eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎02-12-2018

OK, so I'm trying to have that German return request closed in my favour since it's been past the time limit and I'm allowed to do this now.

I called to have it done while I'm on the phone, but they said it had to be done by eBay Germany since the buyer purchased it on the German site. They sent a message to the German eBay and I got an email this morning.

eBay Germany is telling me to continue to pester the buyer to get him to close his own case (why would he do that if he wants money from me?) And if pestering the buyer isn't working, I should click a button to "ask eBay to step in" which isn't showing right now on my case, but eBay Germany said it should show up as an option soon.

The step in thing rarely works out well for the seller... what am I supposed to do here?

In about two weeks this case will automatically be closed (according to eBay USA they only stay open for 30 days) and since the buyer didn't ship anything back to me there would be no penalty... as in the ball is in his court...

If there's a button to ask eBay to step in, the buyer might use it himself. What happens here if he does that?

Cheers, C.

ittybitnot · ‎02-12-2018

What happens here if he does that?

If it is for a SNAD case, best guess would be you lose and get a defect for not making the buyer "happy".

sin-n-dex · ‎02-12-2018

wrote:
What happens here if he does that?

If it is for a SNAD case, best guess would be you lose and get a defect for not making the buyer "happy".

It's not a SNAD. He filed a remorse return and claimed customs is sending it back to me, but it shows as delivered on the tracking. He has sent nothing back.

I don't know how this is supposed to be handled. I'm not refunding on something that's not actually being sent back, and it's now 6 days past when this can be closed, but German eBay is refusing to close it unless I ask them to "step in", which makes no sense, because we don't do that on the dot com site.

Cheers, C.

myboardid · ‎02-12-2018

I haven't had one of these in a while, and we all know that eBay makes changes constantly. I have no idea what the rules are on the German site - they could be entirely different than the US site. If i were you I would just wait until the case closes automatically on its own. If the coin is actually being sent back and you receive it, then refund. If you never receive it, then don't.

Just a thought - if the buyer says that "customs is returning it", then maybe he refused to pick it up or pay for duties? He may think it will be returned, but German customs may sit on it forever. Or maybe they are more efficient than that.

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Successful and experienced seller since 1997, over 70,000 feedback, boardie since the boards were begun.

allisomas_5 · ‎02-12-2018

I think I would just let it time out. Asking eBay to step in you might end up having to refund and never get any item back. eBay is not known for intelligent bots.

webwanna · ‎02-12-2018

If I had :

1)proof of delivery

2) proof of several attempts to correspond with the buyer about the case with no responses

3)no uploaded return shipping tracking from the buyer

4) the return period has expired

I think I would hit the "Ask Ebay to Step In" button when it shows up and make sure to spell that all out. But, I don't do a lot of business in Germany so I would be a bit apprehensive.

Hopefully, they would make the right call.

webwanna · ‎02-12-2018

It used to be that some people would open cases on expensive items and just hope that the seller would just refund because they want to avoid a

Case Closed without Seller Resolution

Maybe that is what this buyer is up to? It is bizarre to open a case and then not respond to inquiries from the seller.

sin-n-dex · ‎02-12-2018

wrote:
If I had :
1)proof of delivery
2) proof of several attempts to correspond with the buyer about the case with no responses
3)no uploaded return shipping tracking from the buyer
4) the return period has expired

I think I would hit the "Ask Ebay to Step In" button when it shows up and make sure to spell that all out. But, I don't do a lot of business in Germany so I would be a bit apprehensive.

Hopefully, they would make the right call.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I would be in favour of the step in approach, but I am afraid of stupid bots and speaking to people who don't think when trying to overturn a bot's decision (which as mentioned, might result in a refund from my account of $60).

What perplexes me the most is if the buyer isn't getting his coin, why he's not answering every single message and sending extra ones to me to boot to try and convince me I need to refund him quickly. Every buyer I've ever encountered who was not happy was more than willing to let me know and tell me several times until they were satisfied with the outcome. This guy has stayed mum the whole time. I replied in the case about the delivery date (as per tracking) and silence ever since.

I never met someone before who was happy to forget about $60 and leave the situation to chance...

Cheers, C.

sin-n-dex · ‎02-12-2018

wrote:
I haven't had one of these in a while, and we all know that eBay makes changes constantly. I have no idea what the rules are on the German site - they could be entirely different than the US site. If i were you I would just wait until the case closes automatically on its own. If the coin is actually being sent back and you receive it, then refund. If you never receive it, then don't.

Just a thought - if the buyer says that "customs is returning it", then maybe he refused to pick it up or pay for duties? He may think it will be returned, but German customs may sit on it forever. Or maybe they are more efficient than that.

I liked your input best since you address the case and the customs issue. Thank you.

So for the case timing out... when a case times out because a buyer returns nothing, that is NOT a strike correct? So assuming he doesn't ask eBay to step in, it is not going to count against me when it times out?

If he does ask eBay to step in, will I be notified? My account can handle a strike, and I'm good at fighting defects, but it takes time, and I have better things to do.

As for customs... it looks something like this:

Jan 17 held in customs

Jan 19 fees owing, recipient notified

Jan 22 delivered

Jan 29 at the office of the exchange

Jan 30 at the post office

He opened the case on Jan 29, and I checked... looks like he did it about two hours after that tracking appeared on the 29th. I reached out to him to try and figure out what happened to the package, I expected a reply of some kind with more information of what he knows about it so we could figure out where it was, and if it's coming back or stuck in German customs or what not... and I got nada. Nothing on the tracking since Jan 30. (And yes, both Jan 29 and Jan 30 scans are in Germany).

Cheers, C.

sin-n-dex · ‎02-12-2018

wrote:
It used to be that some people would open cases on expensive items and just hope that the seller would just refund because they want to avoid a

Case Closed without Seller Resolution

Maybe that is what this buyer is up to? It is bizarre to open a case and then not respond to inquiries from the seller.

I thought of this, and believe this happens.

I discussed the situation with my business partner and he told me that sometimes sellers with lots of feedback, items and sales are deemed as unattentive, so cases get opened frequently on a gamble that someone who isn't paying attention will refund instead of dealing with it.

As for my buyer, when I run my profile on him and his buying habits, he does not come up on my radar as a scammer (this is speaking from experience). I profiled him as a serious buyer who has made some, but not many purchases in the past 6 months. He has also been on eBay a long time (almost as long as me). Once I saw the delivery notation on the 22nd when I was archiving completed transactions I didn't consider for a minute there would be any problems with this sale later.

Cheers, C.