Return Policy Challenges

[coco8108]

Hi,

I'd like help from those who have more experience.

I purchased a headset that was listed as new - it came not new as it was missing the charger.  The seller apologized for the mistake and I received a prepaid USPS label to send it back.  Today I got a notice that the seller had asked Ebay to intervene - i thought this was odd because it had only been a week.  I had to travel for work and could not get to the post office in the last week - it was too big to go into the outdoor mail box.  I then clicked for more information only to discover the case was closed and I would not receive a refund because the return window had expired.  I wrote the seller thinking this must be a mistake - I've never returned anyting on Ebay and I do not know of any vendor that requires items to be returned in a week, especially those that require extra work to post.  The seller wrote back and said it was expired as to policy, that this was noted in the reminder email i received, which only came a couple of days ago and i just hadn't checked my email.  To top it all off, I can't leave negative feedback for the seller because it was a return, so no longer shows as purchased.  I am really angry about this - it's clear the seller took advantage of the policy and the limited return window to essentially steal from me b/c the item I have is useless without the charger.   

I have never had any seller on ebay or elsewhere treat me so poorly in the situation of their error.  Is there any recourse?  All perspectives are appreciated. 

[missjen831]

You were supposed to ship the item back within 5 business days. When the return was approved eBay told you that along with the date you had to ship it back by. If you didn’t ship it back in time, the seller was able to get the request closed. You can file a dispute with PayPal if that’s how you paid.

[monster-deals]

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@coco8108 wrote:

Hi,

I'd like help from those who have more experience.

I purchased a headset that was listed as new - it came not new as it was missing the charger.  The seller apologized for the mistake and I received a prepaid USPS label to send it back.  Today I got a notice that the seller had asked Ebay to intervene - i thought this was odd because it had only been a week.  I had to travel for work and could not get to the post office in the last week - it was too big to go into the outdoor mail box.  I then clicked for more information only to discover the case was closed and I would not receive a refund because the return window had expired.  I wrote the seller thinking this must be a mistake - I've never returned anyting on Ebay and I do not know of any vendor that requires items to be returned in a week, especially those that require extra work to post.  The seller wrote back and said it was expired as to policy, that this was noted in the reminder email i received, which only came a couple of days ago and i just hadn't checked my email.  To top it all off, I can't leave negative feedback for the seller because it was a return, so no longer shows as purchased.  I am really angry about this - it's clear the seller took advantage of the policy and the limited return window to essentially steal from me b/c the item I have is useless without the charger.   

I have never had any seller on ebay or elsewhere treat me so poorly in the situation of their error.  Is there any recourse?  All perspectives are appreciated. 

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They didn't treat you poorly, you treated them poorly.

No seller is going to beg you to ship an item back. All you had to do was print the label, tape it to the box and leave it for the carrier...any carrier, you didn't even need to go to the post office.

[ed8108]

I am sympathetic.

I understand it was inconvenient to send the return to comply with ebay's return rules, also inconvenient to check your emails

However, there are some people that may  be less forgiving, since you were not committed into a hospital or

confined in a jail.

There is cruelty in this world

Bills not paid on time result in payment of a penalty. Disobedience of laws of which you are unaware place you at risk of punishment.

wishing you better luck in future

[dinpavent0]

Once a return request is opened it states you only have five days to return item. That is for every single person on ebay that opens return case. That is ebays policy, the seller didn't treat you poorly. It is simply ebays policy. Most that accept returns, you have 30 days to open case but once case opened you have only 5 days to return no matter how busy you are. Sorry this happened and ebay notifies you this when you print label. So you got this info the minute you opened email to print label. Sorry next time you will know. Things happen.

[coco8108]

Thank you very much for your repy - in general the policy is unclear.  The listing clearly says 30 day returns.  Then when you get the email with the prepaid label it notes please return by MM/DD 5 days later with no year stated as a header in the email.  It's not called out in any way, and it's certtainly not clear that you are voiding your return in some manner if it's not posted by then and that window is quite brief to get to the post office in my opinion.   When I see 30 day returns, I think that means I have to have it back within 30 days regardless of when I receive the label and I think that is what most people think.  Again, appreciate the reply.  I am taking it up with Paypal because the item was missing parts and I basically own something useless now because of this lack of clarity.   I will mark this as accepted solultion for this forum - just wanted to share my experience on this nuance to hopefully save others from losing their money.

[thatsallfolks]

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@coco8108 wrote:

Thank you very much for your repy - in general the policy is unclear.  The listing clearly says 30 day returns.  Then when you get the email with the prepaid label it notes please return by MM/DD 5 days later with no year stated as a header in the email.  It's not called out in any way, and it's certtainly not clear that you are voiding your return in some manner if it's not posted by then and that window is quite brief to get to the post office in my opinion.   When I see 30 day returns, I think that means I have to have it back within 30 days regardless of when I receive the label and I think that is what most people think.

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Most people don't think that when a deadline is clearly stated in the email containing the label. And I don't see why the year is necessary.

You have 30 days to initiate the return. You're not allowed to leave the seller hanging after you've declared your intention to return. USPS won't even accept the package if you wait too long, because of the date on the label. They're not like UPS, where you can print a label and not be charged until it's used.

[missjen831 · Accepted solution]

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@coco8108 wrote:

Thank you very much for your repy - in general the policy is unclear.  The listing clearly says 30 day returns.  Then when you get the email with the prepaid label it notes please return by MM/DD 5 days later with no year stated as a header in the email.  It's not called out in any way, and it's certtainly not clear that you are voiding your return in some manner if it's not posted by then and that window is quite brief to get to the post office in my opinion.   When I see 30 day returns, I think that means I have to have it back within 30 days regardless of when I receive the label and I think that is what most people think.  Again, appreciate the reply.  I am taking it up with Paypal because the item was missing parts and I basically own something useless now because of this lack of clarity.   I will mark this as accepted solultion for this forum - just wanted to share my experience on this nuance to hopefully save others from losing their money.

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You don’t have 30 days to return the item to the seller. You have 30 days from the date of delivery to open a return request, once the return is approved, you get 5 business days to ship the item back and it has to be delivered to the buyer within 5 business days after you ship it. A 30 day return policy on eBay doesn’t mean you have 30 days to send the item back. It means essentially you have 30 days to request a return.