Buyer gave me + feedback but wants refund (he "changed his mind"). I don't allow returns.What to do?

[jaymalkin]

I shipped a delicate vintage electronic amplifier to the winning bidder who received it and gave me a Positive Feedback.  Now, he wants to return it (the only reason is that he "changed his mind").   I have a No Return policy since these items are delicate and will get damaged if not packed correctly should a buyer try to return it.   It takes me a long, long time to pack items like this and I don't think that I should have to accept his return request.

By the way, I'm in the US and the buyer is a "freight forwarder" acting on behalf of a person in Japan.  Apparently, the person in Japan "changed his mind" as mentioned above.   I don't ship outside the US, but many buyers of vintage electronics in Asia use "forwarding companies" based in the US  (the forwarding company buys the item, you ship it to the US address, and then the forwarding company ships it to the person in Japan who pays them for it).   I have no idea if the item is still in the US or if it actually made its way to Japan.   I don't accept refunds on vintage electronics just because of situations like this.   Are there any risks if I simply decline the refund?  Again, I already have positive feedback on this item.

[phcd1]

Decline the return, EZPZ. Once the item was reshipped using a "freight forwarder", all eBay MBG claims are null and void. Keep any eBay messages for at least 180 days from them just in case they try a SNAD claim or try and return it through PayPal.

[bubbleman2010]

Just telling the OP what could take place telling them they are home free just isn't real wise they are married to the sale for 180 days after the payment date....

[starroute-us]

Oh I know you have it right.
I just hope it doesn't happen a month from now and a PP case is opened for NAD:(

[bubbleman2010]

The freight forwarder was the purchaser they purchased in behalf of someone else. The someone else informed the freight forwarder they no longer wanted the item they inturn requested to return the item and that was denied. They won't forward the item because they know their buyer doesn't want it they'll either eat the loss and keep the item of wait a week or two and file a SNAD. Due to the dollar amount involved I'll select SNAD.....

[bubbleman2010]

The someone else was a last second sniper seeing other bids and not wanting to miss a deal they bid. Once they had someone explain in Japanese what they had purchased they were no longer interested due to they can be purchased for $20.00 to $40.00 here.  If you understand the maddess its a piece of cake to figure out whats going on....

[bubbleman2010]

and who knows nothing might ever become of it,but OP needs to be aware if a SNAD is opened and they turn over their evidence to ebay and let them decide the outcome they'll learn a lesson 100s of others have learned before them...

[nowthatsjustducky]

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@sg51 wrote:

If a buyer returns 5 items out of 500-1000 over the past year or so, no problem, nothing to show. But it they return 40 items out of 100 over the past year, that should be displayed in some way.

Having it "show" isn't a solution to anything.  What to do?  Take pills when you see your buyer's bad report?

What we need is an automatic block, something like what happens with UIDs.  

I'd like to see [x] "block buyer if this item has the potential to be the 4th return of the past 50 purchases during the past 12 months".

That gives buyer a chance to change their ways.

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Why not do both?  The auto block would be the primary tool for filtering out these non-customers, but showing their shenanigans would be a secondary tool for those using auctions, best offers, or any other setup that forgoes IPR.  That would allow sellers to somewhat vet their buyers, because feedback left for others does not always work for that (as the smarter ones leave no feedback so as not to leave a public record of their activities.)

[d-k_treasures]

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@sg51 wrote:

If a buyer returns 5 items out of 500-1000 over the past year or so, no problem, nothing to show. But it they return 40 items out of 100 over the past year, that should be displayed in some way.

Having it "show" isn't a solution to anything.  What to do?  Take pills when you see your buyer's bad report?

What we need is an automatic block, something like what happens with UIDs.  

I'd like to see [x] "block buyer if this item has the potential to be the 4th return of the past 50 purchases during the past 12 months".

That gives buyer a chance to change their ways.

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I forgot to add in the part about allowing a block for said problems.

