Ebay can't help me. INAD Claim. PLEASE help

[e_knny]

A buyer opened a return request for damage. first I offered a 50% refund and he can keep it, he declined. Then, I approved the return request and I messaged him saying I will reimburse him for the return shipping. I cant give him a prepaid return label because we are not in the same country.

He messaged me back saying he wants a 100% refund and he doesnt care about returning the item and that its my problem.

He then called ebay and had them close the return request but to open a INAD claim instead

I feel like Im following ebay rules and policies, but ebay cannot help me or give me a straight answer at all. I called ebay and ebay told me to just try to work it out with the buyer. I also received an email from ebay saying that if I can't work out a solution with the buyer then the buyer will be refunded fully and I will not get my item back.

I feel like this is ridiculous, I am TRYING to work it out. I am following ebay rules, it is not my fault if the buyer is not cooperative. SO it feels like at the end of day the buyer will get a refund and get to keep the item after all

Please someone help me

The only thing to do now is for me to paypal him the money first for the return shipping, and HOPE he will return it. if he doesnt return it then I lose that money too

[pierrelebel]

Since that buyer has already left negative feedback, there is no point in attempting to create goodwill at this point.

The item was worth only $18.99

Your time is more valuable than that.

Move on after you add the buyer's ID to your blocked bidders list.

It may not seem fair but... from time to time... online sellers get into those situations not worth fighting about.

[e_knny]

Trust me I have given my fair share of refunds on ebay and the buyer gets to keep the item too.

I could care less about the negative feedback, I'm planning on stop selling on ebay anyways, ebay time and time again just lets me down. I try to follow ebays own rules 100% and then ebay comes and tells me what I am doing is wrong? Ridiculous, it seems like ebay doesnt even know its own rules and keeps making up new policies on the spot to get me off the phone

I guess my question at this point is, what protection do I have if I paypal the return shipping cost to the buyer? Is this standard practice?

thank you

[pacificwinds6875]

100% Refund, block buyer FOREVER and move on. Jagged poison pill to swallow  - yes! But you have better things to do and better customers to serve.

Ask EBay (if you feel like it) if you refund fully , can the NEG FB be removed. I always thought that if you refund fully - they could not leave negs or the neg FB will be removed. Perhaps that only applies to "working it out" AND not getting EBay involved.

Cheer up and have a kitty!

[sylviebee]

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@e_knny wrote:

He messaged me back saying he wants a 100% refund and he doesnt care about returning the item and that its my problem.

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Depending on how that threat was worded, you may have grounds for FB removal.

A buyer cannot demand a refund AND that he/she keep the item.  It's worth a call.

Do you want the item back?  It looks like it's not really worth the cost of return shipping.  Is it?  You already have NFB so at least that consideration is out of the mix.

If you do want it back send the buyer funds for return shipping via paypal.  If the item isn't returned then you can view that as a partial refund which was your first choice anyway.

[dutchman48]

You are throwing good money after bad as there is no guarantee the item will be returned. It will probably cost you more than writing it off as it will have to include tracking.

[xeposter]

Here is some info on the blocked bidder list:

If you don't want to sell to certain bidders and buyers, you can put them on your blocked list. They won't be able to bid on or buy your items unless you remove them from the list. You can block up to 5,000 users.

To add people to your blocked list:

1. Go to the Blocked bidder list page.
2. Enter the user ID(s) you want to block, and then click Submit.

To remove someone from your blocked list, delete the user ID and click Submit. Let them know so they can start bidding on or buying your items.

Alex

[pacificwinds6875]

OOPS! That kittie was not supposed to be THAT large!!!

[xeposter]

It took 13 seconds for me to load it.

You can change the setting on your camera to not take such large photos although those large ones are great for listings.

There are thing you can get on your computer to resize photos, I use Paint for example 🙂

Alex

[pacificwinds6875]

Hey...was just thinking back to a few that happened to me kinda like this. Moving on into the future - you sent the item with a trackable service right? Was it insured?  Next time....ask the buyer (claiming damage) to send clear photos of the damage. If legit, refund the buyer 100% and move to claiming with Canada Post. 99% of the time - when a buyer claims damage - they have no issue sending photos of the damage. Keep those photos for your Canada Post claim. Sometimes CP will contact the buyer to confirm damage/details - so it's always good to leave your refunded buyer with good "warm fuzzies" about you. Without that confirmation - Canada Post won't entertain the claim.

Your other neg could've probably be handled that way as I'm sure you didn't take a mallet to it and destroy it then sent it off to the buyer - damage does happen in the postal system.

