3 day seller respnse. Seller vacations not allowed?

[tealt]

Changes to handling “Item not as described” return requests for all sellers

eBay Money Back Guarantee requires sellers to respond within 3 business days when buyers request to return items that don't match listing descriptions. When you do not respond, we may refund the buyer and seek reimbursement from you without requiring the buyer to ship the item back. Starting June 1, 2020, we may decide these cases after the 3 business days elapse without requiring the buyer to contact eBay.

Will there be an avenue of appeal for sellers who physically can't respond in 3 business days and who have had the buyer automatically refunded by eBay without item return?

If the answer to the above question is no, I certainly hope I don't get any INAD return requests while I am camping in the wilderness or vacationing in areas of the country which have no cell phone service (e.g. parts of the eastern Oregon desert). 

And what about folks in areas hit by blizzards, hurricanes, etc whose area cellular/wifi is down for more than 3 days?  We haven't had a serious earthquake where I live for decades, but I can imagine being without access for more than 3 days if The Big One hits.

[steven.cal · Accepted solution]

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@tealt wrote:

Changes to handling “Item not as described” return requests for all sellers

eBay Money Back Guarantee requires sellers to respond within 3 business days when buyers request to return items that don't match listing descriptions. When you do not respond, we may refund the buyer and seek reimbursement from you without requiring the buyer to ship the item back. Starting June 1, 2020, we may decide these cases after the 3 business days elapse without requiring the buyer to contact eBay.

Will there be an avenue of appeal for sellers who physically can't respond in 3 business days and who have had the buyer automatically refunded by eBay without item return?

If the answer to the above question is no, I certainly hope I don't get any INAD return requests while I am camping in the wilderness or vacationing in areas of the country which have no cell phone service (e.g. parts of the eastern Oregon desert). 

And what about folks in areas hit by blizzards, hurricanes, etc whose area cellular/wifi is down for more than 3 days?  We haven't had a serious earthquake where I live for decades, but I can imagine being without access for more than 3 days if The Big One hits.

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When unexpected events like natural disasters and postal outages prevent you from responding, you'll be protected, and we won't require that you respond in three days. 

However, if you know you'll be away on vacation, you'll still need to respond within 3 business days of receiving a return request. If it won’t be possible to access your return requests, we recommend setting your Return preferences to auto-accept returns while away. Learn how to set Return preferences.

[mam98031]

When unexpected events like natural disasters and postal outages prevent you from responding, you'll be protected, and we won't require that you respond in three days. 

However, if you know you'll be away on vacation, you'll still need to respond within 3 business days of receiving a return request. If it won’t be possible to access your return requests, we recommend setting your Return preferences to auto-accept returns while away. Learn how to set Return preferences.

I find your response a little confusing.  In your first paragraph you say that sellers will be protected.  But then in the second paragraph you said Ebay is still requiring the seller to respond?  I'm a little confused, would you mind clarifying that a bit.  

[alan@ebay]

Hi Sellers,

Seller Updates are an important communication channel between eBay and the selling community. We’d appreciate your feedback on this update. Please click here to respond to our 5-question survey. 

Thanks. 

[cynthealee2]

@mam98031 

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@mam98031 wrote:

When unexpected events like natural disasters and postal outages prevent you from responding, you'll be protected, and we won't require that you respond in three days. 

However, if you know you'll be away on vacation, you'll still need to respond within 3 business days of receiving a return request. If it won’t be possible to access your return requests, we recommend setting your Return preferences to auto-accept returns while away. Learn how to set Return preferences.

I find your response a little confusing.  In your first paragraph you say that sellers will be protected.  But then in the second paragraph you said Ebay is still requiring the seller to respond?  I'm a little confused, would you mind clarifying that a bit.  

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If its a natural disaster (weather, earthquakes ect) eBay will put the notice up and you'll be covered (in theory)

If you are on vacation leave some one who knows what they are doing while you are gone to cover you cause eBay won't.

[autotechlighting]

You simply aren’t a real seller if you can’t reply to return requests within 3 days, sorry.

