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@gurlcat wrote:After over a year of no returns, I got a 1-2 punch earlier this month: 2 returns, both 'non-fault' ("Just didn't like it," and "Changed my mind") but I offer free returns so they already have the shipping labels, and the tracking numbers are sitting in 'Pre-shipment' on my USPS Informed Delivery page, day after day. The total time for each of them, before I can request cancellation, is 3 weeks, including weekends (I suppose there's probably a 'business days' wording in the policy, just saying 3 weekends will also be attached/included).
I have no beef with the 30 day return policy as far as FILING a return, but once a buyer has decided that's what they want to do, I don't understand why they have so long to simply tape the package back together, slap on the label and take it to the post office or have it picked up. I have $330 on hold that I would like to either pay these people (with my items back) and have it behind me, or have my dadgum money, lol. I know they raised the return time a bunch during the pandemic and I think they've lowered it again since, but not to pre-pandemic time unless I'm mistaken.
Regardless, how was the time limit derived? How did they determine which would be the "right" number of days that would be fair to both parties? Like what if it was "only" a week - heck, 7 BUSINESS days. -Would there really be buyers protesting that as unreasonable? -Sigh, of course, a few, but I'd love to see their reasoning, LOL. And bear in mind, THEY have the luxury of deciding when in those 30 days to start the clock, so it's not like they "have" to file on the day they're going out of town or whatever (not that a trip to the post office would even impede that).
Also separate question: Does the USPS not have any kind of expiration date on return labels like they do on regular ones? Is the date of printing the label a factor? Just curious.
Ha! That's a can of worms. First off, yes, the date of printing is key. But the answer once the label is generated & there's a printed date varies insanely depending on your PO. Many say it must be used that day. Many others say next day, some say a week. When this came up on another board, I surveyed 10 PO's, all in my state, but 4 different cities, including the 2 biggest cities in the state & all of the PO's in my state said 1 year. Unanimously. Then a million people argued with what my PO's say LOL , but that was years ago & in my state, they still say 1 year. I know that especially small rural stations who have time for busy work, routinely say same day (which is ridiculous since if you print the night before, they supposedly aren't good which makes no sense).
Realistically speaking, unless you're handing it to an employee, I can't imagine that date ever gets checked by a human & in all my years of selling, the ONLY time I've ever heard of issues is one someone hands it to a postal employee. As long as your buyers drop it in a bin, it'll be fine. If they hand it to an employee, the worst I've ever heard happening is that the must stamp it with a 0 fee stamp that has 'today's date' on it.
@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:
@gurlcat wrote:Also separate question: Does the USPS not have any kind of expiration date on return labels like they do on regular ones? Is the date of printing the label a factor? Just curious.
Ha! That's a can of worms. First off, yes, the date of printing is key. But the answer once the label is generated & there's a printed date varies insanely depending on your PO. Many say it must be used that day. Many others say next day, some say a week. When this came up on another board, I surveyed 10 PO's, all in my state, but 4 different cities, including the 2 biggest cities in the state & all of the PO's in my state said 1 year. Unanimously. Then a million people argued with what my PO's say LOL , but that was years ago & in my state, they still say 1 year. I know that especially small rural stations who have time for busy work, routinely say same day (which is ridiculous since if you print the night before, they supposedly aren't good which makes no sense).
Realistically speaking, unless you're handing it to an employee, I can't imagine that date ever gets checked by a human & in all my years of selling, the ONLY time I've ever heard of issues is one someone hands it to a postal employee. As long as your buyers drop it in a bin, it'll be fine. If they hand it to an employee, the worst I've ever heard happening is that the must stamp it with a 0 fee stamp that has 'today's date' on it.
Sorry, that's incorrect. The eBay return service label doesn't have a date.
And it can't* take a zero fee stamp or additional postage, as it says "no postage needed" on it.
So all of that discussion is wrong. Plus the label doesn't expire -- I've mailed it over 2 years later, and it was delivered just fine. Also, USPS Return Service tracking survives for a year, unlike regular USPS tracking that self-deletes** in 120 days.
*yet uninformed postal clerks do, all the time.
**which allows successful Item Not Received claims at PayPal for the following 60 days because the USPS tracking no longer says Delivered as it disappears after 120 days (but PayPal and card issuers takes paper proof of delivery, if you still have it).
