eBay forced me (buyer) to pay for Return Shipping for a defected Item Not Described claim

[surfingagent]

I opened a return because the item I received was defective and not the same as described from the photos, but the seller was only offering me partial refund which I declined.  I escalated it to a claim because I want to return for a full refund.   The Seller told eBay he would “send me funds” for me to buy my own shipping label.  Now eBay writes to me saying “Seller choose to send you funds, and they did get in touch with you and ask for your email address. We highly recommend you to provide your PayPal address in order for the seller to issue the funds needed to return the item back.”

The problem is when I send my email address in an eBay message, it tells me “We can’t send your message because it may include contact info. We review all messages and repeat attempts could lead to an account restriction.
{e178493-1112478x}” eBay prohibits sending an email in a message so how can the seller send me funds?

Since I didn’t hear back from the Seller after escalating to claim, I am now at the next step where eBay is telling me to “purchase a label using the funds provided by the seller you can return the item back on their registered return address. please do not forget to upload the return tracking number within 9 days. Failure to upload the tracking number will result to case closure and we won't be able to issue you a full refund.“

The Seller never intended to send me any funds to pay for a shipping label.  Why wasn’t eBay able to send me a Return Label that I could print out and use to return? I thought that was standard procedures. This is the first time eBay is saying that the Seller would PayPal me money to buy a shipping label.  What happened to the Seller paying for the shipping label and sending me the PDF to print? I’m so confused.  Furthermore, they are saying I only have 9 days.  Since this was an international sale from China, International shipping from US to China can take up to 21 days for delivery.  It seems like eBay is going to want to make a decision based on the tracking number in 9 days when the Seller most likely wouldn’t even receive the package by then.  I don’t get why eBay even has an option that allows a Seller to send funds with PayPal.   It just seems like a loophole to get out of paying for return shipping. I feel like I might not be able to return this just because I don’t want to be out $30+ for international shipping. Is there anything I can do in this situation?

[surfingagent]

@robbie31415   the seller just sent me $13 to buy the domestic shipping label.  I will refund him.  I don’t feel comfortable buying a label to a different address he provided to me in an e-mail off the eBay platform. As he can just claim he never received it on eBay and the delivered address I provide isn’t what eBay provided me with. So this could be a problem.

I’ll suggest to the seller that he can purchase the label himself to the domestic address of his choice and send me the label/PDF file to print and to message me on eBay message so it’s documented.  Otherwise the cost for me to purchase an international priority mail shipping label to the address eBay provided me still stands at $66. 

[robbie31415]

Tell the seller to try buying on pirateship.  It's a good website to buy labels, and he can just upload the pdf label to eBay messages. Then you are completely covered.

[nenu-5410]

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@surfingagent wrote:

eBay writes to me saying “Seller choose to send you funds, and they did get in touch with you and ask for your email address. We highly recommend you to provide your PayPal address in order for the seller to issue the funds needed to return the item back.”

The problem is when I send my email address in an eBay message, it tells me “We can’t send your message because it may include contact info. We review all messages and repeat attempts could lead to an account restriction.
{e178493-1112478x}” eBay prohibits sending an email in a message so how can the seller send me funds?

So just a quick update on this..

Now the seller contacted me at my paypal email that I provided and wrote “Please check how much the shipping cost to this US address” and provided me with a US address. 

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Wondering @surfingagent how did you eventually circumvent the eBay prohibits sending an email in a message?

[surfingagent]

I just wrote my username and then sent a separate message  and put at gmail so it was able to send.

[surfingagent]

I got a reminder email from eBay saying to Provide tracking details or proof of shipment by Jul 28, 2023.

is there anyway I could still be refunded if the seller never sent me funds for postage or provides proof which made me unable to ship the return back?

It’s saying if they don’t see a delivered tracking number they will close this request. 

[sdneped]

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@surfingagent wrote:

I escalated it to a claim because I want to return for a full refund.  

The Seller told eBay he would “send me funds” for me to buy my own shipping label.  

