Should i refund shipping on an issue not my fault?

[mojo4prez]

The item showed up as 

May 5, 2017, 9:13 pm Receptacle Blocked BROOKLYN, NY 11213 

meaning that there was a vehicle or some other object blocking the mailbox.

The item is being returned my way but should i refund seller the entire cost including shipping? Since the item isn't returned yet and way clearly thier fault...

[megadestroyers]

You don't!  Not until item is either delivered by USPS, or returned to you and in your possession.  The buyer and his post office own the limbo status of this item.  Be SURE where it is before even considering doing anything.

[yuzuha]

@mr_lincoln"Receptacle Blocked" can also mean that a mailbox is full of mail and thus the carrier can't fit anything else into it.  If there has been no contact from the buyer and no attempts made to pick up the package at the PO, my guess would be that the buyer may be ill/hospitalized/otherwise incapacitated and their mail has been piling up.

[mr_lincoln]

@yuzuha  Thanks Yuz!  Always good to hear from you ... I spoke to our Post Office on several occasions about packages and they make more than one attempt PLUS leave a note for customer to pick up ... perhaps those details were left out by the OP but to just say "oh can't deliver because something was in the way so we'll send it back" is not how the USPS operates.  But your point is valid.

[mr_lincoln]

@mojo4prez

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@mojo4prez wrote:

How do i refund partial with a hold on the item?

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Actually you are in a holding pattern with nothing to do until 1) the package is returned to you 2) Buyer opens an Item not received claim in the Resolution Center as early as one day past the delivery date or 3) you go to the Post Office in the am as previously suggested and have them go to work for you on what is going on in New York.   So @megadestroyers advice is prudent ... be patient, Buyer has no reason to leave you any negative FB because this is an obvious USPS issue not Seller and not Buyer.

[mr_lincoln]

@mojo4prez  Now, time for a little levity on this subject ... Elvis knows what going per this song below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU5xxh5UX4U&t=1m7s

[sockmonkeydave]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On3cQ0sPvSY

[yuzuha]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

@yuzuha  Thanks Yuz!  Always good to hear from you ... I spoke to our Post Office on several occasions about packages and they make more than one attempt PLUS leave a note for customer to pick up ... perhaps those details were left out by the OP but to just say "oh can't deliver because something was in the way so we'll send it back" is not how the USPS operates.  But your point is valid.

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@mr_lincolnYeah, I had one recently where no secure location was available for delivery, so USPS left a notice and held the package at the PO for pickup.  The tracking indicated that it would be held for two weeks before being sent back to me... fortunately the buyer picked it up a couple of days later, but I agree that I find it hard to believe that the USPS would just return something to sender without making multiple delivery attempts and holding it at the PO for pickup if all else failed.

[yuzuha]

I should also add that we got the in-person equivalent of a "Receptacle Blocked" notice for our work mailbox a couple of weeks ago... the carrier actually came upstairs to tell us that we needed to empty our mailbox since apparently my boss had forgotten to do so and it had filled up to the point where they couldn't fit anything else into it.

[loveyourimagination49]

To add in Dog, Flood, Missing Mailbox, Wasps. I could go on, but I won't.

[mojo4prez]

So i talk with Ebay was advised how to give a partial refund (since entire amount is on hold), you send them $ via paypal to thier email, then call ebay & give the transaction number and they will close out the hold/claim. 

Thanks for your help, i like the elvis song.

[mr_lincoln]

@yuzuha

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@yuzuha wrote:

I should also add that we got the in-person equivalent of a "Receptacle Blocked" notice for our work mailbox a couple of weeks ago... the carrier actually came upstairs to tell us that we needed to empty our mailbox since apparently my boss had forgotten to do so and it had filled up to the point where they couldn't fit anything else into it.

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Ah, easy fix to that one ... fire the Boss, problem solved.

[postingid2017]

@lintbrush* - is the sign really there?  I only ask because I live in northern NJ, but have not been to Brooklyn since '00.  I need to get out more, but I am afraid to drive in NYC & the surrounding boroughs 😞

And OP - I would not refund anything until the item arrives back minus shipping

[lintbrush*]

@postingid2017

Yes, they are really there.  Those two are the most fun, but there are a series of non-traditional Welcome to/Leaving Brooklyn signs

OP - And I 2nd, 3rd & 4th that...

I wouldn't refund one red cent until the item was back in my hands.

[penguins_dont_fly]

I've got an "Insufficient Address" in limbo right now. It's missing an apt/suite number 😞

I contacted the buyer to tell her that she would need to try to contact the USPS for redelivery. She responded "Sorry, working on it :)"

That was on the 3rd ... no movement in either direction on the Priority Mail package and no contact from the buyer since.

It's a waiting game. When I see the package moving back in this direction, ill contact her and give her the choice of repay shipping (PayPal invoiced) or refund minus original shipping ... when the item is returned to me

[retrose1]

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@mojo4prez wrote:

So i talk with Ebay was advised how to give a partial refund (since entire amount is on hold), you send them $ via paypal to thier email, then call ebay & give the transaction number and they will close out the hold/claim. 

Thanks for your help, i like the elvis song.

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NEVER, ever do that.  So you send them money in a seperate transaction and the buyer files and escalates a claim and you will not be able to prove the buyer got money, and ebay CS will not bother to look, no matter what you say.   So you will lose the extra money and the original money - insult to injury.

Is the money on hold because you are new and have limits OR did the buyer file a case?  Either way, when you get the item back,  you should immediately call ebay - fill out the problem page and then as the CS if they are in the US and if you have an accented one, just thank them, hang up and try again (the CS you get is on a shuffle now).  When you get a US rep in dispute resolution have them look at the tracking that says undeliverable, have them lift the hold on your payment so you can do the partial.

If it is a case, call now to get an extention to the case until the item gets back to you.