[pacificwinds6875]

Sorry about that XEPoster - I'm sure you've all developed a cat allergy by now!  Haha

I won't do that again. My added photos (here) are either way too small or humongous

[xeposter]

My photos are HUGE just like your too!

Alex

[e_knny]

The damage is disputable but I know its not due to the postal system. Buyer claims theres a crease in the outer plastic, but the actual item is fine. So he is unhappy with the wrapping, since buyer can claim anything is damage theres nothing I can. I can only accept the return and also pay for return shipping

I agree with all of you that I should refund and move on but I don't like to promote this type of behavior from buyers so if he wants a refund, then I will ask him to return it.

"I expect a 100% refund and as far as getting the disc back, that is on you. I am not spending more of my own money to send back. If you want back, you need to figure out something else. Not my problem. I expect to be resolved and taken car eof immediately or will ask ebay to step in. Not going to play this game. "

This was after I told him I would reimburse him for the return shipping

[sylviebee]

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@e_knny wrote:

"I expect a 100% refund and as far as getting the disc back, that is on you. I am not spending more of my own money to send back. If you want back, you need to figure out something else. Not my problem. I expect to be resolved and taken car eof immediately or will ask ebay to step in. Not going to play this game. "

This was after I told him I would reimburse him for the return shipping

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Actually, it is your problem.  

You seem to be demanding the item back but refusing to send money for return shipping?  That seems to be what you're saying but you also said that you'd reimburse for return shipping.  

There is a very good chance that eBay will step in and supply the return label .............. via courier..............

Trust Me:  You don't want that.

It's not a game, at least not one that anyone else is playing.  eBay is very clear about the procedure.

[e_knny]

i think you're confused...thats what the buyer said

I told them I will reimburse him for the return shipping. Theres no way for me to send him a prepaid label because we are not in the same country

But the buyer is not satisfied with my offer to reimburse him, so now I am asking if it is standard practice for the seller to paypal buyer the funds first

[sylviebee]

Yes, you're right.  I didn't realize that you were quoting your buyer. 

Yes, it's standard practice for sellers to send funds via paypal for return shipping prior to the return.

Your problem is that the amount would be almost as much as the item is worth.

eBay is very clear that sellers pay return shipping for INADed.  They are not clear about how to do that.

If you do want the NFB removed chances are very good you can have it removed.  As I pointed above:  A buyer can't demand to keep the item and get a refund.  

[pacificwinds6875]

If you respond to the Opened Claim - " refund the buyer " - once item has been returned, he gets his refund. No return = no refund.

EBay will side with you if the buyer has made no attempt at sending the item back. Keep in mind he/she can send it back on a SUPER Expensive trackable service and you will have to pay that. Call the bluff and ACCEPT the return. See what happens. If you decide that you should move on and let this go - please know this....YOU will never be able to correct "this type of behavior from buyers".

Even if we all banded together - we would not be able to prevent "buyers" like this person of yours.

Please, sleep on it - do nothing more until tomorrow or maybe Friday. It's real easy falling into Hulk/Terminator mode to make things "right". Mistakes will be made if you continue.

P.S. Did you nicely and politely request the photos of this "damage"?  

I always love to "kill anger" by pouring the sweetest and thickest of honey on the anger. Sometimes it ignites into a bonfire and that's always fun to watch too (wink).

[e_knny]

the thing is, I cant even respond to the claim. I accepted the return in the return request a long time ago. But I guess he called ebay today and immediately had the customer service agent open a claim and escalate it so I cannot even respond

never seen this before

[sylviebee]

BTW:  If that quote was where you say the  """Buyer wants 100% refund AND to keep item......."""  , it doesn't sound quite like that to me.

You can respond:  Either by sending the money for return shipping which will be about $16US, or refunding without requiring a return.

If you don't respond eBay will do it for you.

[pjcdn2005]

The return request was for nad so it was already a case and now he has asked ebay to step in/escalated it. If you were in the same country as the buyer and refused to send a label but said that you would pay for return shipping later, eBay would definitely rule in the buyer's favour. This situation is a bit different because you can't send a label but it's very possible that by not sending money ahead of time for a label, eBay will find in the buyers favour and you will receive a defect for unresolved case. You really don't want one of those.

It isn't spelled out anywhere how an international seller is supposed to handle a situation like this but just based on different stories, it sounds as if eBay does want sellers to pay for the label up front. Normally, if you send money for the label and he doesn't return the item then you are out just the cost of the label as he wont get a refund.   Now that ebay has been asked to step in I don't know if you can avoid a defect even if you send the money for a label now or refund in full....you could ask ebay about that. I would probably just go ahead and refund in full. I know that it is frustrating but do you really want to pay $10 or so to get the item back?