Item not returned but refund given

[44sooze]

I'm a private seller. At the beginning of December I sold some collectable teddy bears, all in very good condition. Everyone has been very happy with their items, with the exception of one seller who raised an issue with eBay to return the bear because she said it was in poor condition, faulty, etc. I know it wasn't when I posted it, and I'd wrapped it up well, but I had no option other than to refund her because she'd gone directly to eBay. So, I agreed to refund her the cost of the bear but not postage, which she surprisingly accepted straight away. eBay then went ahead and refunded her and now they've closed the case.  

The bear never arrived, the buyer has ignored my request for a tracking code - if she'd sent it back second class by Royal Mail she would have had a receipt as it was quite big - and I am nearly £55 out of pocket. 

I'm not sure what I can do. I can't find a way to contact eBay as they've closed the case. I reported the seller weeks ago as that seemed to be the only way to raise an issue, but nothing's come of it.  Help!

[ckimodog]

Your listings state you do not accept returns, which you should.  Therefore, the buyer does not have to return the item and they get a refund.  It's the Money back guarantee that ebay offers.  Sorry this was your experience, but this is how it works.

Accept returns. That way if you don't receive the item back, ebay will close the case in your favor. Good luck. 

[slati_2013]

I don't think that is correct. All my listings say "no returns", yet I accept any return and I refund the buyers when I get the item. Ebay does not automatically refund the buyer because the seller does not accept returns.

Where the OP went wrong was refusing to send a shipping label. If the item is faulty, then the seller must send a shipping label for the item to be returned. The seller did not and eBay refunded the buyer. 

[slati_2013]

You cannot refuse to pay for the return when the buyer claims the item is faulty or not as described. 

[ckimodog]

Honestly,the same thing happened to me. I used to have a no returns policy and a buyer stated it was no as described (and it was). I sent a label to the buyer and never received the item back.  The buyer was totally refunded and kept my item.  When I complained about it, that's what the CS rep in the US told me.  I have since changed to returns accepted. Lesson learned. 

Speaking from my similar experience and many others here who have posted the same here.  

[44sooze]

I am really surprised at this. I’ve always had ‘returns not accepted’ as my default but I don’t like people to be unhappy so if someone contacts me then I will accept a return. 
I can’t recall being asked to send a shipping label after I agreed to pay a partial refund. So, I have lost my money and there’s no comeback? That’s appalling!

[44sooze]

I’ve been looking into this and it seems to make no difference whether you accept returns or not. If someone raises an issue with eBay formally and says an item’s faulty you have to refund them (which I knew from past experience). 
It just seems to me that eBay take the buyer’s word for it and sellers have no say. I’m really annoyed that they issued a refund before the buyer had posted the item back. 

[44sooze]

I don’t recall being asked to issue a shipping label. Obviously I would have but I must have assumed eBay would do this automatically. All I remember is agreeing to give a refund for the item but not the postage. The buyer accepted this and then eBay refunded her.

[jrkirk]

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@44sooze wrote:

I’ve been looking into this and it seems to make no difference whether you accept returns or not. If someone raises an issue with eBay formally and says an item’s faulty you have to refund them (which I knew from past experience). 
It just seems to me that eBay take the buyer’s word for it and sellers have no say. I’m really annoyed that they issued a refund before the buyer had posted the item back. 

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As others have tried to explain, if you accept returns, then eBay gives sellers some protection in situations like this when buyers fail to return the item claimed to be INAD. If you want that protection from eBay, then change your seller settings to accept returns.

[mr_lincoln]

Good morning @44sooze ,

1. You may want to consider posting your issue on the UK Community, this is the US Community and some eBay features may vary slightly.

2. As someone else mentioned, if you do not accept returns you are opening yourself up to Buyers being able to file a claim, keep the item and get their money back.  We have seen that happen here many times.

3. You should seriously consider Accepting returns.  Here we can not FORCE a Buyer to keep an item they don't want.

4. That Buyer may know how the system REALLY works and just got the item free and only paid the postage for it.

5. In situations like yours always have the Buyer process an official return claim through eBay, DON"T try to arrange a return from them through eBay messaging.  You DO have Seller Protections, here is a link to the US Help Pages for that, the UK version may vary slightly.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protections?id=4345&st=12&pos=5&query=Sel...

Regards,

Mr. L

[lacemaker3 · Accepted solution]

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@44sooze wrote:

... I agreed to refund her the cost of the bear but not postage, which she surprisingly accepted straight away. eBay then went ahead and refunded her and now they've closed the case.  

...

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@44sooze 

I'm sorry, but when you offered a partial refund like that, you agreed that the buyer would be able to keep the item.

That's part of the terms when you offer a partial refund. If the buyer says that the item is damaged or not as described, then the seller has to pay for the return shipping AND refund the full payment, if you want to get the item back. If you don't want to pay for the shipping both ways, then you can offer a partial refund to cut your losses. But in this case, you are agreeing that the buyer does not have to return the item.

 Most eBay policies are the same on all their websites, and this is one of them. Here's a link to the policy on eBay UK.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handle-return-request-seller?id=4115#se...

[44sooze]

Thanks for that information. I had no idea…

[44sooze]

Thanks Mr L for your very polite and considered response. I didn’t realise I was posting on the US site but I think what you’ve said is similar in the UK from what I have found. 
I think I am just going to have to accept that I have lost a lot of money in this case and make sure I don’t do this again. I’ve tried to appeal to the buyer’s better nature but maybe she doesn’t have one…

[lacemaker3]

@44sooze, when you sent the offer of a partial refund, the buyer was told that if they accepted it, they would not need to return the item. The buyer didn't have to accept the partial refund, and if they hadn't, then they would have been required to return it for a full refund.

It's quite possible that your buyer thinks you are being unreasonable, and reneging on your offer. 

If you haven't accused the buyer of anything, then you might be able to apologize for the misunderstanding and offer to pay up-front for the return shipping. You should check the tone of the messages between you to see if that might work. It might, or might not.

I'm sorry this has worked out this way, but now you know.

[lightlily_arts]

You have posted inaccurate information.  There are still many sellers who state in their listings that they do not accept returns.  eBay does not automatically refund a buyer without requiring them to return the item when they open a Not as Described claim.  If the seller responds to the claim in a timely manner and issues a return shipping label the buyer is required to return the item for a refund.  If they do not return the item then their eBay claim will close without a refund issued.  Buyers will only get  refund without a return if the seller does not respond to the claim, or the seller elects to refund without requiring a return.