Return to sender, insufficient address

[pricedtosell]

I had an item returned to me for insufficient  address. Now the buyer put in a "did not receive claim" eBay is telling me that I have to refund them the full amount including the shipping, relist it so the buyer can repurchase it. And as a seller I would be out the shipping cost as eBay looks at that as a cost of doing business....

When did the policy change? I thought in the past if a package was sent back to sender for wrong address, it was not the sellers responsibility  to do anything and eBay would back us?

I don't mind refunding the buyer for the item but not the shipping costs.... as it cost me nearly 10.00 to ship the darn thing... Is this right, do I have to refund the buyer the full amount and take a loss for their mistake?

Do sellers have any rights anymore?

Sincerely, pricedtosell 

[mam98031]

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@pricedtosell wrote:

I communicated through Facebook eBay Business.  eBay business actually sent me the same link that you provided above in a facebook message and continued to say I had to refund her in full including shipping. I questioned it as in the link. She said....where did you get that information, I said that you had just sent me that link. She said well that is wrong and basically said that I could keep messaging her but she would no long respond.....

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Some clarity is needed here.

elizabeth@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

devon@ebay 

The OP's issue is the buyer gave them an incorrect address on their order.  The item was return back to the OP because of the bad address.  The buyer filed an INR.  Customer service seems to be telling the OP that they must refund the entire purchase the buyer paid.

While I don't see any recent changes in the MBG, this in the past as been an INR that would close in the Seller's Favor.  It would then be up to the seller if they were going to refund the buyer, Ebay would not force the seller to refund.

I have always encouraged seller in this position to refund the buyer less the original shipping and any non recoverable Ebay fees.

What if anything has changed?  Why is CS telling this seller differently?

[mam98031]

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@jerseyboymusic wrote:

@pricedtosell 

In my opinion, good business sense is to refund in full when you receive the item, but I would deduct the cost of shipping.

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Why?  It isn't the seller's fault the buyer gave them an incorrect ship to address.  Why should the seller pay for the buyer's mistake if they don't have to?

I have always encouraged seller in this position to refund the buyer less the original shipping and any non recoverable Ebay fees.  That to me is fair.

[mam98031]

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@pricedtosell wrote:

It won't let me refund the money , minus the shipping,  since he opened a claim.

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Just wait if you can.  I've tagged the thread in the hopes of getting the correct info to you.  I understand you are just trying to take care of this in the way you should, but you are getting bad information from CS.

Once the INR gets closed in your favor, you can then issue a partial refund.  I encourage you to wait

[mam98031]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

Speculating that you win the INR claim.

Then, after you receive the item back, refund less the shipping. And other small fees if you want to do that. 

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It isn't speculation.  The OP should win the INR according to the rules.  I did post them up thread.

[janet9988]

Was it an item that had free shipping ?

[jjddmwi]

I'm watching this thread with much interest   OP should not have to refund the shipping amount.   Wow.😳👎

It is the buyers responsibility to provide the correct address.  Buyer did not do that.  Buyer should not receive shipping back.   How is that the seller's fault?

(Although I  am in agreement with everyone that the buyer should be refunded the purchase price since you have your item back.)

[mam98031]

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@janet9988 wrote:

Was it an item that had free shipping ?

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That does not have anything to do with this.  The rules are the buyer should not win the INR, period.  The seller shipped to the address the buyer gave them and the address was incorrect.  Free Shipping or not, does not matter.

I did tag the thread for someone from the Community Team to stop in and clarify things.  Up thread I did post the actual policy for what the OP is dealing with.

[lakefor94]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@lakefor94 wrote:

Speculating that you win the INR claim.

Then, after you receive the item back, refund less the shipping. And other small fees if you want to do that. 

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It isn't speculation.  The OP should win the INR according to the rules.  I did post them up thread.

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@mam98031 

I was speculating and that is exactly what I meant due to the info provided by the eBay Facebook Reps which contradicts what we both interpret as the outcome. I would like to believe the seller would win the INR.

Our interpretation of the outcome is subject to the buyer reaching out to CS and getting them to pull the trigger on a refund and defect going to the seller. It has happened in the past in one type of case or another. 

When a defect is on the line, I am not leading the seller down a path unless I know for absolute certainty of the outcome.

Good idea @mam98031 to bring in clarity from the blues.

[mam98031]

It isn't just my interpretation.  It is what I've experienced in the past and the policies have not changed as I posted earlier in this thread.

We far to often have threads where members have gotten incorrect information from Ebay CS.  This is another one of those times.  But so that everyone can feel comfortable in what I've stated I've tagged the thread so that the Community Team will pop in and clarify for everyone.