Now eBay writes to me saying “Seller choose to send you funds, and they did get in touch with you and ask for your email address. We highly recommend you to provide your PayPal address in order for the seller to issue the funds needed to return the item back.” 

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That's an eBay procedure -- for the seller to send cash via PayPal to pay for return shipping, covered in one of Trinitron's first posts. 

Back then, eBay would ask for the seller's PayPal transaction ID on that payment. Now eBay just monitors your return tracking number, and a few minutes after it says delivered anywhere in the world, eBay will release your refund from the seller.

So even if you no longer have your payment from the seller you must still upload a tracking number by (recommend well before) the deadline, as eBay won't deviate from their singular path to your refund after return.

[robbie31415]

It's actually not policy, nor is there any requirement to even have a paypal.

Maybe I'm mistaken, I gotta find in the terms buyers may be forced to send personal banking information to foreign sellers when the seller is obligated to buy a label.

This isn't a singular path, I have won this in buyer favor multiple times.

[surfingagent]

The problem is the seller is international and he doeen’t want to pay $66 for international priority mail shipping despite telling eBay he will “send me funds for postage”. So now eBay put it in my court to upload a tracking number. But I’m not gonna upload a tracking number and pay for shipping for this defective item I received so I am hoping that once past the deadline eBay can check our messages and ask for proof of payment for funds and can close the case in my favor for a full refund even though I didn’t ship it back.

[anthony7421]

 I just went through something similar where i had to even threaten to just go to my bank. The seller sent me a defective item, i then reached out to him saying hey this doesnt actually work ive tested this item in three different devices(video game) to ensure it wasnt on my end. He then accused me of lying and trying to return a different item. I had to just tell him if this isnt something we can resolve here ill go to my bank and have them handle it as this is not something that a buyer should need to go through in my opinion.

I think unfortunetly a lot of ebays automated things can be a little behind and sometimes your bank becomes your best bet 

[qeqo_0]

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@surfingagent wrote:

The problem is the seller is international and he doeen’t want to pay $66 for international priority mail shipping despite telling eBay he will “send me funds for postage”.

So now eBay put it in my court to upload a tracking number. But I’m not gonna upload a tracking number and pay for shipping for this defective item I received

so I am hoping that once past the deadline eBay can check our messages and ask for proof of payment for funds and can close the case in my favor for a full refund even though I didn’t ship it back. 

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eBay is no longer looking for a return to the address shown on the return page. Once the return is escalated 

1. eBay leaves it to the seller to "arrange for return" whatever the cost and wherever the address, and 

2. eBay will release your refund when tracking says delivered wherever the seller arranged. 

eBay assumes that "the seller works with you" and

1. does not look at communications or how the seller has "given you a way to return it" but rather

2. only looks at your tracking number to release your refund, which is currently withheld from the seller.

Upload your return tracking number, and when (meaning immediately, no delay) tracking shows the item is delivered to any (i.e. the domestic) address the seller provided, eBay will release your refund.

But if you don't return according to the escalation, you won't get a refund from eBay, not even on appeal as eBay held your refund for you pending return, then released it back to the seller. If you pursue your return with first PayPal and then your card issuer, the seller can demand that you pay for a return to China before they will issue your refund.

[surfingagent]

How can eBay know that the item shown delivered for a domestic tracking number is actually to the seller if it’s different from the international address they provided me to ship to? 

Say the seller emailed me and says “send it to this address in california” so I ship it there, upload tracking, it shows delivered. But the seller can always say “this isnt my address, it was supposed to be shipped back to china” then I would be out of my refund anyways for not shipping back to the international address provided to me. That’s why I didn’t want to ship it to a domestic address because it would be hard for me to prove that it is to the seller when he is giving me this new address outside of eBay messages.

 I would feel more comfortable had he sent an eBay message giving me the address or actually purchasing the label and uploading the PDF to me on eBay for me to print, both of which he is not showing any interest in doing.  It is obvious to me that the seller doesn’t want to pay for postage nor provide me with a return label hoping that after the deadline passes and I didn’t upload a tracking number into the eBay return case system that the seller won’t have to refund me and force me to keep his defective item.  

