eBay do give an OOS defect for refunding, and will refuse to remove it

[ccrrefills]

I've been told countless times here to not worry about refunding and getting an out of stock defect even though I've had that happen to me before.

I had an order that wasn't delivered because of the Canada Post strike and decided to refund the buyer to be nice even though they didn't request a refund. I now see I got an out of stock defect, and after calling they refused to remove it because the I refunded the buyer without his authorization, how absurd is that?

Especially considering you're only allowed a fraction of a percent of OOS defects, and I even refunded and re-shipped the order a second time and that's how eBay treats me when they said they would protect sellers from defects related to the strike.

[yuzuha]

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@gramophone-georg wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

Unfortunatly you found out the hard way. I`m sorry that happened to you and that you were given bad info. It`s my opinion that it`s wrong to punish you for providing great service.

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Yup. It's just crazy that sellers need to worry far more about keeping eBay happy and protecting their account from eBay than they are able to concentrate on making THEIR buyers happy.

I can't tell you how many absolutely fantastic sellers that I've dealt with multiple times are no longer here because of MaMa eBay and absolutely NO other reason. This is why, as a buyer, I've moved the majority of my buying off eBay, and also why, as a seller, I'll likely never sell here again.

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I don't see how this one is eBay's fault at all, though.  There was no indication that the buyer was unhappy in the first place!  They never opened a case or even sent a message asking where their item was so there was no need for OP to issue a refund at all, and because of this, it wasn't done through the proper channels that would have prevented any issue from occurring. 

[fern*wood]

I see how it feels like good customer service to refund in this situation, but I tend to wait to hear from my buyer before doing anything.  I don't check my tracking numbers very often since that stresses me out every time I do.   I have had a few numbers I checked on never show delivery so I worry, but I never heard from the buyers so I'm betting they were delivered.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@ccrrefills wrote:

I've been told countless times here to not worry about refunding and getting an out of stock defect even though I've had that happen to me before.

I had an order that wasn't delivered because of the Canada Post strike and decided to refund the buyer to be nice even though they didn't request a refund. I now see I got an out of stock defect, and after calling they refused to remove it because the I refunded the buyer without his authorization, how absurd is that?

Especially considering you're only allowed a fraction of a percent of OOS defects, and I even refunded and re-shipped the order a second time and that's how eBay treats me when they said they would protect sellers from defects related to the strike.

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I've seen those posts as well.  Sorry that happened to you.  You can't see who is a seller and who is not in many cases due to posting ids.  And while there are some buyers here, it does not mean they didn't sell in the past or that they have not kept up with policy.  But generally someone will come along to correct misinformation that may be in the thread.  There are some you can rely on, such as nobody*s perfect, 18704D, and Disneyshopper.  Some just disagree with anything, some might deliberately post wrong info, some may simply have made a mistake, but most are conscientious about posting accurate and correct info.  If there is any uncertainty, they either don't post or ask for confirmation.  Again, sorry that happened to you.

[hillbillymedia]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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@gramophone-georg wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

Unfortunatly you found out the hard way. I`m sorry that happened to you and that you were given bad info. It`s my opinion that it`s wrong to punish you for providing great service.

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Yup. It's just crazy that sellers need to worry far more about keeping eBay happy and protecting their account from eBay than they are able to concentrate on making THEIR buyers happy.

I can't tell you how many absolutely fantastic sellers that I've dealt with multiple times are no longer here because of MaMa eBay and absolutely NO other reason. This is why, as a buyer, I've moved the majority of my buying off eBay, and also why, as a seller, I'll likely never sell here again.

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I don't see how this one is eBay's fault at all, though.  There was no indication that the buyer was unhappy in the first place!  They never opened a case or even sent a message asking where their item was so there was no need for OP to issue a refund at all, and because of this, it wasn't done through the proper channels that would have prevented any issue from occurring. 

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I agree that ebay isn`t directly at fault here but IMO they are indirectly at fault. Many sellers here worry. They sell in fear that they are going to lose something......ex: their ability to sell here, their selling status(performance), their reputation, their money etc.

Ebay has created these fears/worries over the years with their constant policy changes and unequal, inconsistent policy enforcement.

[books...forthememories]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@books...forthememories wrote:

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@myangelandmyprincess wrote:

You do get a defect for refunding even if you don't do the cancellation   However I swear I've seen some of the blues say that if it shows it shipped that would be an exception to getting the defect for oos

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USPS lost a package I shipped (first time in 18 years).  I refunded the buyer, naturally.  ebay gave me a defect (also naturally, although it was not my fault).  

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Had you of emailed the buyer in the Ebay system explaining the refund, Ebay wouldn't give you a defect for the reason you described for the refund.

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I did.  And they did.

I also repeated the reason in the PayPal refund messge.  ebay gave me a defect regardless. 

And I'm not going to waste hours on the phone trying to get it removed--I've been here for over 18 years and have never phoned ebay (and I plan to continue never phoning them).  

[yuzuha]

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@fern*wood wrote:

I see how it feels like good customer service to refund in this situation, but I tend to wait to hear from my buyer before doing anything.  I don't check my tracking numbers very often since that stresses me out every time I do.   I have had a few numbers I checked on never show delivery so I worry, but I never heard from the buyers so I'm betting they were delivered.

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Exactly.  I had one that was NEVER scanned delivered, but the buyer left me positive feedback so they obviously received it.  There's no good reason to go creating problems where there are none.

[creekcoyote]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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@fern*wood wrote:

I see how it feels like good customer service to refund in this situation, but I tend to wait to hear from my buyer before doing anything.  I don't check my tracking numbers very often since that stresses me out every time I do.   I have had a few numbers I checked on never show delivery so I worry, but I never heard from the buyers so I'm betting they were delivered.

