What does "Refund Due Date" mean

[sinistre]

I sold a Kingsize Wool Trench Coat 3XL Big on November 18th and the buyer initiated a return on November 24th with "Does not Fit" as the reason for the return and per Ebay's new policy the refund request was automatically approved.

Ebay claims in the return details that they've asked the buyer to ship the item back by December 01, and wait to get the item back before issueing a refund, if the buyer doesn't send the item back by December 01, they may close the case. 

Anywho, per my return policy the buyer is supposed to pay for the shipping, but their has been no indicaion as of this moment that the buyer shipped the item,(i.e tracking number,etc..), since the buyer hasn't returned the item, I haven't refunded the money for the order.

However, when I checked the return dashboard on my account for the item I noticed that their was a refund due date stated for tomorrow, November 29th. 

Anyways, seeing as the buyer hasn't shipped the item back and Ebay tells you that the buyer hasn't until December 01 to ship the item back, I was wondering what happens if you ignore the Refund Due date for the listing. Will Ebay automatically refund the money for the item despite the fact that the buyer hasn't shipped back the item, count it against me for not refunding the money by the due date, or something else completely?

I am a little confused about this manner as Ebay tells you one thing then gives a hidden refund due date. 

Thank you in advance and I hope to hear from you soon.

[sam9876]

You don't need to do anything.

[stuff4divas]

That does sound strange, if item was returned, a tracking number is displayed and it should say:

The returned item is on its way to youYou should wait until you get the item back before you refund the buyer. Please ensure that you issue the refund within 6 business days of the item being delivered.

If there is no tracking number or message from ebay, it means the buyer did not follow thru, so like the other post says: ignore

[lemon_tart]

Call eBay and get them to look at the return and refund dates, if you don't you may be out the item and the money

[sinistre]

Thank you for the reply.

As of the moment of typing this post,  I did not get a  tracking number or an email from Ebay stating that the return is on its way. 

I guess that the only thing I can do is ignore the refund due date, and wait for either the buyer to ship the item back or the 1st of December.

But, how many days after the 1st should I give him before contacting Ebay, if he doesn't ship the item back?

[sinistre]

"Unfortunately, I ran out for time to edit my previous post so my edit didn't go through. What I had meant to say in previous post is the following.."Thank you for the reply, after reading my post I can see how my wording may of caused some confusion.
As of this moment Ebay hasn't given me a tracking number or an email stating that the item is on its way.
I guess so far, that the buyer has decided to not go through with the trade. However, the buyer has until December 1st to decide whether he wants to go through with the refund or not.
I don't understand why Ebay has a Refund due date if they tell you that the buyer has until a certain date to ship the item back and not to refund the buyer until they ship the item back, and it has been delivered back.
However, the only thing that I can do is ignore the refund due date and wait until either the 1st of December or the buyer decides to ship the item back.
Any who, I have another question regarding the return process. If the buyer hasn't shipped the item back by December 1st, how many days should I wait after the 1st to contact Ebay, to ask them to close the return in my favor?

Thank you in advance, and please disregard the post I did above this one.

[sam9876]

"But, how many days after the 1st should I give him before contacting Ebay, if he doesn't ship the item back?"

You don't need to do anything.

[phcd1 · Accepted solution]

The buyer has until Dec 1 to get it into the shipping process, not delivered to you. If after 5 days of no tracking activity, you can call eBay and ask them to close the return in your favor and they will most likely do that. If you don't receive the item back, you don't refund (unless tracking shows it was delivered to you). EBay will not refund for you if there is no tracking history of it being returned.

BTW, those 5 days are BUSINESS DAYS (there was a holiday and weekend in there).

[phcd1]

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@lemon_tart wrote:
Call eBay and get them to look at the return and refund dates, if you don't you may be out the item and the money

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Not true

[sinistre]

Thank you for all the help given, it was much appreciated. 

[sinistre]

Thank you for the reply in terms of my question. The reason I asked is because another forum member told me on another thread to wait until December 2nd to contact Ebay and ask them to close the return in my favor, if the buyer hasn't gotten it into the shipping process on December 1st.

I wasn't quite sure if the 2nd was too short of a time frame to contact Ebay, given that it is a weekend and only a day after the last day the buyer has to ship the item to me.

I am a little confused about a few things about your response, however. For one thing when you said that "after five days of no tracking activity, you can call ebay and ask them to close the return in my favor."

Does that mean that I should wait until December 8th to contact Ebay and close the case, provided that Ebay does provide me a tracking number, but the item has not shipped from the buyers location?

Also should I wait until December 8th to contact Ebay if the the buyer hasn't shipped the item on December 1st? Or should I do as told by the other member and contact Ebay on December 2nd?

I am quite sorry for asking a lot of question, but I am still quite new when it comes to returns/refunds on Ebay, so their are still a few things that I don't know.

Thank you in advance and I hope to hear from you soon.

[sam9876]

You don't need to do anything.

[phcd1]

As others have said, you really don't have to do anythin, it will time out on it's own in 30 days. To answer your question, eBay uses PST and when a return is opened the buyer is given 5 business days (to the minute) to start the return process (get it into the tracking system). Many will call on the 6th day and try to get the return closed in their favor as the buyer has not fulfilled their part of the return requirements, many times that works.

The issue you have is there was a holiday and a weekend in there that confuses things. I could see eBay being hesitant in closing a return during the holiday, but it never hurts to ask and state the facts to them.