eBay can't even follow its own policies

[yabebrett]

The buyer is in Jamaica. First the buyer claimed he did not receive the item. USPS indicates the item was delivered to an agent.  When I checked the address, USPS delivered it to a freight forwarder named Aeropost in MIami. The buyer had Aeropost send the item from Miami to Jamaica. Next the buyer claims the new, sealed item is defective and requested a return. It is my understanding that the money back guarantee does not cover items shipped to another address after original delivery. I also stated in my listing I only ship internationally via eBay Global shipping. I informed him that his return was not covered by the Money Back Guarantee because he had used a freight forwarder. All of this is documented in our correspondence via eBay messages. I also called eBay on 8/22 and the person I talked to confirmed I was correct in that he was not covered by the money back guarantee.

Today the 3 days was up. I said I was not accepting the return and why. eBay ruled against me and told the buyer to return the item. So I call eBay and they confirm I was right, but they told the buyer to send it back for a refund anyway. Their opinion is he won't send it back because it will be extremely expensive and if he does send it back, they will use an appeal to deny the refund? What the heck? Why not just deny the return and be done with it? The eBay CS rep insists I have nothing to worry about, but I'm not 100% sure of that. What a mess. It isn't a lot of money, just a nusiance.  I guess I screwed up by escalating the case? I don't get it...

[beautybylynn · Accepted solution]

call ebay M-F  9-5 PST keep calling till you speak to a US rep. ask to speak to a supervisor.

[ed8108]

Astonishing ebay would direct the buyer to return the item.

I strongly suspect that if the buyer, does return the item to you, ebay will then issue a courtesy refund.

[yabebrett]

I called back a second time and talked to someone else in appeals. They admitted the system processed the return when it shouldn't have. I did nothing wrong and the return should not have been approved. So, because they messed up, there are no repercussions for me, and the buyer gets a refund from eBay and gets to keep the item as well? Whatever. Moral of the story is if you have a situation with a freight forwarder like this, call customer service. Don’t use the eBay return system because it is automatic and only considers that the buyer filed a SNAD and will approve the return. So, now I wait and see if this is really all sorted out or not.