Refunded buyer for item not received then it was delivered the next day

[sherry28152]

I think I responded too soon to the case. The last time I dragged one out the buyer somehow turned everything around on me and I ended up with an unresolved strike against me. I did not let the time expire by the way. Anyway,  I sent a full refund the day after she opened a case. She was very nice about it, blaming the PO instead of me for the lost item. Tracking showed item was on it's way to her town and all updates stopped on 2/5/18. Since close to 2 weeks had passed, I agreed with her that the item was most likely lost. I refunded. The very next day the item showed delivered. I contacted her to let her know. She said she was on her way to a concert but would have her husband check for the package and assured me she still wanted the item after I suggested she mark it return to sender. I did ask for payment if it did indeed arrive. That was 3 days ago and I have heard nothing from her. Any suggestions as to how I get her to pay me in case she is ignoring me? We are not talking about a lot of money, about $15, but it's the principal of it. I hate feeling like I have been scammed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[emerald40]

You can only ask, but you cannot force her to pay.

What you should have done when you saw the item was stuck was to call the Post Office.  Their computers show more information and he could have told you it was getting close to the buyer.

Then you should have called ebay for an extension of time and notified your buyer it would probably reach her by next day.

[couldabeenworse]

I hate feeling like I have been scammed.

Very few buyers are scammers, and the odds that a buyer with a package that late is also a scammer are fairly slim.  Sounds like she was very patient with you, so I'd extend her the same courtesy.  I would wait until after the [postal] holiday weekend, and then politely ask if she has received the package and if so, would she like me to send a paypal invoice to make it easier to re-pay.

Sometimes I think sellers get a little too aggressive or otherwise imply the buyer is a crook, and that's in nobody's best interest.

[flyinhawaiiangirl]

We are not talking about a lot of money, about $15, but it's the principal of it. I hate feeling like I have been scammed......

You can stop feeling that way. You were NOT scammed. YOU just jumped the gun in sending the refund. This is NOT the BUYER'S fault, and this does NOT make the buyer a scammer. Very unfair to the buyer. Reread YOUR first sentence in your OP.

[chrysylys]

This is about the fourth or fifth thread like this in the last few days.  I have to begin to wonder if 'buyers' aren't getting this kind of suggestion somewhere else and applying here it here at even the hint of a delay.

[chrysylys]

And this to me might be an ideal situation where the new payment method could step in.  If a refund is given  like this and the item shows delivered with in the next day or so, the refund could be revoked and the funds returned to the seller.  Perhaps the refund could go 'pending' for a period of time where it could eventually go either way.

[couldabeenworse]

the refund could be revoked

That would be crazy in any situation, but especially if the refund was voluntary.

[duggmills]

Ay,  there's the rub. The Devil is in the details. (Yes, I capitalized Devil becsuse I always capitalize God)

"She said she was on her way to a concert but would have her husband check for the package and assured me she still wanted the item after I suggested she mark it return to sender. 

I assume she wasn't on her way to Madison Square Garden for George Harrison's Benefit Concerts for Bangladesh.  

"... would have her husband check for the package and assured me she still wanted the item, ... "  I'm sorry to say, that's your notice you aren't going to get paid. 

[sherry28152]

Yes I should have waited. I have had this happen many times over the years and to the best of my knowledge the package never arrived. Hindsight is 20/20 and lesson learned. I will not make the same mistake twice

[sherry28152]

I will do one better. I will give her a whole week before I ask her again.

To your thinking I was a little quick to think scam, here is why:

I have been hit 2 times in 2 days (not including this issue) with angry or untruthful buyers. First I get accused and lectured about a package arriving with postage due and how I should always add extra postage to the packages (she was irked to the max and rightfully so) BUT It was not my item. She had mixed up the sellers.

Second, I shipped a brand new makeup sponge that I inspected before shipping, shipped it in a new, clean , clear Ziploc bag and then the buyer accuses me of shipping her a used, dirty, nasty sponge that was covered in spots and had been washed to try to cover it up. 100% that did not happen because I know what I shipped, but I have to take the loss because the buyer is always right, even when she is not.

So forgive me if I seem a little skeptical of buyers at the moment.

[sherry28152]

Only time will tell. I hope you are right and I am wrong. If she received the package and ignores my request for payment, then she will be a scammer if she willfully ignores me.

By the way, I said I FELT like I was scammed, not that I WAS scammed. There is a difference you know

[timemachine777]

If they keep ignoring you, then you got scammed due to convenience.

[flyinhawaiiangirl]

Yes I agree. Big difference. You have the power to CHANGE the way YOU FEEL. But only you wield that power, so I think you should employ its use.

I'm sorry you had 2 bad transactions recently, I am. But don't assign those two people and their behavior to your third buyer. Again, that's not fair. I just had a few recent sales after a long drought. I am grateful for that and it motivated me to list a bunch more, and I sold two things today!

Every transaction is unique. Send her a message and ask how she enjoyed the concert? It had to have been a great time if she got to leave the hubby at home. LOL