Refund demanded after a week, and eBay went along with it!PLEASE READ!

[pineapple1951]

I sold some comics and sent it Media Mail. After 5 business days the buyer demanded a refund and eBay went along with it!Im a longtime seller, 100% in last 12 months and the package was listed IN TRANSIT by the tracking number supplied by the U.S.Post Office. This was last week, during Christmas rush (not to mention the Covid-19 situation) and he got the package the next day and closed the case.My question,why did eBay even consider going along with this total unreasonable request?

[therogue-trader]

"and he got the package the next day and closed the case"

You say ebay "went along with it", but the buyer closed the case?  So eBay didn't force you to refund the buyer...?  So eBay didn't go along with it?

[inhawaii]

Did you upload the tracking number to the case in the allotted time?

If you didn't, ebay will refund the buyer.

[pineapple1951]

Of course I did. If there was a reasonable reason I messed up, no problem.I received payment late Friday evening, tracking number was supplied the following Monday morning. This is a first, when people want the most inexpensive postage, then complain in a week.............

[pineapple1951]

The fact that the tracking number was supplied the next business day, was IN TRANSIT, EBay should have alerted the buyer he was being unreasonable, not demanded a refund from me. Going along means condoning bad behavior.This was bad behavior.Suppose the package arrived 3 days later?It was IN TRANSIT,beyond my control.EBay would be out of business, if it demanded REFUNDS after a week, during a pandemic and the last week of December. Agree?

Thank you for replying.

[coolections]

A buyer cannot escalate a case until AFTER the estimated delivery date. Media mail estimated delivery is farther out then 5 days. How many days after the buyer summitted a case did you respond ?   You state you entered the tracking on Monday but that is not what decides a case. When the buyer opened the case (most likely much later than 5 days), you had to enter the tracking into the actual case to win. It looks like you are leaving some info out of your opening statement.

[popblox]

Whether or not eBay forces a refund on an INR (only lately, due to additional protections because of USPS delays) is supposed to be based on the date of the most recent movement. I have items that show "In Transit", but haven't actually moved since Nov. 23. If the item shows movement within the last 10 days, eBay is supposed to automatically grant an additional 10 day extension. It's safe to say most sellers are going through similar situations right now - I currently have 33 INR cases open at the moment.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Seller-Protections-extended-for-shipping-delays-and-Nort...

To the best of my knowledge, eBay doesn't demand you issue a refund, they just take it and send a message that says "We took this money from you and gave it back to the buyer", usually accompanied by a short explanation as to why they took it. Do you have any more info on how eBay demanded a refund? Most of us want to help, we just need a few more details.

Regardless, if the case was closed by eBay in favor of the buyer and the item has since arrived, you still have 30 days from the date the case closed to file an appeal (this doesn't work if you voluntarily issued the refund).

https://www.ebay.com/help/returns-refunds/returns-refunds-sellers/appealing-decision-seller?id=4369&...

[inhawaii]

What was the ship date?

What was the estimated arrival date?

What was the date the case was opened?

What was the date of the refund?

[pineapple1951]

Good questions, but there was no refund due to receiving item.

Here’s the information copied from my eBay information.It’s was ordered Dec.4, which is a Friday and my P.O. isn’t opened on Saturday, it’s in a Federal Building. It was in the Post Office’s hands on Dec. 7. Read from the bottom, 8 days later, it was opened...........Thanks for replying, I appreciate your input.

Here's what happened........

Dec. 16

The buyer's request is closed

Comments

I Got it, Thanks.

Dec. 15

You added tracking details

Carrier:

USPS

Tracking number:

9549014545720342234438

Comments

I have sent the buyer an image of the tracking and it’s in transit arriving late by their update.This was posted 8 days ago and patience is expected during the Christmas riush not to mention the pandemic we all are dealing with.Demanding a refund is a bit premature and hopefully will arrive shortly.Thanks for your patience and I will do everything within my power to see you’re happy . Sincerely, Doug

Dec. 15

You sent a message

Comments

Sent 3 messages and an image of tracking, different from the usual eBay one.This was post 8 days ago and is in transit.

Dec. 15

The buyer didn't receive the item

Buyer requested

A refund

Comments

Item Has Not Arrived.

Show less

[pineapple1951]

Thanks for your input.See my reply to Inhawaii, see if you think EBay was a little quick to agree with the buyer, instead of spelling out a reasonable situation, regardless of what their “rules” are.I didn’t change one letter in my reply.I copied it from the messages from EBay.There are errors in spelling, so bare with me.Any opinions?

Thanks again.

[pineapple1951]

Thanks for your reply.See the actual information is down below and let me hear what you have to say.You seem reasonable and I would like to hear back from you.Thanks again.

(Not one thing was changed, I’m trying to get an honest read on this, not trying to make myself “look good “.I may be in the wrong, but I don’t think so.Tell your opinion.)

[backroomnoir]

No idea why eBay automatically approves return cases while the item is in transit, but I've had it happen a couple of times. 

When a buyer opens a return case while the item is still in transit, you should be able to deny the request and close the return.  

[weyland_pubs]

---

@popblox wrote:

Whether or not eBay forces a refund on an INR (only lately, due to additional protections because of USPS delays) is supposed to be based on the date of the most recent movement. I have items that show "In Transit", but haven't actually moved since Nov. 23. If the item shows movement within the last 10 days, eBay is supposed to automatically grant an additional 10 day extension. It's safe to say most sellers are going through similar situations right now - I currently have 33 INR cases open at the moment.

...

Regardless, if the case was closed by eBay in favor of the buyer and the item has since arrived, you still have 30 days from the date the case closed to file an appeal (this doesn't work if you voluntarily issued the refund).

 The tracking by the Post Office, on their site, has a different most recent movement date then the tracking offered by Ebay. For example, for my item, the tracking on USPS.com show "December 29 - item in transit" and the most recent tracking notation when you click on the tracking number in the "Orders" page in Seller Hub shows "December 25". Ebay seems to be using its own numbers/dates to facilitate refunds to buyers, to the detriment of sellers.  

...

Yes, the item was delivered a day after I refunded the buyer. The alternative was to refuse to do the refund - then Ebay would step in, refund the buyer and I would  receive a defect - which hurts my reputation and sales. So I chose to "voluntarily" (LOL) refund the buyer rather than receive a defect. Then when the item was delivered the next day, I went to file an appeal and the bot says "appeal not available." 

[pineapple1951]

They didn’t DEMAND a refund, they requested one.I replied.....

SEE REPLY AT TOP OF PAGE.

I just thought eBay should tell the buyer “to cool your jets” instead of requesting I refund his money.I expect common sense, not snap decisions.

[bimm_corp]

Your situation and others like it have been complained about on the selling boards ever since the USPS slowdown began. Dishonest buyers are quick to pick up on this and use eBay policies to commit outright theft on sellers. They know that when the item is delayed, they can open an INR at the soonest possible opportunity with the chances that eBay will issue a refund without the sellers' knowledge or permission. When the item finally arrives, they are in no way required by eBay to return either refund or item. "Free stuff on eBay" just like advertised on Youtube,

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+get+free+stuff+on+ebay

All with eBay's encouragement and participation.