eBay

d00d0c · ‎08-09-2020

I have a very bad experience of the returns process with eBay and UPS.

An item arrived to damaged, i.e. not as described.

The seller accepted my returns request without any issue, she said it happened during transit and raised a damage claim for the shipping. These things can happen, I don’t take it personally.

On her instructions, the package was collected for inspection by UPS and according to the tracking info should have been then forwarded on back to her to complete the return and trigger my refund. Or so it should have been.

Since the postage was purchased via eBay Packlink, UPS tried to return the package to their contract partner and not to the sender. Delivery was refused and for several weeks the package has been considered abandoned by UPS.

UPS refuse to take instruction from me as I have no contract with them, they will only take instructions from the contract partner. Based on the current status, the package will either be scrapped or sold.

In the meantime, my returns case has been closed without a refund because the seller has not received the returned item. Even though I fully complied with the correct procedure by handing over the package to the courier as requested somehow the seller gets to keep the money. Thanks eBay for your excellent buyer protection!

Through absolutely no fault of my own, I neither have the article nor the money.

The very best I could hope for is that the package eventually finds its way to the seller and she decided as goodwill to send me a refund.

The second best is that somehow it comes back to me in which case I end up with the damaged article, unusable in its current state.

Not unlikely is that eBay Packlink and UPS don’t resolve this at all and the item will be scrapped/sold.

The flaw in the system is that if the courier will not accept instructions from the buyer or seller, it is up to eBay Packlink to get involved. However this has not been possible to resolve within the time given for the returns case.

There needs to be a change in policy that damaged goods for shipping purchased through eBay Packlink are automatically sent to the seller and more generally that if such an issue involving eBay Packlink should occur, eBay should talk with eBay Packlink and find a solution within the returns case timescale.

Thanks to the combined incompetence of eBay, eBay Packlink and UPS I will probably end up losing out more than 600€ through no fault of my own.

kensgiftshop · ‎08-09-2020

@d00d0c

The only flaw was the seller not refunding you first.

If a seller is going to file an insurance claim with the carrier, they refund the buyer, then they deal with the carrier.

I would not have let UPS pick up the package until I had me refund.

Have a great day.

d00d0c · ‎08-09-2020

In this case this didn’t seem to be an option in the eBay workflow. As far as I could see, the only way to progress the refund was to return the item.

For future reference, how could I have got the refund first?

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-09-2020

I don't know which site when you purchased the item, it may work differently on the UK or German ebay sites. On the US site, the seller has an option to refund without a return. I think that some sellers hesitate to do that because they think that takes away the incentive for the buyer to help with the insurance claim. Generally if the sellers hasn't accepted the return or refunded, the buyer can ask ebay to step in after a specific amount of days.

Since you are acting on the seller's instructions, I think it is their responsibility to refund you, especially as it is clear that you returned the package in good faith. Have you tried contacting customer service of the site you made the purchase on? I don't know if that would help but I would try.

d00d0c · ‎08-09-2020

Thanks, I wasn’t aware the seller had that option. I may prefer to use that in the future.

The item was listed on the UK site and my account is on the German site.

I’ve contacted the German customer services but they say buyer protection is not valid for my return case as the item hasn’t arrived with the seller. I sent the proof of collection by UPS, which had been arranged by the seller so honestly I have no clue why I’m not protected. It is really out of my hands when the seller’s courier (arranged through a 3rd party - eBay Packlink) doesn’t complete the delivery for whatever reason. It doesn’t give me much confidence in the buyer protection!

I’m still in contact with the German customer services but fear it is too late for them to be much help. The funds have been released to the seller already.

About my only hope is the goodwill of the seller, or maybe a legal case outside of eBay.

I am raising this issue to at least one consumer rights programme in the UK so other well-intentioned buyers do not have the same problems.

d00d0c · ‎08-12-2020

In an attempt to find a new low in customer service, eBay Germany seems to be happy to ignore the promise they made me for the ‘specialist’ department to get in touch with me about this issue.

Several more days have passed and I am no closer to a reasonable explanation of how the inability of the seller’s courier to return the damaged item should be my responsibility.

d00d0c · ‎08-14-2020

There are some green shoots of hope!

The seller tells me she has finally managed to persuade Packlink to instruct UPS that the article should returned to her and not left to rot in a UPS warehoue, sold or otherwise disposed of.

She requested this from Packlink on Monday and it is now Friday but still there is no change in the UPS tracking info.

It remains to be seen whether the package is really returned, whether the tracking info. is updated accordingly, whether she decides to pay a refund even though the returns case was closed already...

On a less positive note, eBay have once again failed to live up to their promises. Not only has the buyer protection failed miserably, but I still haven't received a call from the so-called 'specialists' as was expected by Wednesday.

Round of applause for eBay customer service, they've nearly managed a full working week of inaction.

d00d0c · ‎08-19-2020

Credit where it’s due, UPS have finally managed to deliver the return package back to the seller. In a race to the lowest depths of customer service, eBay are still in the lead, eBay Packlink a close 2nd and UPS, perhaps (pleasantly) surprisingly, pulling up at the last fence.

I recommend anyone with UPS issues to look up the corporate customer relations email address, they were much more helpful than their provincial colleagues.

After a successful return, eBay are still unclear about how they will support me. The seller received the return package on Monday and I asked her to refund within 3 days. If the seller doesn’t cooperate, there’s no clear picture as to how eBay will protect the buyer and guarantee a refund. It is somewhat debatable why the company who may have to (check the Terms and Conditions and draw your own conclusions) underwrite the refund cost would have closed the case whilst delivery was still ongoing, in the knowledge that an unfulfilled return is apparently not covered by buyer protection. Sadly it’s is a case of buyer beware I suppose.

If the seller provides a refund I’ll be pleasantly surprised, otherwise we move on to a discussion about how eBay will encourage her to do so, and what sanctions they may implement in case she doesn’t.