What to do after this case is closed / can it be reopened?

[greatdesertdeals]

I accidentally posted and sold a women’s XL golf polo as a men’s XL. Item arrived and buyer said it was a women’s. I said my apologies you can open a return at no cost to you. A return is opened for wrong time sent and it gets automatically accepted. I hear and see no updates for 20 days. On the 20th day the buyer the buyer messages me asking to resend the label to him. I tell him on eBay sellers don’t have access to that and that the return was already opened and he should have the label, if not contact customer support. Buyer says that I am at fault and that at this point I should just refund and not worry about the return. I tell the buyer that I’m sorry for the confusion but the return was already started and that a free shipping label has been provided to him and that he can check his eBay page or email for the label and if he can’t find it ebay customer support can help him.

2 days later a case is opened and I see that my funds are on hold. I call eBay customer support and the support staff says that the buyer did not return the item and that they will close the case in my favor and the call ends. I decide to call again because I’m confused on how this process works and the next eBay representative says that I tried to help the buyer and that the buyer failed to return the item on time and that the case was ruled in my favor.

My question is what do I do from here? Can the buyer reopen this case or?

Thanks for the help.

[simba6 · Accepted solution]

They can't reopen that case but they can do a charge back if paid by credit card or file a case with the payment service used.   Since you said it was your fault, I would just give them a full refund.

[reallynicestamps]

Your time is worth money.

Here in BC it's worth 27c a minute.

Has all your fussing taken more time at 27c a minute than the cost of the shirt?

[4pawsup*]

Yes give them a refund. Why would you make this the buyers fault? Refund and learn from your mistake. Not doing so could be more costly to your reputation than the cost of the shirt.

[farmalljr]

I would not refund them either. Yes, seller made a mistake. Not good, but it happens sometimes. The seller has every right to get their items BACK before refunding a buyer. The seller IS after all, PAYING the shipping both ways. 

I think the return window should be 5 business days after you open a return. This 30 days is dumb. Just like this buyer, people sit on their hands for almost a month and it's dumb. Return the item IF you want your money back. Then because this buyer didn't print out the label when eBay gave it to them, they just want the seller to "gift" them their money back. That's totally out of line and ridiculous. 

Yes, the seller made a mistake. They will get the demerit on their performance too. Doesn't mean the buyer is ENTITLED to a freebie. 

[gurlcat]

Exactly!  And the way the buyer tried to browbeat the seller into just giving the money back and "not worry about the shirt"  -that's some nerve, when all they have to do is put the shirt back in the package, tape it closed and slap on the return label.  There's absolutely no reason they would think they need the label to be "re-sent" to them -it's in the email from eBay, and you can print it as many times as you want!

[greatdesertdeals]

Thank you I appreciate your insight and response! I did make a mistake but I told the buyer a few times I would issue a full refund once the item was returned with a return label I paid for.

[greatdesertdeals]

Thanks for the response. I have dealt with a number of returns since starting eBay as well as issues where I sent a full refund and had the buyer keep the item. But this instance was strange because the return was accepted but then after a month the buyer wanted a full refund and to not return the item. I appreciate your response.

[gurlcat]

The only time I let a buyer keep the item on a refund is if it arrived broken beyond resell-ability.  This is not because I have an us-vs-them mindset about buyers, I love them and feel awful when I mess up, and apologize profusely.  Nor is it about pinching every penny.  You will always have seller saying stuff like this ^27 cents a minute reply, to imply that you are over-concerned about small amounts of money.  

No.  The reason I always expect my item returned is eBay is already enough of a scam buyer's paradise, BECAUSE there are so many sellers who will give with a little push.  And I am not in the business of teaching good buyers how to be scam buyers.  -Nobody gets a refund from brick and mortar stores without putting on clothes and shoes and driving the item back, so the least an online buyer can do is repack a flippin' box and put it in the mailbox!