Advice on How to Deal with an Unresponsive Customer

[thearizonaconnoisseur]

Hello eBay community, I'm looking for advice on how to go about this. I have an issue with a customer that is not answering any messages regarding a partial refund.

Long story...shor...well actually pretty long. I sold an item to a customer that had issues being delivered with USPS and the item was refused at pickup for some reason. Customer claims he never refused it and the package low and behold was sent back to me after some time. After contacting eBay support they said that a system error caused the package to be refused at the time of delivery. I offered to send it back to him once I received the item, however he refused and stated he needed it in a timely manner. So the customer requested a refund. I agreed to a partial refund being sent for the purchase price, however the customer will still have to cover the original shipping costs.

So I go forward with the refund process, however eBay only offers full refunds. So in order to do the partial refund I start the full refund through eBay. Let the customer know that I've done so and he thanks me. I sent a message notifying him that I agreed to start the refund process, however for a partial refund to be issued he would have to accept the refund and pay an invoice for the original shipping amount. In the end the customer would have his purchase price back but he will still have to cover the original shipping cost.

This is the current issue I'm having. After contacting the customer several times and explaining the situation as well as sending reminders to pay the shipping invoice I've heard nothing from him. The customer hasn't replied to any of my messages and I'm out $11 for the shipping cost. I've contacted eBay support about this situation however since it's a private party issues eBay can't get involved.

What action would I be able to take in this situation or am I SOL?

Thanks in advance!

[thallidguy]

If you shipped before the buyer paid you, there's not much anybody can do for you except cross their fingers along with you that the buyer is honest. That's why you shouldn't ship until you are properly paid.

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wrote:

I sold an item to a customer that had issues being delivered with USPS and the item was refused at pickup for some reason. Customer claims he never refused it and the package low and behold was sent back to me after some time. After contacting eBay support they said that a system error caused the package to be refused at the time of delivery.

An error in whose system?? USPS? At that point, eBay has absolutely nothing to do with it. It could be that USPS tried to deliver it to the wrong address so the people there refused it?

Anyway, fyi, when a package is refused (whether rightly or wrongly) the buyer loses buyer protection and has no recourse against you under the Money Back Guarantee. Just FYI.

[thearizonaconnoisseur]

Thanks for the response. The item was paid for before I shipped it. I made sure of that as with all sales. I'm having a problem with the buyer communicating with me after a refund has been issued. As I agreed to a partial refund not a full refund. The buyer recieved the full refund from eBay since that was the only way to issue a refund. So an invoice has been sent to him for the original shipping cost that he has not paid and I fear is ignoring. Not sure what action to take here or if I'm SOL?

[partial*eclipse · Accepted solution]

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wrote:

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 ... I agreed to start the refund process, however for a partial refund to be issued he would have to accept the refund and pay an invoice for the original shipping amount....

You are SOL.  Why would the buyer bother to pay that postage invoice??

You could have issued a partial refund through the original PayPal transaction.  As noted in the other post, the  buyer protection policy doesn't cover packages that were refused (except for a couple of specific reasons that didn't apply here).

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

[coolections]

If it was a postal error and the buyer did not refuse the package then you have no right to keep the postage cost the buyer paid. That is most likely why the buyer is not responding. What did the PO say about it since it sounds like someone knows it was an error ?

[thearizonaconnoisseur]

Dang wish I knew that sooner. I thought the only way to issue a refund was through eBay, which only allows for a full refund to be issued. I was also told to go that route by eBay support. Thanks for letting me know. Will use PayPal directly to issue a partial refund next time. Thanks for your help.

[partial*eclipse]

Sorry I had to deliver bad news.  Next time you have a question, come here and talk to actual ebay users, instead of calling customer support.

[thearizonaconnoisseur]

Going to do that from now on. From all the times I've called customer support they have either mislead me or given me incorrect answers.

[chrysylys]

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wrote:

After contacting eBay support they said that a system error caused the package to be refused at the time of delivery.!

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The correct thing to do is refund the buyer in full and take it up with the PO regarding any possible refund for the postage.