Buyer left negative feedback and refused delivery

[marked-out-collectibles]

Ok, here's the story. A buyer purchased an item from me which I had labeled "no return".

I shipped his item out same day payment was made, but the morning of scheduled delivery the buyer changed his mind and contacted me, asking for a refund him once the item is marked refused on tracking info.

I don't feel comfortable refunding before I at least get the item back and I purposely have no return in my listing to prevent people from simply changing their mind. I mean, if the item is damaged I'll gladly refund but when you just change your mind,
that's different. The buyer then made PayPal claim on grounds of refused delivery and he won, then he left a negative feedback saying that he had to file a claim to get his money back. I don't think the negative feedback is fair because I clearly state no returns and I don't see how I can be penalized for following my policy when the item wasn't damaged. Would calling eBay help or is it a lost cause?

[dhbookds]

It's worth a call to Ebay........their terms used to be, and perhaps still are, that refusing delivery negates buyer protection which may be the reason the buyer filed on paypal. 

I am assuming  you did get the item back? 

[marked-out-collectibles]

Thank you for the reply. I did finally get my item back, so that was good at least. I was surprised he went through PayPal but that would make sense. Any other time a buyer asked for a return, which I always granted, eBay policy was do not refund until you receive the item. This scenario was unreasonable to me.

[marked-out-collectibles]

Well I called and they removed the feedback. Thanks for the help!

[thrift-theory · Accepted solution]

Glad to hear it worked out for you! Also, keep in mind that No Returns mean almost nothing in situations. Had the buyer received the item, kept it, and filed a claim after, your return policy wouldn't be taken into consideration. However, I'm still glad this one went well for you. You got your item back, and you got the feedback removed.

[marked-out-collectibles]

I appreciate the advice, I am quickly realizing that. I am generally fine accepting returns, it was just the way this buyer went about it that felt unreasonable. Still though, no return is a good deterrent for the finicky buyer I suppose lol

Thanks again

[Anonymous]

    Even though you put "no returns" in your listings, that actually doesn't mean much.  Almost EVERY item purchased on Ebay using Paypal as the payment method is covered by Ebay's Buyer Protection plan. If a item qualifies, Ebay will refund. They may or may not require the item to be returned and what you have to say about it means nothing. That being said, refusing delivery may or may not effect coverage as was mentioned above.

   Ebay changed up the whole return thing a while back to help encourage sales. A buyer can click "return this item" most anytime he wants now after leaving "checkout" - 96

[Anonymous]

Sorry for my late reply...one finger typist here. Glad it worked out. I would like to add that many buyers are really fearful of ebay and go straight to Paypal to resolve issues.  Paypal will freeze an account until issues are resolved. This  usually makes for a much faster resolution than  what ebay offers - 96

[thrift-theory]

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@marked-out-collectibles wrote:
I appreciate the advice, I am quickly realizing that. I am generally fine accepting returns, it was just the way this buyer went about it that felt unreasonable. Still though, no return is a good deterrent for the finicky buyer I suppose lol

Thanks again

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It is a good deterrent. I use it for very small items that people probably won't return, maybe $6-7 items. As for things more expensive like $20-30, I charge shipping. Sometimes buyer realize  that they don't want to pay shipping to return otherwise they'd be out shipping twice. I thought your situation was really ridiculous considering your buyer chose still won a claim with Paypal over the refused delivery. However, since you got the item back AND the feedback removed, it's almost a bigger win than any situation many of us experienced as sellers. 

[marked-out-collectibles]

Yeah, all in all I am very pleased with the resolution. I've myself experienced worse ones in the past, so I consider myself fortunate.