In the event this happens though, and eBay closes the case without refunding me because of no tracking info showing delivered, I will open up a dispute with my credit card company with all of this documentation for what I’ve been going through to hopefully have them reverse the charge. 

[rabites-n-chocobos]

"Contact Ebay on facebook.com/eBayForBusiness and let them know."

This forum is very active, why do you think we need to go to Facebook?

[an-36344]

eBay is very precise @surfingagent (and brief) during the escalated communication.

Notice that eBay says to add tracking and eBay will refund when tracking shows delivered. Sellers usually have 2 business days to refund, but eBay takes that away once they've stepped in. So you'll have your refund, before the seller can claim it wasn't delivered.

But that's not the point:

1. eBay has stepped away,

2. closed your case, and is only

3. waiting for a tracking number to show delivered.

Stepped away, meaning eBay has left you and the seller to work it out, which you can tell because eBay 

-- is not looking to confirm if the seller sent any funds as promised,

-- does not ask for a copy of your return label,

-- only wants a tracking number.

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@surfingagent wrote:

In the event this happens though, and eBay closes the case without refunding me because of no tracking info showing delivered, I will open up a dispute with my credit card company with all of this documentation for what I’ve been going through to hopefully have them reverse the charge. 

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However you have a Plan B. If you somehow don't get an instant refund when tracking shows delivered to the US address, show your card issuer the seller's instruction to return to the US address with your already-delivered US tracking, and get your refund. The seller's address in China is void (and that document is irrelevant): You have it in writing (and dated to supersede the previous address) to return to the US address.

The problem is if you don't return to the US address now and you cannot prove to your card issuer the return as the seller requested, the seller can ask your card issuer for proof of the not-yet-returned item ... and then you would actually have to pay the $66 return postage yourself, to return the item back to China.

Worse, that tracking may never show delivered, and you'll be out 1. the item, 2, your refund, 3. the return postage.

[surfingagent]

@an-36344 do you think I will be covered if I have in writing from eBay customer support saying “don’t worry if we don’t see any proof that the seller has provided you a payment for postage, we will not hesitate but to close this case within your favor and issue you a refund”

I received this response after replying to eBay’s message of asking me to send the seller my paypal email for payment for postage and I explained 

1. I never received a return shipping label to print

2. I never received any funds to pay for the shipping label as promised from the seller since I was given the 7/28 deadline to add tracking.

now that the deadline is 2 days away, it is clear to me that the seller dragged the time limit out without me being able to receive a shipping label to return the defective item, and I already made it clear that I wasn’t buying a shipping label out of my own pocket since I won’t be reimbursed for that, so it will look like I didn’t want to return it and he won’t need to refund me. I don’t really want to open a dispute with my credit card so I hope eBay can still help, the only thing is that everytime I get a response, it’s from

different customer service reps, so far over 5 different names has responded to my messages when trying to get help with getting a shipping label for this return.  

[an-36344]

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@surfingagent wrote:

@robbie31415   the seller just sent me $13 to buy the domestic shipping label.  I will refund him.  

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You did get $13, and if eBay gets wind of that, it's likely you've acted in bad faith, as eBay had instructed you and the seller to transfer the payment via PayPal, so you're writing your own instructions contrary to eBay.

Again eBay is only needing a tracking number showing delivered. They told you and the seller to work out the return yourselves, and they have no interest in both your interactions. That's the magic of escalation: eBay says what they are looking for, then they'll release your refund. 

Despite your protestations, and procrastination, you should yourself buy the label that you refunded to the seller, give eBay the tracking number, and get your refund when it is delivered.

Otherwise, you'll have very little traction when your card issuer discovers that you didn't follow eBay's instructions on some flimsy excuse, after you go there with I didn't buy the label, have no tracking number, didn't return the item, but I still want a refund.