We have some ISSUES with the New Improve Cancellation Process For Sellers!

[mam98031]

Twice this week I've had issues with the new and improved Cancellation process.  I should say it is New and Improved to me as it has been awhile since I've had the need to file one.  

Earlier this week I had to file one to cancel an order due to a bad address.  Sounds simple, but it did not turn out that way.  A package was returned to me as undeliverable stating the address was "vacant".  So I contacted by buyer and they choose just to be refunded for the item less the original shipping.

So I go to file a cancellation.  With a reason of a bad address.  NO where does it say they are going to refund the buyer in full if I hit the "DONE" button.  But that is exactly what happened.  My buyer was fullly refunded so I'm out the original shipping when I should not have been.  

So next time I'll do the refund in PayPal first and then go issue the cancellation.  But wait, if I do that will it issue the balance that I did not originally refund?  IDK!!

To complicate things, this was an ERROR on or in the shipping label program.  I have NEVER seen this before.  The buyer did NOT make a mistake on their address, it was the label system that did.

This isn't the real info, but just to show what transpired.

In Ebay & PP the address showed as:

Valorie Kook, 123765

Mainstreet Shopping Center, PO Box 127002

Anywhere, WA  98700

But what printed on the label was

Valorie Kook, 123765

7002

PO Box 12

Anywhere, WA  98700

Odd stuff to be sure.  Any thoughts?

Problem two.  Since this was odd and I thought I'd take a look at the cancellation process for other reasons, I went in to look at the screen for cancelling with a reason of Buyer Request.  I selected an item I shipped this morning, but being extra careful not to accept to hit enter on anything on the screen.  To my surprise, there is no Refund button on this improved screen either.  There use to be a Refund button.  It just has the "DONE" button.

So I backed out of the screen so as not to actually file the cancellation and I closed the browser just to be safe.

A few minutes later I got an message from Ebay that I had cancelled the order an it was approved.  SAY WHAT????  What is happening here?  I've shipped this item and now I'm out the money too.  

[millcreekrescue909]

Did you call eBay?

[mam98031]

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@millcreekrescue909 wrote:

Did you call eBay?

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Not yet, I wanted to see if any of the other sellers out there may have had any of these issues before.

[blueeggsandspam]

Not that exact issue, but something similar. I thought I was clicking on a link for more information on guaranteed delivery, but instead it enrolled me in guaranteed delivery.    They need to put a confirm button back into the information flow on a lot of these screens. 

[threshold.sales.group]

Fwiw, I think the current ebay system only allows a partial refund in two situations 1. Remorse return where additional / special shipping was paid 2.  "Free Return" up to 50% for item returned damaged or other fraud. Other than those two limited instances I think the refund via ebay has to always be full. 

My guess is that your hunch is right about doing a full refund less shipping via paypal. When you go to cover the large % of sale price refund on ebay to avoid a defect, the system will simply refund the remaining funds in that transaction.  

[coffeebean832]

I saw a similar address issue the other day when I was comparing the eBay label cost to other shipping sites. I didn't use the eBay label.

Cancelling for problem with buyer's address has always resulted in a 100% refund. I refund through PayPal, subtracting original shipping and fees then send an eBay message to confirm it. I don't attach an order cancel.

Cancelling without clicking the done button then seeing a cancel go through anyway- that I haven't experienced and it's not comforting to read about.

[mam98031]

I think you may have something there.  But typically the Cancellation system is not dependant upon the rules that govern Returns.  They are two separate things.  But who knows, they may now consider it all the same.

[millcreekrescue909]

Isn't your issue actually that it was refunded without you pressing the "Done"  button?

[mam98031]

My point isn't as much that they are giving a full refund as it did NOT say any kind of refund would be issues.  That is NOT how the pages use to read.  We were always told that a refund would happen and the button to go forward said REFUND.  

None of that appears anymore and the button now reads "DONE".  

Why does Ebay do this kind of stuff.  What was once a simple process is now made complicated for NO GOOD reason.  Change for the sake of change is rarely a good idea.  Yet Ebay does it FAR too often.

