Why can't a transaction be cancelled within the first 48 hours of sale?

[dandfmarinesalvage]

So here is the issue I'm up against. Maybe someone will know the "work around" to this as ebays answer given to me was a bit shocking and in my opinion unacceptable. Having been a seller here for 15 years I've really tried to do my best with creating a positive customer experience and this is definitely not conducive to my cause. 

I sold an item this morning with "free shipping" to the lower 48. A purchaser in Puerto Rico buys said item. This adds to my shipping cost which most times if it's not a substantial amount. I go ahead and eat the increased shipping cost. In this case when I went to see what the shipping cost was, of course it wouldn't let me proceed as the Puerto Rico shipping address was well over the 40 character limit. So I proceed to relay to the purchaser that the sale would need to be cancelled, shipping address altered to within parameters and if there was a substantial difference in shipping cost due to their Puerto Rico location it would need to be quoted and added to the listing prior to purchase. 

For whatever reason ebay kept giving me error messages for hours after purchase when I tried to cancel the transaction. A CSR informed me that I'd have to wait 2 days before it would allow me to cancel? WHAT? That's bizarre. I will paste the conversation below but does anyone know how to get this transaction cancelled WITHOUT having to make the customer wait 2 days? Surely the CSR I dealt with was just misinformed or unknowingly gave me incorrect information? I just want to get this resolved and don't expect my buyer to wait 2 days to do so.

Hi, this is Ethel of eBay and I'll be assisting you today.

Ethel

Me-Great, I have an order that was placed this morning that needs to be cancelled due to an issue with the buyers address.

Me-However regardless of how I try to cancel the transaction, I get an error page.

Such as "well that didn't go as planned". The issue has persisted for several hours. The buyer has been informed of the address issue and has been given options to repurchase the item however that cannot be done until the order is cancelled.

Ebay-Oh let me check

Me-xx-xxxxx-xxxxx is the order number. Can you assist in manual cancellation of this order so the purchasers funds are available to them and the order is cancelled?

Ebay-Thank you.

Ethel

Ebay-Sorry about that.

Ethel

Me-No problem. Just want to get the order cancelled and a refund to the buyer in as timely manner as possible.

Ebay-alright. As the item was just purchased today, you may go ahead and proceed with the cancellation after 2 days of the purchase.

Ethel

Me-Unfortunately I cannot wait 2 days to do so as I offer "same or next day" shipping. That will result in a shipping defect on my account. This has never been an issue in the past doing immediate cancellation, I am not sure why it would be now. I cannot provide premium customer service to my buyers if I'm required to wait 2 days before proceeding with a cancellation.

Ebay-If this reflect on your account for any late shipment you can let us know so we can see what can be done. Once item has been canceled should not reflect that is not yet ship anymore.

Ethel

Me-So there is no way to cancel this transaction without waiting 48 hours? My goal is to provide my customers with top notch service and a 48 hour hold on a customers funds for a cancelled transaction is going to lead to less than stellar buyer experience. Surely this is not ebay's current policy?

Ebay-I hear you. Kindly let the buyer know that it will be canceled. I believe that a continues and friendly communication, will always address any concerns.

Ethel

Me-Wow, this is truly a shocking conversation. I appreciate your time though. Thank you and have a good day.

Ebay-You're welcome. Thank you for contacting and choosing eBay. Wish you all the best. Stay safe always.

[releasethekraken_1]

When the software is working properly, a seller can cancel as soon as the listing ends. As often happens, the CSR either misunderstood, or was just making things up. Try again using a different device.

Also, trying to charge someone extra for shipping will cause problems with your account that you really don't want to have.

[buyselljack2016]

@dandfmarinesalvage 

Have not run into the can not cancel for 48 hrs issue, but sometimes an address can be abbreviated to get under the 40 characters without being a problem.

Are you attempting to print on eBay?

Have you tried directly at PayPal?

[dandfmarinesalvage]

Why would charging for shipping cause an issue? I'm genuinely curious as I've never had that issue before. I've always (for many years anyway) offered "free shipping" to the lower 48 and for anyone outside of the 48 they were welcome to purchase thru ebay GSP or they could inquire for a shipping quote and if the amount was agreeable the listing was changed to accommodate that. In the past with a case like this, I simply got a quote to Puerto Rico, then got a quote to Florida and subtracted which gave a rough estimate of difference but what the purchaser usually opted to do is have items shipped to somewhere in the lower 48 and then I assume forwarded on to them using a freight forwarder, family member etc. So I'm curious how that would be outside of ebay policy or how it should be handled differently?

[kensgiftshop]

@dandfmarinesalvage 

No, you don't have to wait 2 days to cancel an order, it can be canceled a minute after it was placed.

[dandfmarinesalvage]

Yes this is using ebays label system. I do not and have not used paypal in a year and a half. As to the abbreviation of the address. I made it a point to not alter shipping addresses in any way a couple of years ago and leave that to the buyer to correct. On ebay alone we ship an average of 1,800 packages a year and have had just a couple instances in the past where an address was changed (even just abbreviated etc) and then were disallowed any protections under ebays "seller protections" simply for altering the shipping address even though at the time it seemed harmless and necessary. There are some VERY witty scammers on ebay that are VERY astute and know how to work that system. So we've made it a point to not alter the ebay supplied shipping address regardless of how minor or trivial the change seemed to us.

[dandfmarinesalvage]

I really believe you are correct as I've been in this for a LONG time and as far back as I can remember that has been the case. I feel like this is simply a server or software "glitch" not allowing the cancellation but why couldn't the ebay CSR see that or manually cancel it on their end and where in the world would they get the information they supplied me of having to wait 2 days to be able to cancel? Seemed like a really odd answer for them to give.

[buyselljack2016]

in the past where an address was changed (even just abbreviated etc) and then were disallowed any protections under ebays "seller protections" simply for altering the shipping address even though at the time it seemed harmless and necessary.

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That statement appears whenever you make a change.  As I understand it, it is not an automatic disqualification of protection.  More of a "blanket warning".

If you have actually been harmed by that then of course the choice is yours.

Seems maybe you need to check the shipping restrictions box for AK, HI, and protectorates in the listings where shipping cost is more.

Some do that with a note in the listing to contact the seller for rates.