into this whole ordeal because ebay is making that one simple mistake.

I don't understand why that is so controversial.  Again, ebay does not have to do that.  They do not have to mark the item as shipped preemptively. 

[house*of*paws]

Hi again,

[I just happened to see that you replied to a post I made 5-6 months ago.  If you want someone to see a post ... we have to be 'tagged' by using the @ symbol ... and then clicking on the name of the person you're trying to reach.]

>>  You're right; I should be able to request a cancellation. 

But there's one, teeny tiny problem with that

!!! I CAN'T WHEN THE ORDER IS MARKED AS SHIPPED !!!  <<

That's correct.  You can only request a cancellation if a shipping label hasn't been created.  BUT that's not the point.

When a shipping label has been created ... you need to file an 'Item not received' claim as soon as the Estimated Delivery Date has passed.  Tracking has to show 'Delivered' for the seller to win that claim.  

Filing 'Return requests' is STILL the wrong claim to file.  Expecting eBay to change it's policies and algorithms so that you can file a return request just because you want to makes no sense to me.

I have experienced all of the problems you write about at least once in my 20 years of buying on eBay ... and I've always been able to receive a refund.  It's important to learn how to use the tools we are given ... rather than expecting eBay to change them just because they are confusing to us. 

I started coming here to the Community for help shortly after I joined ... and got all my questions answered quickly and accurately.  [I haven't contacted eBay's Customer Service for over 15 years.]  The Community can be a little snarky at times ... but I consider that a small price to pay for fast and accurate answers to questions.

SO ... are you going to continue arguing with us ... or would you like help in understanding exactly what you need to do when a seller creates a label, but doesn't ship?   We don't file a 'return request' AND we don't file a 'cancellation'.  We file an 'Item not received' claim.

It really IS easy to get refunded if we know what to do.   🙂