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Exactly.  I had one that was NEVER scanned delivered, but the buyer left me positive feedback so they obviously received it.  There's no good reason to go creating problems where there are none.

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There would have been no problem created if it weren't for E-bay's completely unneccesary defect program.  A program that only strikes fear into honest and good sellers.  Sellers who usually provide the best customer service and do the right thing.

Which is what this seller did. 

[gramophone-georg]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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@fern*wood wrote:

I see how it feels like good customer service to refund in this situation, but I tend to wait to hear from my buyer before doing anything.  I don't check my tracking numbers very often since that stresses me out every time I do.   I have had a few numbers I checked on never show delivery so I worry, but I never heard from the buyers so I'm betting they were delivered.

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Exactly.  I had one that was NEVER scanned delivered, but the buyer left me positive feedback so they obviously received it.  There's no good reason to go creating problems where there are none.

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I agree, and I only wish eBay could figure this out.

[yuzuha]

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@creekcoyote wrote:

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There would have been no problem created if it weren't for E-bay's completely unneccesary defect program.  A program that only strikes fear into honest and good sellers.  Sellers who usually provide the best customer service and do the right thing.

Which is what this seller did. 

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A single question from a buyer about a package will not cause a defect.  In this case, there wasn't even a question!  OP totally and completely jumped the gun.  If the buyer HAD asked where their package was, OP could have explained the Canada Post strikes and reassured them that their package was on its way.  There was no problem created, period.  It's not good customer service to just assume what a buyer is thinking and make a decision for them without ever letting them weigh in.

[slippinjimmy]

The OP created the problem by not following procedures. If they really wanted the buyer to get a refund they should have told them to open an INR claim. If they had done that there would be no defect and the OP's fees would have been returned.

Instead they went outside the standard procedure and paid a penalty for it.

[gramophone-georg]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

The OP created the problem by not following procedures. If they really wanted the buyer to get a refund they should have told them to open an INR claim. If they had done that there would be no defect and the OP's fees would have been returned.

Instead they went outside the standard procedure and paid a penalty for it.

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Standard procedure is quite counterintuitive and lacks common sense. As long as the buyer and seller come away satisfied eBay should have no issues.

Excellent customer service should NEVER come with any 'penalties' attached. That's just beyond exasperatingly stupid.

[fsdfasdf-0]

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@ccrrefills wrote:

I had an order that wasn't delivered because of the Canada Post strike and decided to refund the buyer to be nice even though they didn't request a refund. I now see I got an out of stock defect, and after calling they refused to remove it because the I refunded the buyer without his authorization, how absurd is that?

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In ebay's eyes it is apparently highly absurd that a seller would refund a buyer just to be nice.

[mam98031]

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@books...forthememories wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@books...forthememories wrote:

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@myangelandmyprincess wrote:

You do get a defect for refunding even if you don't do the cancellation   However I swear I've seen some of the blues say that if it shows it shipped that would be an exception to getting the defect for oos

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USPS lost a package I shipped (first time in 18 years).  I refunded the buyer, naturally.  ebay gave me a defect (also naturally, although it was not my fault).  

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Had you of emailed the buyer in the Ebay system explaining the refund, Ebay wouldn't give you a defect for the reason you described for the refund.

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I did.  And they did.

I also repeated the reason in the PayPal refund messge.  ebay gave me a defect regardless. 

And I'm not going to waste hours on the phone trying to get it removed--I've been here for over 18 years and have never phoned ebay (and I plan to continue never phoning them).  

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That should not have happened as there is NO rule that says a seller can not handle a refund to their buyer without an Ebay case in place.  Not a ONE.

I do however understand why you don't want to call.  That does take a great deal of time for some of the most simple issues.  If you do facebook, try that and see if you can get the attention to this matter that it should.  I hope it works out for you.

[mam98031]

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@gramophone-georg wrote:

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

The OP created the problem by not following procedures. If they really wanted the buyer to get a refund they should have told them to open an INR claim. If they had done that there would be no defect and the OP's fees would have been returned.

Instead they went outside the standard procedure and paid a penalty for it.

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Standard procedure is quite counterintuitive and lacks common sense. As long as the buyer and seller come away satisfied eBay should have no issues.

Excellent customer service should NEVER come with any 'penalties' attached. That's just beyond exasperatingly stupid.

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Words that are so TRUE.  And just to add to what you have said.  Why in the world should a seller advise a buyer to open a Claim in Ebay that only damages the sellers stats?  What possible sense does that make to tell seller to intentionally injure their selling account by advising a buyer to open and INR or SNAD whichever the case may be.

There is NO RULE that requires a seller to ONLY offer customer service to their customers IF they open a Claim.  How ridiculous would that be.

And just a little more to my rant.  BEFORE the Service Metrics Ebay use to encourage seller to try and work things out with their buyers without a claim necessarily being in place.  But the recommendations changed once they announced the Service Metrics was coming [now here as we all know]!  They want sellers to support the Service Metrics, but the Service Metrics does NOT support sellers.  It is a horrible policy!  I could go on, but I'm sure I'm boring some of you.  Sorry, forgive me but I just think this is the Single most ridiculous and harmful policy ebay has ever released.

[robot-hands]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@robot-hands wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

I've been told countless times here to not worry about refunding and getting an out of stock defect even though I've had that happen to me before.

Always make sure you are taking advice from an actual seller in matters to do with selling and your stats.  

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One of the boards most prolific posters went on and on about how it wasn't real...EVERY time it was brought up.

They are either gone or switched to a sock puppet now though.

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Unfortunately, prolific doesn't always equal accurate.

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Also unfortunate that this very forum rewarded that poster with heaping piles of thumbs.