Ebay's automated returns process can give buyers a free replacement plus a full refund

[ccex]

Many of us have noticed that eBay's automated returns process costs sellers more time and money.  Today I learned of a new feature of this process, which awards the buyer both a replacement and a refund at the seller's expense.

I sold a used processor chip with 938 delicate pins on the underside.  The buyer received it and was unable to install it.  He wrote me requesting a replacement.  I sent it to him and sent the tracking number through eBay's messaging system.  He asked if I could send a prepaid shipping label for returning the original item, and I responded that the only way I could do that required him to start a replacement request.  He started a return request.   I purchased the label,  and he sent back the original item.  (It came back missing one pin, but that's another story).  The buyer messaged me back saying that the replacement arrived and that he could use it. 

This should have been the end of the story.  However, this morning eBay notified me that they had refunded the buyer the full purchase price, because I had not sent a refund in the first two days since receiving the original item back.  eBay customer service explained that the only way I could have prevented the automatic refund is if the buyer had made the effort to close the return.   After 20 minutes on the phone with customer service, I was told to wait 24 to 48 hours to get the refund back.  The customer service rep had to initiate an appeal to eBay's automated decision to close the return with a refund.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I've never done a return, but you cannot do both a return and a replacement. By entering the replacement's tracking number,  this was treated as a return, and once that item was marked delivered the buyer was  refunded.  Generally you don't ask the buyer to return the defective item when you send a replacement.

Now, I could be totally wrong about this, but I think this is what happened. Others can either verify or deny what I just posted.

[ccex]

I agree that the buyer can not choose to start both a return request and a replacement request.  Sometimes the buyer has no choice, and a return request is the only option.   In this case, I (the seller) had only one item with that part number in stock at the time of listing, so I did not include a replacement as an option.  However, the buyer stated twice (through eBay messages) that he preferred a replacement, and I was able to purchase a good replacement for him.    The point is we could have worked things out much more efficiently without eBay's automated system.  

I have done several replacement requests, and eBay asks the seller to wait until the original item is returned before printing a shipping label for the replacement or marking the replacement as shipped.   In this case, the buyer needed the part for a customer, so we agreed to let the parts cross in the mail. 

I agree that often sellers do not want to spend the amount of return shipping in order to get a broken part back.  eBay always allows the seller to send a refund to the buyer.     It seems that eBay prescribes a full refund as a universal solution to most issues, even though buyer and seller may both prefer to avoid a refund.  The irony is that eBay's automated system forces a refund unless the buyer manually closes a return request.   

I thought it was strange that eBay asks sellers in this situation to contact the buyer and ask them to close the return request.   The seller must choose the wording carefully.   Imagine if a stranger (an ebay seller) told you "Thank you for letting me know that the replacement I sent you works.  Unfortunately eBay thinks that I owe you a refund.  If you make no further effort, eBay will send you a refund at my expense."

[arun7500]

Ebay's automated returns process can (auxiliary verb) give buyers a free replacement plus a full refund. Ebay's automated returns process gives buyers a free replacement plus a full refund.

Yes, it's been going on for awhile. Something that is not believeable until it happens to you, thus all the nay sayers out there. Just get used to it, ebay knows about it, and has no plans to correct it. 

[ccex]

I wouldn't be so negative about this problem.

Yesterday I noticed another case where a customer wanted a replacement, received a replacement,  but eBay's return center hadn't closed the case.  I called customer service again and asked them to make sure not to automatically refund the customer at my expense.  The CS rep was understanding and told me that eBay is well aware of this problem and is working on a solution.  She had to open a case against the buyer on my behalf,  entered the tracking number for the replacement I sent the buyer, and eBay automatically closed the case in my favor.

Until eBay resolves this issue, here are my solutions:

1) This problem exists only when the customer requests a replacement but the seller allows only refunds.    Buyers wanting to exchange are not presented with a choice between refund or replacement.  We sellers can prevent this situation by offering replacements more often.    I have found that buyers don't always demand an exact replacement if something very similar which I have in stock will serve the same purpose for them.  Even if eBay's return process screen doesn't allow buyer and seller to leave messages, we can always use eBay's normal messaging system.

2) Call eBay customer service with the return ID.  Do this often enough and they'll be reminded that this problem hasn't been fixed yet.