Got to love our " Protection"

[awd_bliss]

These stories are dime a dozen but i figured i should share.

Sold a 20$ flashlight. Before thing even got there a case was opened because it wasn't received...no sh! Later tracking shows all good so i move on with my life. 

Next thing i know buyer escalates, item automatically gets marked as " returned" ... i didn't even see a tracking number.  Needless to say neither did i see the item back on my door step.

Shortly after i  click the Appeal button which allows me to punch in my message.  So i do.  Months go by nothing happens, i see no messages nothing.  Fees never get refunded and neither does the actual item.

I despise these call centers. Yet want my lousy twenty bucks, matter of principle.

A "specialist" tells me there was never an appeal, but confirms that she sees my message.  She does a manual "courtesy" refund for 19.58$.  I unclench by rectum and proceed to ask about my fees and shipping cost.  We then have a heated discussion about what it means "FREE SHIPPING" .

Sir the shipping is free , its right there in your listing, there is nothing to refund. Now i dont remember what the so called protection says but i could have sworn original shipping gets refunded too. My blood is Fing boiling by this point! 

Surprisingly a supervisor was not available....figure that one out. Yet she took the time to reassure me that she is a Fing specialist! 

They claim my 19.95 will be refunded, i m pretty sure shes salty about our conversation and cleared out my refund. Probably be forced to call again, or better yet i'll open a dispute on ebay fees with amex. Let them deal with a chargeback.

Moral of the story...this is not a place to be.

[cherry*fizz]

If you don't charge the buyer an extra shipping fee you don't get it back. Theoretically if you are offering free shipping you should be building that cost into your item price, so getting the amount of the sale back would include your shipping. 

[awd_bliss]

Jesus, you're going to want to brake out a calculator for this intense math session. You do realize that math does not add up right? 

Sell item for 20. 

Ship for 3$

Get scammed.

Get 20 back

You're out 3$

[snowic_49]

Free shipping aka shipping included.

If you include shipping in your sale price, only your sale price is refunded

[luckythewinner]

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@awd_bliss wrote:
Now i dont remember what the so called protection says but i could have sworn original shipping gets refunded too. My blood is Fing boiling by this point!PS; do we really not get original shipping back after initial penetration?

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I have been here since 2000 and I have never heard of eBay refunding a seller for his out-of-pocket costs.

If you had completed the sale without any issues, you would have had the buyer's total payment and would have paid the cost of shipping as an expense of doing business.

If on appeal - or by courtesy - eBay decides that you had indeed completed the sale, why would you expect to receive MORE that the buyer's total payment?

[cherry*fizz]

I understand it perfectly. Did you charge the buyer $20 with $3 shipping or just $20? If you only charged $20 with free shipping (a better name would be shipping included) then you are taking responsibility for that shipping cost. As you know there is no such thing as free shipping. If you aren't charging your buyer for it, you are paying it out of the price collected for the item. I don't think you are understanding the principle of including the shipping cost in your item price and claiming "free" shipping. Maybe someone else can explain it better.

[muttlymob]

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@awd_bliss wrote:

Sell item for 20.  (with FREE SHIPPING? - according to your OP the listing had Free Shipping)

Ship for 3$  (this $3 was in your original $20 payment from the buyer if you offered Free Shipping)

Get scammed.  (how did you get scammed?  did you respond to the initial Item Not Received claim or did you just look at the tracking and assume everything was OK and that you did not need to supply the requested info to the INR claim?)

Get 20 back

You're out 3$  (if you had Free Shipping on your listing, then the buyer paid that in his $20 payment, so you got it back with your $20 refund from eBay)

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Notice a theme here?  Free Shipping does not mean that it is truly free to the buyer or seller.  It means that the seller should be including the cost of shipping in his item price.  If you are not doing that, well, then ......  that's your error and your loss.

[awd_bliss]

I understand that aspect. Guess i had unrealistic expectations of additional shipping reimbursement.

[coffeebean832]

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@awd_bliss wrote:

I understand that aspect. Guess i had unrealistic expectations of additional shipping reimbursement.

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Nailed it. eBay issued a credit for the same amount the buyer paid. They will not credit you anything above that.

Whether it was $17 + $3 ship or $20 ship included, you won't get more than $20 back.

It sounds like you didn't follow through with the claims that were opened. Next time ask here if you're unsure how a claim will play out and if you need to take any steps to protect your account.

[fashunu4eeuh]

@awd_bliss wrote:

“...Sold a 20$ flashlight. Before thing even got there a case was opened because it wasn't received...no sh! Later tracking shows all good so i move on with my life. 

Next thing i know buyer escalates, item automatically gets marked as " returned" ... i didn't even see a tracking number...”

When a Not Received case is opened, the seller must upload the tracking number to the case notes. If this doesnt happen, the buyer may win even if the item is ultimately delivered. Worse, since the buyer escalated, there is a good chance your account was given a defect for ‘case closed without seller resolution’. Defects can negatively impact one’s selling privileges.

Seller protections are limited on eBay. But in order to benefit from what is available, it is critical to know the policies before listing. Sorry you got caught between the rock and the hard place, but glad you received a courtesy refund. Below are links to the Money Back Guarantee that includes Item Not Received case information and how to prevail.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...