Cancelled an order because I was out of stock. Buyer not happy.

[mungezone]

Had to cancel an order because I was out of stock.  Now the buyer is guilt tripping me because the item was meant for a birthday gift and they have to wait at least 5 days to get their refund.  

Is there anything I can do in this situation other than simply explaining to them why I canceled and likely getting negative feedback?

[chiaretta]

You will get a defect.

And a negative, which with the low number of transactions you have will stick out like a sore thumb.

Yes, I would also be very angry if I were your buyer and while I wouldn't gripe that much, I see no reason to keep talking to someone who ruined my plans and will make me wait for my money back, I would be fairly loud in my feedback.

Hopefully it won't happen again, another defect could well mean the end of your career as a seller on ebay, it does take that little

[myboardid]

Why do they have to wait for their refund?  You should buy their item somewhere else and have it shipped to them, even if you lose money doing it.  I think your eBay selling career is essentially over. 

[mungezone]

Is there any way I could avoid that by restocking and redoing the sale?  It sounded like they wouldn't be able to buy another until they got the refund, so I'm guessing that wouldn't work out?  

I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't get an disclaimers from ebay that this could happen.  That's not very friendly to unexperienced sellers.  I would've found a way around it if I knew they had to wait so long for their refund.  Will contacting customer support do anything or am I out of luck?

[rolenboy01 · Accepted solution]

Replace their item even if it cost more for you to do so than the original price they paid.

[tunicaslot]

I still don't understand why they have to wait for their refund - you click cancel and the money is immediately taken out of your account and put back into theirs.

[rolenboy01]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

I still don't understand why they have to wait for their refund - you click cancel and the money is immediately taken out of your account and put back into theirs.

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They don't in my case since I am spending their money on a replacement.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@mungezone

Before you sell anything else ... I suggest you read this:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/seller-non-performance.html

And this:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

And keep an eye on this:

https://sellerstandards.ebay.com/dashboard

The buyer took the time to search for and pay for an Item that you had listed. They are rightfully upset that you cannot fulfil your obligation.

It is your responsibility to have that listed item in Stock and to ship it promptly.

Buyers don't like to have their orders canceled. eBay has identified Out of Stock Cancels to be one of the main reasons why buyers don't come back to eBay. 

[mungezone]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  I'm looking into buying the item to send to them even though I'll lose a bit in the process.

[starroute-us]

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@mungezone wrote:

Is there any way I could avoid that by restocking and redoing the sale?  It sounded like they wouldn't be able to buy another until they got the refund, so I'm guessing that wouldn't work out?  

I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't get an disclaimers from ebay that this could happen.  That's not very friendly to unexperienced sellers.  I would've found a way around it if I knew they had to wait so long for their refund.  Will contacting customer support do anything or am I out of luck?

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@mungezone

You have already cancelled there is nothing to do to fix it now.

Can not be undone.

The buyer should have been refunded already, unless they paid with an e-check that might take longer. So no need to buy them a gift.

Just know that out of stock defects can quickly kill off your account.

[tdumonde2014]

This should have been done before you cancelled the transaction and not after, so unless you plan on giving them a freebie, stop what you're doing. The transaction is done, your buyer will be refunded, and you will hopefully learn from this experience. 

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

When you cancel a sale and your Paypal account is empty doesn't the buyer have to wait for a refund?

[newnewnewmann]

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@mungezone wrote:

Had to cancel an order because I was out of stock.  Now the buyer is guilt tripping me because the item was meant for a birthday gift and they have to wait at least 5 days to get their refund.  

Is there anything I can do in this situation other than simply explaining to them why I canceled and likely getting negative feedback?

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I could understand a seller with hundreds or thousands of items for sale losing track of their inventory, but you sell just a small amount of items so it's not like you can't keep track of your inventory; why are you selling things you don't have?  If it's not in front of you, don't sell it.

Don't do that or you will ruin your reputation.

-Refunds can be given instantly, if you wanted to do that.  You failed the buyer then act like they did something wrong by wanting their item or their money back.

If you get a negative, your % will be terrible.

Don't sell things you don't have!

[sg51]

Is there anything I can do in this situation other than simply explaining to them why I canceled and likely getting negative feedback?

A little over-refund goes a long ways in an out of stock situation.

[sg51]

I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't get an disclaimers from ebay that this could happen.  That's not very friendly to unexperienced sellers.  I would've found a way around it if I knew they had to wait so long for their refund. 

I think you're still not analyzing this correctly.

Refunds are processed immediately, buyer doesn't have to wait, unless the wait is caused by you.

But worse than any neg is the OOS strike you've been given by ebay.  It doesn't take very many of those and you're on vacation.