The seller provided RMA

[cshanegoodman]

Greetings,

I requested a return on April 1, and on April 8 I noticed a message saying "Seller approved your return request". Ebay says that the seller pays for shipping, so I've been waiting for the seller to get back to me about how this happens. It wasn't until just now that I noticed there was a line on April 10 which says "The seller provided RMA". Does this means that I can somehow use this to pay for return shipping? How do I do it?

I can't seem to find any help documentation for RMA's.

Thanks,

Shane.

[pjcdn2005]

An RMA is a return authorization and has nothing to do with return shipping.

You may have missed the deadline for returning the item but I'm not positive exactly how that works.

If ebay said that the seller pays return shipping that must mean that you wanted to return the item because it wasn't as described...does that sound right?

Where is the seller located? If the seller is another country they have no way of sending you a Canada Post invoice so in a situation like that you need to discuss with them how the return shipping is going to work.  If they are in China, it would cost a fortune to send an item back with delivery confirmation so it is unlikely that the seller would pay and in international situations, I don't know if there is a way for ebay to force them to pay.

The first thing to do is to contact the seller and ask them about the return shipping. If they won't work with you should probably phone ebay and ask what they suggest. They might tell you to use the 'ask ebay to step in' option. In that situation they might force the seller to refund you without requiring a return.

I haven't been in your situation and the return system has changed quite a bit in the last year so most of what I'm suggesting is just guess work on my part but I hope that it helps in some way.

[cshanegoodman]

I received a cassette player that didn't work (at all). Saying it 'wasn't as described' was as close as I could find.

The seller is located in the U.S. They previously said that they could refund me the money without having to send the unit back, but that I would have to close the case first. Is this normal?

I can't find a phone number or email address for ebay. Does anyone know how I could find this?

Thanks,

Shane.

[pjcdn2005]

They previously said that they could refund me the money without having to send the unit back, but that I would have to close the case first. Is this normal?

NO. The case will automatically close when they refund you. Do not close the case yourself.

It doesn't make sense that they would originally tell you they would refund without a return and then send you a return authorization.  I don't know if they are confused or trying to confuse you. The return system is fairly new so they could be confused...however, even with the old system a buyer should never close the case until they are refunded or satisfied with the outcome.

Have you tried contacting the seller? Before contacting ebay you should ask the seller how they are going to refund you for return shipping. At this point, there is no way of knowing if they are willing to do that on their own. If you contact them and they say that you don't have to return it and tell you to close the case again...tell them that ebay (that's a bit of a fib as I'm not ebay) told you that as soon as they click on refund in the resolution center, the case will close.

Unfortunately, you have to phone ebay, you can't email them and it can be a pain to get a phone number. You have to click on help and contact at the top of the page to start out. If you put in that your item is not as received it will probably just take you to the file a case screen. You can try to state that you are having a problem with your account as that might make it easier to get to the screen with a phone number. 

[cshanegoodman]

When I received the unit it didn't work. I contacted the seller. He apologized, and said that since the tape player didn't work anyway, he could refund me the money, and I wouldn't have to return the unit to him. This actually made sense to me. He also said that he wanted to handle it outside of ebay, but couldn't refund the money because it was 'frozen', and that once I closed the case the money would be 'unfrozen'. This didn't make sense to me.

I got a message on April 8 saying that the"Seller approved your return request", and on April 10 saying "The seller provided RMA".

Since then I have been trying (without success) to contact ebay for advice. I haven't been able to find a phone number or email address. When I click Help > "My item doesn't match the seller's description", and click the Open a Request button, it asks me to select the item from my recent purchase history. When I select it, I get a message saying "A return request is already open for this item".

I welcome any suggestions.

Shane.

[maggiebvintage2010]

here is how to contact eBay by phone:

At the bottom of this page, click on "Help & Contact", then "Contact eBay" tab.  Choose any topic that seems relevant, such as "Buying" > "How to pay for an item".   Not all topics will provide a link, but many, such as the one above, take you to a screen where you will find, on the right side, 2 choices:  call eBay on a toll-free number, or have them call you.  Follow the prompts.  Have all the relevant information ready.  Be patient - it may take a long time and several customer service reps, before you have all your questions answered satisfactorily.  If you are not getting logical answers, ask to speak to a supervisor.  Call back if needed.  The call centre is in the Phillippines, not all operatives are well trained or familiar with eBay Canada.  If you're lucky, you'll get the call centre in Utah and a native English speaker to assist you - your best chance for this is on weekdays during normal business hours.

I suggest you carefully review the good advice given to you by "pjcdn2006" before calling eBay, and also hope that all your contact with the seller has been through eBay Messages so that the customer service rep can view that correspondence.