Trying to issue a refund for a lost package and the system won't let me. Help please.

[richard1rst]

I sent out a patch via eBay standard envelope. It seems to have gotten stuck in Texas. It has been over 30 days. The buyer filed a dispute with their financial institution. I filed a claim with PIP insurance and they reimbursed me within 24 hours. I tried to issue a refund through eBay but it said that since a dispute had been filed I could not issue a refund. I opened the claim and there is no option to issue a refund (seems strange). I am willing to issue a refund but at this point I am not sure of how to get it issued and the claim closed. Any suggestions?

[solidguitar1961]

Ebay will bill you for it . Since the buyer filed with their card there is no refund for you to give them

[richard1rst]

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@solidguitar1961 wrote:

Ebay will bill you for it . Since the buyer filed with their card there is no refund for you to give them

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Unfortunately, eBay will also bill me a $20.00 service fee. I was hoping that I could close it out before it got to that to avoid the fee.

[solidguitar1961]

They only charge the $20 fee if you fight a return and Ebay has to step in.

[richard1rst]

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@solidguitar1961 wrote:

They only charge the $20 fee if you fight a return and Ebay has to step in.

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OK. Thanks for that.

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

If they filed through their financial institution the refund would be a charge back and eBay  deduct from your account.  It sounds like you got hit by the North Houston sorting facility debacle. 

[richard1rst]

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@ebeths_eclectic_collectibles wrote:

If they filed through their financial institution the refund would be a charge back and eBay  deduct from your account.  It sounds like you got hit by the North Houston sorting facility debacle. 

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Which is what I explained to my buyer. Even to the point of sending him a link to the newspaper articles. But I can see that there is a limit to someone's patience. Fortunately PIP reimbursed me so I am only only out about $5.00. Not the end of the world. But in the mean time I thought I could use this case to learn the procedure.

[dbfolks166mt]

     You simply accept the dispute and eBay and the CC company will handle the refund process. Your fees should be returned except for the $.30 transaction fee. 

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

Really not much you can do and I don’t think EBay has said anything in regards to this issue. I had a small value item get hung there.  Buyer filed INR. Refund or or well will refund for you. No leeway there.  My item was delivered the day after I refunded 

I imagine there are some buyers out there full aware of the situation and taking advantage of it for free stuff

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Every time I see a sale is to Texas now, I cringe.

[albertabrightalberta]

It's frustrating when a buyer goes directly to their c.c. for the dispute. That should be the last resort.

[dbfolks166mt]

It's frustrating when a buyer goes directly to their c.c. for the dispute. That should be the last resort.

     What is more frustrating is eBay does nothing about it. While inexplicit the current laws covering chargebacks state just that but it puts the onus on the businesses as to how or if they address it. EBay could potentially refuse the chargeback from the CC company until the cardholder has submitted a claim/case through eBay's own process first but that would require resources which would eat into eBay's bottom line. 

     Cardholders have quickly learned that chargebacks are the path of least resistance coupled with the fact that they are generally not required to return the merchandise. EBay could monitor buyers for abuse and terminate the accounts of chronic chargeback buyers but that will probably never happen given the way they coddle the buyers. 

[richard1rst]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

It's frustrating when a buyer goes directly to their c.c. for the dispute. That should be the last resort.

     What is more frustrating is eBay does nothing about it. While inexplicit the current laws covering chargebacks state just that but it puts the onus on the businesses as to how or if they address it. EBay could potentially refuse the chargeback from the CC company until the cardholder has submitted a claim/case through eBay's own process first but that would require resources which would eat into eBay's bottom line. 

     Cardholders have quickly learned that chargebacks are the path of least resistance coupled with the fact that they are generally not required to return the merchandise. EBay could monitor buyers for abuse and terminate the accounts of chronic chargeback buyers but that will probably never happen given the way they coddle the buyers. 

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Which is exactly what the response I got from eBay said

(quote)

With payment disputes it is all up to the financial institution on the decision. We are not involved with this process and the outcome of what they find so we are not able to resolve the dispute as that is up to the financial institution. However, after they do make their decision we can always look to see what we can do. There is a $20 dispute fee that does get applied depending on the outcome.