account holds

[pegasus32]

Yesterday is the 2nd time in a month my payments were placed on hold. For starters they always say this is the second time they have contacted me when in fact it is only the first. The first hold was because an item that I shipped only 8 hours after the buyer paid , with shipping through ebay & tracking provided, got held up in a sorting center. eBay would not remove the hold even after I spent 2 hours trying to get a hold of them and explained just look at the tracking. I wanted the opportunity to file an inquiry with the post office but eBay wasn't hearing it.  The next hold was due to a return. I just recently did the free shipping managed returns to be top rated plus. The buyer contacted me indicating that they would like to return an item for buyers remorse. I said no problem just hit return item and indicate the reason in the drop down menu. Once again extremely frustrating situation to just get to speak to a human being. The buyer indicated on the reason for return " just didn't like it" ( not item not as described or defective ) . eBay rep said that any time and for any reason the buyer does a return it generates a case and they have to hold my funds to investigate. They told me once the buyer is refunded and happy with the return the hold goes away. I was screaming " but I did did nothing wrong" they just repeated over and over the same thing " every time I have a return it generates a case/ investigation. I said " So you encourage sellers to offer free returns and be a power seller only to punish them for doing so". Response " This is not a punishment it is just a case , once we investigate and you refund, they will end the case. Finally they said I have to go into my seller preference's and remove automatic returns, hence seller pays for return or it will continue each time I have a return for any reason at all.  So this totally does not make any sense. This is being punished for trying to be top rated plus. My question to the community is "was this eBay rep correct in what she was saying?"

[klhmdg]

Yes, this time she was correct.

Anytime you have a case the funds will be put on hold to cover it.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Yes, the customer service rep sounds correct. Payment holds are part of the deal here, and that is unlikely to change. Below is the eBay policy governing the different kinds of holds, and information on how to get them lifted. 

(PS—paragraphs are your friend.)

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/payments-hold?id=4816

[pegasus32]

I read the entire policy you sent and it does not address my situation. If you read it , you will see I have noted that this is not due to not shipping on time or item not as described. Tracking clearly shows the item sent on the one hold. The next hold is just a simple return where buyers remorse is indicted , NOT item not as described. These are the reasons for holds as stated in the policy you sent.

( P.S. - this is not a research paper. Not being snarky may be your best friend)

[slati_2013]

Every time there is a return, the funds for that transaction will be placed on hold. Happens to me every time. It does not matter the reason for the return. If you do not have enough money to cover the return, it will be taken from any future sales. 

[pegasus32]

Thank you . I guess I better rethink this whole top rated plus.

[pegasus32]

They want to encourage sellers to go top rated plus so they can compete with Amazon, but if every return is treated as a case it's just not worth the aggravation. Thank you.