Should I refund shipping to this buyer?

[uzumakey]

I have a 3 business day handling window, and shipped out 2 business days after receiving payment - tracking started updating as soon as I dropped the package off. It's now been about 10 days since I mailed out and the buyer messaged me saying that they hadn't received the item. 

I checked tracking updates and the item has finally reached the buyer's state (though not their city yet) and the USPS update states that the item is "arriving late." I do expect the item to be delivered, but at this point it's 4 days past the expected delivery date. 

The item purchased was $2 and it cost $3 to ship, so I'm not even making back the cost of the item. However this buyer has a few negatives and neutrals on each page of their feedback left for sellers, so I'm pretty sure she will treat me similarly for an imperfect transaction, even if this is USPS's issue really.

What would other sellers do in this situation? Is a shipping refund warranted? I have less than 500 feedback on this account so a negative would impact my score significantly.

[berserkerplanet]

>>even if this is USPS's issue really

No it isn't. In eBay land it is your problem.

The only thing shipping and getting acceptance within your stated handling time provided was defense against a late shipping ding on your metrics (and shipping on time protects TRS metrics if applicable)

eBay now considers the Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) to be part of the item description - if delivered late it is legitimately SNAD by eBay interpretation of policy if the buyer doesn't want it at that point (bought another, was disappointed it was a day late, whatever). So that is where you stand in this situation. (Natural disasters that cause shipping delays and acknowledged by eBay excepted)


Not sure what sort of answer you are expecting to your title question - there is no cut and dried answer or protocol. You could refund their entire purchase amount plus shipping, give them an extra $20, and they can still leave a negative feedback. You have NO policy defense against that.

You need to decide based on the feel of the transaction - will a token refund of the shipping cost appease the buyer or not? So far it sounds like they were just inquiring, but the feedback left you mentioned may indicate more than that.

The question becomes: are they the type of buyer that would still leave a neg even if you fully refund, publicly apologize, and promise to put their snowflake through college to make up for the late delivery tragedy.

Comes down to how reasonable the buyer is and if a token refund mitigates their miffedness. If you don't think they can be appeased, apologize (just to play the game), keep your money, take your neg, respond to it factually (if warranted depending on the content), and move on. If $3 will shut them up decide if a neg is worth $3.

Remember though, they can always claim SNAD, for the legitimate "beyond EDD" reason or any made up reason, and force a return on your dime. So you are trying to forstall that also (they can still leave a neg then too I think)

[lex-talon]

At this point in time, do nothing. 

Just be prepared for a INR case coming your way. 

[myangelandmyprincess]

Was this one of ebays guarantee delivery dates or just an estimated delivery date ?

[doubledz-a2z]

Check to see if your buyer is in area where weather has affected travel.  Mother Nature rules folks.  Then common sense.

[a_c_green]

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@lex-talon wrote:

At this point in time, do nothing. 

Just be prepared for a INR case coming your way. 

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I would also send him a link to his own tracking number on the usps.com page, so that he can look up the tracking history himself, and see that it's on the move and about to be delivered. This might steer his attention away from you and towards his post office.

Not knowing anything specific is probably more frustrating to him than if he can at least see where his own post office is telling him that his package is at the present time.

[goodluckselling]

I would wait until it shows delivered then send a message letting the buyer know you have been monitoring the tracking and see it has been delivered.  Then tell them you are going to issue a refund on the shipping portion for the troubles with the delayed delivery from the post office.

Good Luck Selling!

[uzumakey]

LOL...smashing my nads in a vise in penance. No nads, but some buyers really do seem to take that tactic.

I ended up profusely apologizing by message and refunding their shipping. They seemed more on the "I'm too lazy/dopey to check USPS tracking" side than "you better give up your firstborn to me for this lost package" so I'm hoping that'll suffice.

I told them I'd refund for the item too if it didn't arrive in a few days, which is what will probably happen. Maybe it'll arrive in a month, who knows, but right now the package has just been sitting in the same facility for almost 9 days. Thanks, USPS.

[myboardid]

When shipping is late - and it happened quite often back in December, I apologize profusely,  and sign both the buyer and myself up for email notices fromt he Post Office, so that they can see the progress the package is (or isn't making) on its way to them. 

I have only had one package disappear, never to be found, in the last 7-8 years.  I ended up having to re-ship that one.  All the others eventually made it to their destination.  I have never refunded a penny for any of those, although I have offered to accept a return and give a full refund.  No one has ever taken me up on that offer.   Some of the packages were guaranteed delivery and I suggested they contact eBay about the promises they make for that situation.  I don't know if any of the buyers ever actually did that. 

[uzumakey]

You have more faith in your buyers than I do. I try to do everything I can to avoid a neg on my main selling account, because it means I'll then have to manually move over all my listings to an alternate account - one neg would probably drop me down 95% feedback.

I figure if someone is totally bypassing any common sense - in this case, glancing at the tracking number to see where their package is - they won't understand that a postal delay is out of the seller's hands and be willing to wait. Many buyers on here seem to lack basic empathy for their sellers so I try to keep that in mind.

[myboardid]

Your buyer could leave you a neg no matter what you do, no matter if you give him a full refund and he gets to keep the item.  If it arrived perfect and on time, he could still do so.  Nothing you do can prevent that. 

I've been here a long time, and have been lucky enough to have received maybe 5 negs in 21+ years and over a million sales in that time.  One of my few negs was from someone who tried to use Paypal and had some sort of problem doing so, and negged me because of it.  I had no control over it, and you don't have any either. 

I've also learned that a neg doesn't affect my sales at all.  Lots of my competition has horrible feedback, but if the item they sell is 5 cents cheaper than my identical one, buyers buy from them.   You've done what you can.  Be polite, don't allow him to abuse you, and let it go.