I’ve been doing this 19 years on EBay and I always make sure I have DAILY internet access, whether I’m on vacation or not. It’s 2020. 

[mam98031]

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@autotechlighting wrote:

You simply aren’t a real seller if you can’t reply to return requests within 3 days, sorry.

I’ve been doing this 19 years on EBay and I always make sure I have DAILY internet access, whether I’m on vacation or not. It’s 2020. 

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@autotechlighting 

Wow that is really a bit harsh.  

Now I agree that the vast majority of the time we can all respond within 3 business days.  But you should actually remember we are ALL mere humans.  And sometimes life just gets in the way.  I can assure you that if I had a family emergency that Ebay issues would be the LAST thing I'd be concerned with.  The health and safety of my family is ALWAYS number one in my life and ALWAYS will be.

It is important to remember that we don't all have life challenges the same as you might or someone else.  We are all individuals.  

[cynthealee2]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@autotechlighting wrote:

You simply aren’t a real seller if you can’t reply to return requests within 3 days, sorry.

I’ve been doing this 19 years on EBay and I always make sure I have DAILY internet access, whether I’m on vacation or not. It’s 2020. 

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@autotechlighting 

Wow that is really a bit harsh.  

Now I agree that the vast majority of the time we can all respond within 3 business days.  But you should actually remember we are ALL mere humans.  And sometimes life just gets in the way.  I can assure you that if I had a family emergency that Ebay issues would be the LAST thing I'd be concerned with.  The health and safety of my family is ALWAYS number one in my life and ALWAYS will be.

It is important to remember that we don't all have life challenges the same as you might or someone else.  We are all individuals.  

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Mam While I agree in theory... Reality bites and so does eBay.

While my mom lay dying in ICU in the hospital for 3 weeks I made dang sure my Husband and 2 oldest Children kept an eye on my eBay even while I had it "on vacation" for the week she died, and the 2 weeks after dealing with the funeral and everything else.  Because sooner or later the family emergency is over, or the vacation is done and real life has to be lived and I wanted to make sure eBay wasn't going to kick me off while I dealt with other things.

Vacations are usually planned... pull anything you don't want to auto refund for 2 month before you go on vacation and put em back up when you get back.

OR

Train some one either outside or inside the family that can do simple refunds and what not while you are gone (vacation or otherwise).  Change passwords and what not while gone for the helper, change em back when you are ready to take back over.

If you had a store in a building you'd do the same thing... and really it's not rocket science to click a refund button, or to write a reply and EXTEND the time to get a hold of you if they really need to.

It's 3 business days to REPLY, if your helper sends a reply, then you get x amount of time for the buyer to respond, then you have X amount more time for another response ect ect.

2 week vacation into outer mongolia... come back into town once a week for groceries and what not, call the helper to see if any issues have arisen, answer them get your groceries or w/e, and go on with your vacation.

Family Emergency... Call the helper let em know you're packing to leave for where ever, they need to take over for a bit here's the password, call me if something comes up.  Same thing you would do if you had a job outside of eBay and something like this came up... Wouldn't you call the boss let em know what is going on, where you'll be if they need to get in touch with you, ect?

[klhmdg]

Way to be “partners” with your sellers!

I know I feel really supported by the new rollouts...

[style_vault]

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Family Emergency... Call the helper let em know you're packing to leave for where ever, they need to take over for a bit here's the password, call me if something comes up.  Same thing you would do if you had a job outside of eBay and something like this came up... Wouldn't you call the boss let em know what is going on, where you'll be if they need to get in touch with you, ect?

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Apples and oranges. I can call my boss and tell them I need a week off for an emergency or maybe I was hospitalized from an accident. I don't have to keep checking on my emails or work calls. I can pause everything work related for the emergency. I would be SOL if I was somewhere without internet (or incapable of using the internet) for ebay--no helper. My gripe is they will process without further buyer involvement. I have had cases the buyer ignores after opening, for whatever reason they changed their mind about the claim. Why are those automatically approved?