Buyer returned wrong item, I pointed it out and they agreed, now what?

[dear.mich]

I sold an item. The buyer claimed it was defective and required a refund, I accepted, they sent me back an item with a different serial number. I pointed this out and they admitted that they may have mixed up some items on their end, which I genuinely believe as of now.

They are wanting the item back and will cancel the refund.....What do I do? What is the sequence of events here? Do I open a case of some kind? Do I just send it back? I have never been in a situation like this. 

[bonjourami]

Sellers cant open cases. I guess, since you havent refunded, send him the item back,and hope he returns the correct item. Then refund him thru the case once you receive it. He cant open another case if he cancels this one.Good luck.

[dear.mich]

I opened a "wrong item sent in return" request from the bottom of the return summary and I included all the pictures and pictures of the message where the buyer agreed he must have mixed up the items....

[caldreamer]

Just so you know...customer cannot terminate "return request" (item has already been shipped back you).  And EBAY automated return system only gives Seller "short period of time" to refund customer once item was been delivered.   After that...EBAY will force you to refund customer (and you will get a defect on your account for not doing it before the deadline).

EBAY only looks at is return tracking# (even if customer returned "box of rocks" you would still be forced to give a full refund).

Sellers cannot open "return request" (if you want to return "incorrect item" back to customer...you would be forced to pay return shipping).   Also, because customer already got their money back...it is possible they may never mail you the correct item to you.

Sorry but I don't see any solution to this unique problem.

[iamalwaysright]

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@bonjourami wrote:

Sellers cant open cases. I guess, since you havent refunded, send him the item back,and hope he returns the correct item. Then refund him thru the case once you receive it. He cant open another case if he cancels this one.Good luck.

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I doubt seller has enough time to do all this before they are forced to refund in, what is it, 2 days now by policy? I don't think it's 4 days anymore, right? Even so, not enough time.

[iamalwaysright]

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@dear.mich wrote:

I opened a "wrong item sent in return" request from the bottom of the return summary and I included all the pictures and pictures of the message where the buyer agreed he must have mixed up the items....

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Okay so what you did was contested to the return request. Now the bots, will "step in" and help with the claim. The bots will not see any of the "buyer returned the wrong item" statements and will ONLY see the tracking that shows delivered to you and will ultimately rule in the buyer's favor.

You definitely need to contact ebay to close this case in your favor before the bots move in and side with the buyer. If the bots already did their thing and gave the buyer their money back, you can talk to appeals department and maybe they'll accept an appeal and pay you out of their own pocket.

If you were able to get the claim in your favor, that means the buyer doesn't have their refund back. Work out a way to swap the items with the buyer outside of ebay. When that's done, you can go back to the transaction and click on "send refund" to give the funds back.

The fear is if the buyer gets their money back, they'll never send you back the item they wrongfully kept. Some buyers are honest enough to follow thru though. Those are the ones that you don't have to worry if they get their money back first. Good luck.

[redlinear]

You did the right thing, hopefully sent pics also along with your info.
Had this happen last thursday.   Buyer returned a similar item he bought from somebody else (I even found the listing).
I did what you did and ebay sided in my favor.
  I've had wrong items returned in the past, BUT, only disputed two of them.  These were not buyer mistakes like I described above. These were scammers, basically shipping back "whatever was in their trash" in order to steal an expensive item.  
Ebay sided with both of us... both times. Means they let me keep the payment and they also refunded the buyer on eBay's dime.
Only disputed two of those because I don't want to use up my high dollar luck on little knick knack cheap scammers.

[albertabrightalberta]

Call me the cynic but my guess is that the buyer had a bad widget with the serial number of the item @dear.mich received. And he kept the new one which probably works, which the returned one does not.

@dear.mich Even if you return the item you received to the buyer, I don't think you'll get the one you sent. Just issue the refund, add the buyer to your BBL and get on with your life. 

[dear.mich]

Ok, thank you...how do I contact eBay so that the bots do not handle that request? 

[dear.mich]

Just to be clear, I have not refunded yet, I have until tomorrow. I opened the “wrong item” dispute today, will update with result

[mam98031]

I would suggest that you contact Ebay for Business on Facebook or Twitter for the better trained CSRs.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service.  Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is.  Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message.  It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

Your options will be on the left.  If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options.  Not all options are available 24/7.  It will depend on staffing available.  So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't.  Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me.  If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.

If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.

If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/home

[baangell]

You need to protect yourself first and foremost, open a case and let Ebay know the situation. If the buyer wants their item back you could try Return to Sender.

I accidentally shipped out the wrong video game to a buyer, it was something like Final Fantasy VII and I shipped Final Fantasy VIII. I admitted the mistake, told them to keep the game and fully refunded them.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@baangell wrote:

You need to protect yourself first and foremost, open a case and let Ebay know the situation. If the buyer wants their item back you could try Return to Sender.

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This is dangerous advice if the OP/seller wants his own item back before refunding. 

If @dear.mich sends the item back as RTS, all the buyer needs to do is show tracking showing delivery (or RTS following delivery) and the buyer will have ebay step in. They'll issue a refund and ding the seller's account for not handling it himself. 

[mam98031]

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@baangell wrote:

You need to protect yourself first and foremost, open a case and let Ebay know the situation. If the buyer wants their item back you could try Return to Sender.

I accidentally shipped out the wrong video game to a buyer, it was something like Final Fantasy VII and I shipped Final Fantasy VIII. I admitted the mistake, told them to keep the game and fully refunded them.

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How does a seller open a Case?  I am not aware of being able to do that, so if you could explain further, it would be very helpful @baangell 

[mam98031]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

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@baangell wrote:

You need to protect yourself first and foremost, open a case and let Ebay know the situation. If the buyer wants their item back you could try Return to Sender.

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This is dangerous advice if the OP/seller wants his own item back before refunding. 

If @dear.mich sends the item back as RTS, all the buyer needs to do is show tracking showing delivery (or RTS following delivery) and the buyer will have ebay step in. They'll issue a refund and ding the seller's account for not handling it himself. 

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Besides, you are not suppose to to RTS if you have opened the package.  And clearly the OP had to of opened the package.