@Anonymous

tyler@ebay

[mam98031]

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@millcreekrescue909 wrote:

Isn't your issue actually that it was refunded without you pressing the "Done"  button?

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YES on the second problem listed in my opening statement.  I did NOT click that button and in fact backed out of the screen and closed my browser.  Yet the cancellation went through.  YIKES !!

[goodluckselling]

 Here is a link to the help pages for sellers.  Click Here

Buyer-requested cancellations

If a buyer has contacted you and asked you to cancel the order, they’ll need to file a cancellation request with you.

Once you receive their request, you’ll have 3 days to approve or decline it. If you approve it and the buyer has already paid for the item, you have 10 days to issue them a refund.

Here is a link to the help pages for buyers.  click here

Canceling an order that's already in progress   

If it's been more than an hour since your purchase, or if the seller has already dispatched your order by marking it as shipped or uploading tracking information, you can't cancel your order by yourself. You'll need to contact the seller and ask them to cancel it for you. Here's how:

1. Go to Purchase history and find the order you want to cancel.
2. From the More actions dropdown, select Contact seller.
3. Choose Request to cancel this order, then Contact the seller.
4. Explain to the seller why you need to cancel, and select Send.

If the seller agrees to cancel the order, they have 10 days to refund you through the same method you used to pay.

Both of these directions instruct the buyer to open a request.  If an item has already been shipped, I think your options are limited to these directions if you have made a partial refund agreement with your buyer. 

A seller following these directions would indicate to me that eBay expects you to go to paypal and make the refund which would have allowed you to refund less the shipping charges.  refund you through the same method you used to pay.

Now the questions come up after you refund the buyer through Paypal.  How do you void out the cancellation request?

Good Luck Selling!

[mam98031]

Thank you.  I know how to open them and use the cancellation system.  My point is they have changed the screens without a heads up or anything.  They function differently than they use to.  

On problem number 2 I described, I did NOT open a cancellation.  I did NOT click on the button to open it.  It was arbitrarily opened by Ebay.

[adkhighker]

"So next time I'll do the refund in PayPal first and then go issue the cancellation.  But wait, if I do that will it issue the balance that I did not originally refund?  IDK!!"

If you didn't want to click on any "Issue a refund" link in paypal or ebay, couldn't you just issue the amount of the refund you want to issue by doing it through the buyer's email address that's provided to you in the paypal transaction and issuing it as a gift? 

[mam98031]

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@adkhighker wrote:

"So next time I'll do the refund in PayPal first and then go issue the cancellation.  But wait, if I do that will it issue the balance that I did not originally refund?  IDK!!"

If you didn't want to click on any "Issue a refund" link in paypal or ebay, couldn't you just issue the amount of the refund you want to issue by doing it through the buyer's email address that's provided to you in the paypal transaction and issuing it as a gift? 

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Yes you can do that, but there are some things you need to consider when you do that.

Ebay will not know that there was a refund on the transaction and therefore if your buyer for whatever reason they may have files some kind of claim, they could get refunded twice.

You do not get your Ebay FVFs back.

You do not get your PP fees back for the refund.

[goodluckselling]

I wish I had a better answer for you.  I rarely have any issues that get reported here in the forum. When ever I do a buyer requested cancellation we just refund in full. 

The time to complete these instances is not worth the shipping costs.  Not every transaction is going to produce a profit and we are a registered business so at least we can deduct this business expense. 

We believe it really is part of doing business.  Both B&M business and online ecommerce business have advantages and disadvantages

I think the help pages for the seller is lacking instruction for these kind of options and that should be updated.

I still think that any refund needs to go through a request and payment from Paypal.  The problem that brings up to me is that once a seller approves a buyer request to cancel

1. does the action of approving the buyer cancel request auto refund in full?
2. as instructed in eBay help page once we approve the buyers cancel request does this allow us to go to paypal and issue the partial refund?

I think eBay talked about this back a few months ago in the weekly chat and or in a thread where they had very direct words that said all refunds need to be attached to a request (something like that) and that is why the process as you noted has changed.

Good Luck Selling!