How would you handle this? Do I give up on my principles?

[iamalwaysright]

First off, I never issue partial refunds. By never I mean like 98% of the time, haha. Because honestly no rule is absolute and I have been known to offer a partial when I feel the buyer is legit and the issue is caused by seller fault.

So I sold a shirt to someone who absolutely needed it to wear on Tuesday. After I shipped it he was already complaining about the ETA changing, claiming I didn't ship it yet and threatening to return it saying he doesn't need it if it arrived after that day. I explained to him how ebay generated ETA operates as well as USPS, and that his shirt was shipped out as promised in 1 day. 

Lo and behold he received the shirt on Saturday. Now he's complaining about the thickness of the shirt. The listing doesn't mention anything at all about thickness or weight. And it has a simple photo similar to this

His message was "Hi there I received my shirt. I know you offer free returns. I'd keep it if you'd consider at least a $5.00 credit? I'm sad with the material. The shirt looks thicker in the pictures and what I got was pretty thin. I rather doubt it will hold up after a few washes. I wanted it to wear on Tuesday, so this is why I'm asking if you'd consider a credit?"

Key points in his message that I think need analysis/consideration.

1) He knows I have free returns

2) He's asking for a credit straight out

3) He's sad with the material (100% cotton) that was clearly stated in the listing

4) He's claiming that the photo displays some sort of thickness to the shirt

5) He's claiming to know the durability of the shirt (then again, I can't control how people wash their clothes)

6) He seems to only intend to wear this shirt one time (Tuesday)

Given this situation, how would you handle it? I think this one is trickier than my usual issues because of a few factors. Any thoughts, tips, advice, insults, etc are welcome. Thanks

[mam98031]

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@grand-and-glorious-purpose wrote:

Buyers can't ask for partial refunds

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The OP resolved this issue a couple of days ago.

[gurlcat]

@iamalwaysright  So did you decide not to contact via social media?  

[iamalwaysright]

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@gurlcat wrote:

@iamalwaysright  So did you decide not to contact via social media?  

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I haven't done it yet but plan to. I've currently been triaging my buyer issues and spending my time on more significant problems. Quite a few balls in the air.

Actually I'm about to call my good buddy ebay phone support on an issue with another buyer filing multiple false not as described returns. While I'm on the phone with them I'm going to toss this feedback issue on the pile too. If they can help remove it, fine. If not, then I'll hit up social media.

[mam98031]

Why are you still on this same transaction issues?  I thought it was resolved and the buyer was fully refunded by Ebay [not you]??  

To try to get the feedback removed, you first need to find the correct policy that they breached when leaving the feedback.  If you can't identify that, then it is highly likely it will not get removed no matter what way you choose to contact Ebay.

First step:

Go to the Seller Help page. Towards the bottom of the screen you will see a place to click on to submit the feedback for removal.

https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp/feedback?id=5566

If they say no, then it is time to contact Ebay to try and get it removed.

However you still need to identify what policy they breached or you will get no where no matter what method you choose to contact Ebay with.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-policies?id=4208

Then after all that, report the buyer and be specific when you put the notes on this report.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084

[iamalwaysright]

No I wasn't really on it, the only thing left was the feedback which was put on the back burner for me to try with social media.

UPDATE: As I mentioned earlier I had to call my good buddy ebay phone support for an unrelated issue. I brought up this feedback to the agent. He started looking at the correspondence as I was talking to him saying the return he filed was closed out with no seller fault. Before I was even done with my statement he already said "Yea I'll take care of that feedback for you no problem."

Bittersweet that I won't be able to take this up with social media @gurlcat . But hey, it got removed.

[iamalwaysright]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

 eBay removed the ability for the seller to keep any part of the original shipping when refunding any not as described return. 

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Correct; it changed about a year ago. I remember you brought this up last Fall, as did several other sellers, and I finally asked kyle@ebay in January 2025 and he confirmed the change here.

I'm still really annoyed with this change. If the buyer is abusive and returns a trashed item, we should be able to withhold that original separate ship cost.

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So I actually brought this up in conversation when I was talking with my good buddy ebay phone support, and asked about the logic behind this change. I also said this gives abusive buyers more power when they file for false not as described returns. He knew about the change but couldn't really tell me why but said 50% of it can be kept if it was moved over to the item price and thus offering free shipping.

Then I said, "Yea, that seems like the only angle I see. Ebay is trying to nudge more sellers to offer free shipping for some reason. Does it benefit ebay more to do this?" He got a bit irritated when I said that as to go off on a little lecture about how ebay doesn't force anyone to do things, there's just benefits to doing certain things but no one is required to do it, just like with offering returns. Then he says, maybe its a marketing thing.

So yea, I think the logic is nothing more than the obvious. Because ebay wants more sellers with free shipping.

[gurlcat]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

Bittersweet that I won't be able to take this up with social media @gurlcat . But hey, it got removed.

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Hey whatever works!!!  I knew you wouldn't be stuck with that bull, one way or another.  

[mam98031]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

No I wasn't really on it, the only thing left was the feedback which was put on the back burner for me to try with social media.

UPDATE: As I mentioned earlier I had to call my good buddy ebay phone support for an unrelated issue. I brought up this feedback to the agent. He started looking at the correspondence as I was talking to him saying the return he filed was closed out with no seller fault. Before I was even done with my statement he already said "Yea I'll take care of that feedback for you no problem."

Bittersweet that I won't be able to take this up with social media @gurlcat . But hey, it got removed.

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You got VERY lucky and that is NOT how the new rules for removing negative feedback are suppose to get handled.  The buyer should have been given the chance to revise the feedback per the new rules.