[missjen831]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@sg51 wrote:

If a buyer returns 5 items out of 500-1000 over the past year or so, no problem, nothing to show. But it they return 40 items out of 100 over the past year, that should be displayed in some way.

Having it "show" isn't a solution to anything.  What to do?  Take pills when you see your buyer's bad report?

What we need is an automatic block, something like what happens with UIDs.  

I'd like to see [x] "block buyer if this item has the potential to be the 4th return of the past 50 purchases during the past 12 months".

That gives buyer a chance to change their ways.

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I forgot to add in the part about allowing a block for said problems.

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They need to implement an excessive returns block (which IMO excessive would be determined by a certain %, like you could block buyers with a 20% return rate or something but that may not work because their return % decreases as their purchase rate increases unless they are continuing to make returns). They also need to implement a block against excessive bid retractions!

[sg51]

Why not do both?  

Public shaming of buyer is ineffective both in protecting seller, and in rehabilitating buyer.

Publicly shamed buyers go away forever.

Buyers who encounter boundaries tend to fit their live into the boundaries.

[retrose1]

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@sg51 wrote:

Why not do both?  

Public shaming of buyer is ineffective both in protecting seller, and in rehabilitating buyer.

Publicly shamed buyers go away forever.

Buyers who encounter boundaries tend to fit their live into the boundaries.

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Public shaming worked for years to keep people in line.  An afternoon out in the stocks and you didn't do it again.

And I learned when I had my B&M store that some customers are not worth having.  It is good when they go away in a huff, leaves you more time and energy to devote to the good customers that are actual buyers.

I think that sellers should be able to block for returns AND cases, and unpaids, AND refunds.  Make it like the way they used to do with feedback - that you can block but allow for different numbers before the block kicks in.  I'd let them have one a year on everything

[Anonymous]

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@jaymalkin wrote:

I shipped a delicate vintage electronic amplifier to the winning bidder who received it and gave me a Positive Feedback.  Now, he wants to return it (the only reason is that he "changed his mind").   I have a No Return policy since these items are delicate and will get damaged if not packed correctly should a buyer try to return it.   It takes me a long, long time to pack items like this and I don't think that I should have to accept his return request.

By the way, I'm in the US and the buyer is a "freight forwarder" acting on behalf of a person in Japan.  Apparently, the person in Japan "changed his mind" as mentioned above.   I don't ship outside the US, but many buyers of vintage electronics in Asia use "forwarding companies" based in the US  (the forwarding company buys the item, you ship it to the US address, and then the forwarding company ships it to the person in Japan who pays them for it).   I have no idea if the item is still in the US or if it actually made its way to Japan.   I don't accept refunds on vintage electronics just because of situations like this.   Are there any risks if I simply decline the refund?  Again, I already have positive feedback on this item.

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Hey everyone, I just wanted to step in and confirm a few points that were raised here. If a seller has a no returns policy and the buyer opens asks to return the item because they simply changed their mind, the seller would be able to choose to accept or decline the return as they see fit. Feedback would never be taken into consideration within a claim, as the feedback forum is an opinion based forum and we do not invesitgate these statements for accuracy. We have found in the past that feedback is often times left prematurely or in error, and cannot be used in an eBay Money Back Guarantee claim.

Lastly, since the @jaymalkin mentioned Japan as the country destination and referenced a freight forwarder, I wanted to see if they had received a message from Shop Airlines? This is a subsidiary of Sekaimon, an eBay partner that facilitates purchases and shipments to some of our buyer's in Japan. They facilitate the transaction in more ways than simply forwarding the item, including leaving feedback or discussing concerns with the item on behalf of the buyer. When the item is not yet forwarded on, the buyer is still covered within our eBay Money Back Guarantee and the forwarder will work on resolving the issue with all parties involved. With this return reason being that the buyer changed their mind, a return is not required, but I wanted to clarify this part of the situation for future reference.