mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Thank you for taking the time to come here and post this. A Community like this is full of complaints and concerns, which is the nature of forums like this. The members that have good experiences like you did rarely come her to post the details. There are usually two reasons for that. Once the thread will often not get a bunch of posters on the thread because no one is complaining or the ones that would want to make it seem negative or disagree with the OP [that's you the original poster, or opening post].
You did a GREAT job as a seller and more stories like this need to be shared so others can LEARN from it. You have a very good and important message to share and again I'm grateful you came here to share your experience.
@hurley_byrd_ias wrote:Yes. Actually, eBay automatically accepts the return, which is in line with our policies. All items can be returned without question. In a Not As Described (NAD) situation eBay automatically processes the return, as they should.
Upon the item's return arrival we needed to process the refund, which is also fine. eBay then gives you the option to 100% refund or deduct the original shipping, which in this case was $13 on a $28 item. I deducted the shipping and sent the refund. Keep in mind that once the item was in motion and shipping in our direction I reported the buyer and that is when I performed my write up. The
Buyer has tried to write us telling us what bad people we were and was obviously trying to get us to refund her moneys. WE DO NOT ALLOW Buyers to scam us like that and forced the return.
Of course the Buyer rejected the refund amount and opened the case that we were liable for all costs. When this happened..... it took about an hour, or less, for eBay to close the case in our favor. Within minutes she left us NASTY feedback..... in less that 24 hours.... that feedback was stripped.
Yes sellers can set up in their Site Preferences to have INADs automatically accepted and start the process. Clearly you have your Customer Service procedures set up clearly for your little company. Job well done!
Just to add a little here. You got a little lucky on this one. The rules for how or when TRS can give a reduced refund does NOT include withholding original shipping or return shipping. Except with a properly filed Buyer's Remorse return. You said earlier that they selected the reason as "the wrong item shipped", which is an INAD.
Up to 50% refund deduction for decreased value on used or damaged returns
When you issue a refund for an item that was returned after it was used or damaged by a buyer, and you have a track record of delivering on your service promise, we’ll give you the ability to protect yourself. Top Rated Sellers can deduct up to 50% of the refund to recover the decreased value of the item. If there are any issues with buyers that may negatively impact you, we’ll take care of them by removing any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.
Guidelines for how much to deduct from the refund
Here are some guidelines to help you determine how much to deduct from the buyer's refund.
Condition of return | Refund deduction guidance |
Excellent condition:
| No deductions |
Good condition:
| 5%–10% deduction |
Fair condition:
| 15%–30% deduction |
Poor condition:
| 35%–50% deduction |
Please don't take me wrong. I'm very glad you were able to take care of this situation in a way that worked out well for you.
@hurley_byrd_ias wrote:I've been selling on eBay for about a decade now in two stores and have never had a chargeback. eBay no longer uses PayPal so I expect a person would have to go through a lot of red tape performing a chargeback. I also suspect that eBay's continued protection/performance/scam-reduction policies would continue to work as they have here.
Also....... we have had a few scenarios that we did mistakenly ship the wrong item or could recognize how we mis-informed the Buyer and readily paid up. I suspect there is an algorithm that sees how we play with our Buyers and with eBay itself. We pay up when we should..... and fight when we should. We have a stellar reputation within eBay itself.
It is pretty easy for a buyer to file a Chargeback IF they used a credit card of debit card to pay for their transaction. They just go to the CC or DC holder and put the charge in dispute.
With that said, since you won the Ebay claim, it is likely you would win the Chargeback too using the same evidence as you did with Ebay. Chargebacks can be won if the evidence the seller provides clearly shows the evidence in the seller's favor.
While Ebay doesn't use PayPal, buyers are allowed to. But now that Ebay is our money processor buyers do not have to use PP to have a CC or DC payment processed. Ebay can do it.
I would be willing to bet that if you made a mistake on a shipment, you have GREAT customer service and would step up and take good care of that buyer !!
"Paypal is STILL a payment method allowed by eBay. Yes, they CAN do a chargeback both with Paypal AND their CC company."
No they can't. A buyer can not open a Chargeback in BOTH PayPal and with the CCC. The CCC would easily see this and deny the 2nd claim. If you have some specific situations when this happened, I'd be very interested in hearing about them.
"If they open a case, you will likely lose it. CC companies protect cardholders and don't care what the merchant has to say, unless the card holder has a habitual habit of filing cases. "
This is something I've heard many times on these threads. It isn't totally accurate, but many people believe it. That is not to say it isn't hard to win a Chargeback, because it can be. But with proper evidence to submit to the CCC, they can be won. I've done it and I'm confident so have others. But in many cases it is no walk in the park. It will also depend on the reason the buyer filed the Chargeback too.
The seller is only charge the $20 fee if they lose the Chargeback. If the seller wins, they don't have to pay the fee.
