I encountered an interesting situation which I believe it's quite unfair to sellers. I shipped an item to a buyer, UPS tried to deliver it multiple times where the receiver was not available to receive the package. Based on the tracking info, "The receiver was not available at the time of the final delivery attempt. / The package will be returned to the sender." Google maps street view shows the place being an apartment in a gated area.
Upon contacting ebay, they said it wasn't my fault as a seller since I did my part in shipping the item and tracking number shows the proof. They advised that I can do a partial refund return via paypal to the buyer, item cost - shipping/handle fee. I followed the instructions and did that.
Buyer opens a case saying that she wants the full refund, not just the amount I refunded. She will never buy from me again etc. I talked to Ebay again regarding what to do in this case. They said that I would need to provide the full refund to the buyer. I can only do partial refund if the buyer agrees, and since the buyer wants the full refund, I would need to give them the full refund. This is what I did. Item is sent back to me which is not a problem, but I lost money on paying for the shipping. And buyer gets full refund.
How is this fair to the sellers? If we, as sellers, completed our responsibilities in shipping the item, it is not our fault that the buyer weren't able to receive the package. So each time this happens, sellers would lose the shipping cost they paid for the order, but buyer does not take any responsibility for not receiving the package? (and let's be honest, shipping cost is not cheap $2.66 - $30+ depending on package. If this happens often, it'll just cut away at the profits and we'll be losing money on shipping).