[kyle@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@pricedtosell wrote:

I communicated through Facebook eBay Business.  eBay business actually sent me the same link that you provided above in a facebook message and continued to say I had to refund her in full including shipping. I questioned it as in the link. She said....where did you get that information, I said that you had just sent me that link. She said well that is wrong and basically said that I could keep messaging her but she would no long respond.....

---

Some clarity is needed here.

elizabeth@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

devon@ebay 

The OP's issue is the buyer gave them an incorrect address on their order.  The item was return back to the OP because of the bad address.  The buyer filed an INR.  Customer service seems to be telling the OP that they must refund the entire purchase the buyer paid.

While I don't see any recent changes in the MBG, this in the past as been an INR that would close in the Seller's Favor.  It would then be up to the seller if they were going to refund the buyer, Ebay would not force the seller to refund.

I have always encouraged seller in this position to refund the buyer less the original shipping and any non recoverable Ebay fees.

What if anything has changed?  Why is CS telling this seller differently?

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Hey @mam98031 thanks for checking in.  It definitely sounds like there was some miscommunication/misunderstanding somewhere along the line when OP was speaking with CS.  
To be clear, nothing has changed with this policy.  What you posted here is still correct.  As long as tracking shows evidence of attempted delivery to the right location, the INR should end up in the seller's favor.  

It's likely too early to escalate, but once that time comes, I think this claim will be pretty quick and painless to get closed.  

[asset_liquidators]

That's what she was trying to do but it won't let her do it. It is forcing her to refund in FULL even though the buyer (and eBay) gave her an invalid address to ship to.

[asset_liquidators]

The eBay reps on social media are as wortless as the phone reps you get from the Philippines. They used to be helpful and could get stuff done. Now they will flat out lie to you and don't care.

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

Hi @pricedtosell . As Mam, Kyle from eBay, and several others told you, you are not required to refund the buyer in full. In fact, you're not required to refund the buyer at all (though I would do a partial).

Because a formal Item Not Received (INR) claim was opened, your first action should be replying to the INR to confirm tracking, then go back to it in a few days and "ask eBay to step in" at which point eBay will close the INR in your favor.

As long as the INR is open your only refund option is to refund in full through the INR, so get the claim closed in your favor.

After the INR is closed you can go to the transaction and use "send refund" to send the buyer a partial refund for item cost less original shipping and non-refundable fees.

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For future reference, this is my standard advice for RTS (returned to sender) packages. Take the parts that are relevant to your situation.

You have a few options. You should decide which route you'll be taking and communicate with the buyer, but wait until the item is returned (and delivered) to you before you take any of the following actions.

• You can refund the buyer the item cost minus original shipping and minus a portion of your eBay fees (fee credits are prorated on a partial refund so you won't get back fees on the shipping amount you withhold). Go to your orders page, find the transaction and select "send refund." On the next page enter the amount. After that, relist the item and if you still want to work with this buyer you can tell them to repurchase it with the correct name/address.
• Have the buyer sort out their address issue then pay for re-shipping. Send them an invoice through PayPal or give them your PayPal e-mail. This is post-sale so it's OK to exchange e-mail addresses. It's also OK to ship to a different address because it's technically not tied to the original transaction. You would not purchase the shipping label through eBay or upload tracking to the transaction. You would purchase it from an alternate site like pirateship.com or paypal.com/shipnow and you can send the buyer the new tracking # through e-mail or eBay messages.
• A different way to accomplish buyer payment for re-shipping is to create an eBay listing for the shipping cost (bumping it up to factor in eBay fees) and having the buyer purchase it, entering their correct address at checkout. You could purchase a shipping label through eBay for that transaction.
• You can cancel the transaction "problem with address" which will trigger a full refund to the buyer and your FVF would be credited.
• You can do nothing. The buyer's MBG protection is voided when there's a package delivery attempt. I don't recommend this because even though you'll win an INR (item not received) claim on eBay, there's nothing stopping that buyer from going to their credit card to file a dispute and why deal with all that? I also think handling it before it gets to this stage with a partial refund is the "right" thing to do if you're not going to make reshipping arrangements.
• You might also want to direct the buyer to this page so their address is updated for future purchases: Account Settings: Addresses

[mam98031]

Thank you Kyle for clarifying this for those that were unsure.  

Happy New Year  !!!!!

[mam98031]

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@asset_liquidators wrote:

That's what she was trying to do but it won't let her do it. It is forcing her to refund in FULL even though the buyer (and eBay) gave her an invalid address to ship to.

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The OP just needs to leave the INR alone.  It will eventually close in their favor if the tracking is uploaded and shows that delivery was attempted but the address was bad.  After the INR closes, the OP will be able to issue a partial refund.