eBay

sylviebee · ‎05-02-2020

This is annoying. I shipped an item to the States April 16th (11 business days) and today eBay allowed a buyer to open a case for Item Not Received.

Even during the best of times that's not long enough.

Just letting off steam because I don't understand why eBay would allow the buyer to open a case during the pandemic after only 11 business days for item not received.

What are they thinking?

What am I supposed to do with this?

teenytrinkets · ‎05-02-2020

SUPER annoying. If it were me, I'd just enter the tracking number (or the non-tracking number, if shipped small packet air, lol) with a note reminding that everything is delayed. I mean, nobody should be refunding anything for at least a month, even during normal times! See how that plays out...

BUT UGGGHHH, I feel you!!!

sylviebee · ‎05-02-2020

Most of my items are shipping with Tracked Packet but this was only a $50 item so I shipped via Small packet so no tracking.

I know that many buyers don't understand that shipping will be longer but what really annoys me is that eBay allowed the buyer to open the case.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-02-2020

As far as I know they are still allowing them to open a case after the eta but they will allow an extension before you have to refund in some cases. Did you use small,tracked packet or expedited? If tracking shows recent movement, that might help but I can’t remember off hand how they want us to handle that. Even if you used small packet you can enter the number on eBay in the tracking field and there is a good chance it will show some movement though it might not update immediately.

sylviebee · ‎05-02-2020

It was shipped via small packet and I used Shippo. I'm having a hard time getting an image of the original label to get the correct information to use for tracking.

oldhousejunk · ‎05-02-2020

And it gets even worse! I had a buyer return an item (which I paid for tracked shipping back). Has been in the mail over 6 weeks, and buyer claimed to ebay that I had recieved it (not sure HOW she did that since tracking still shows it is in transit).

Ebay refunded her FULL payment ($2000) without the item being returned.

Got a message from ebay today that I am not eligible to get my ebay fees back since the buyer claims I reiceved her package (over $200 in fees).

I've been a seller for 18 years, why does ebay side with the buyer especially at times like these???

sylviebee · ‎05-02-2020

I've had a similar situation where eBy refunded before the return was completed. I have the impression that as long as the buyer posted a legitimate tracking number that eBay will refund while the item is in transit.

That sort of makes sense because if the buyer shipped with tracking and the tracking indicates that the item in on the way the refund is pretty much guaranteed.

What doesn't make sense is that they are trying to keep your fees. I'd get right on top of that and they'll probably refund your fees if you make a stink about it.

They do that kind of thing because most of the time they get away with it and it's very profitable for them but if you call them on it I'll bet they refund.

They know they 're out of line.................. the same way banks will overcharge on things and when you complain sometimes they make things right.

It used to annoy me the way it would take over a week to see my PP transfers in my account while the bank used that time to play with my money. They'd do that times a million (or whatever) and that adds up to a lot of money to play with for an extra week or two. Same kind of thing.

luv4orphans · ‎05-02-2020

I don't get this. Buyer could be returning anything. Not the actual item. Until you have received the exact specific item you sent out why would ebay even do a refund. A tracking number doesn't mean much. Especially if $2000. was involved. I get that 6 weeks is a long wait but we are not in normal times.
I don't get why they wouldn't refund your fees. That sounds like a glitch somewhere.

maximus7001 · ‎05-02-2020

Ebay has lately been letting american scammers open INR cases after 3 days. We have had 2 of these since the whole crisis began (other account). Then the scammer escalates it and gets a refund before it is supposed to have arrived. 3 business days handling plus 10 business days does equal 10 regular days which is the point where ebay is doing the the refunds.

example (dates are for reference only, not actually may):

american buys friday may 1

item ships monday may 4

scammer makes INR claim may 4

buyer escalates claim may 11 and is promptly refunded.

delivery is not due until may 20 (10 business days plus 3 business days handling later)

what is going on here? Why is ebay letting this happen?

oldhousejunk · ‎05-02-2020

EXACTLY! The buyer has been difficult, and I wanted to make sure they actually returned the item (not just an empty box) before sending a refund. It states in ebay policy that we have 5 days AFTER an item is returned to issue a refund. I asked an ebay rep that and he said "well the buyer said it was returned." How would they know?! The first ebay rep I spoke to said "Well, this happens sometimes in business". I'm going to keep looking into this, thank you very much for your support 🙂

sylviebee · ‎05-02-2020

@luv4orphans wrote:
I don't get this. Buyer could be returning anything. Not the actual item. Until you have received the exact specific item you sent out why would ebay even do a refund. A tracking number doesn't mean much. Especially if $2000. was involved. I get that 6 weeks is a long wait but we are not in normal times.
I don't get why they wouldn't refund your fees. That sounds like a glitch somewhere.

While they tell you to wait until you get the item back and check it out before refunding, the truth is that the buyer can return an empty box or whatever and still get the refund.

If tracking shows that the item was shipped and is on the way the refund is pretty much a done deal for the buyer.

Has anyone ever heard of a buyer not receiving the refund as long as something was returned with tracking regardless of what was returned or if it ever arrived?

sylviebee · ‎05-02-2020

I don't think that my buyer is necessarily a scammer. She could just not realize that shipping from Canada takes longer and/or that the pandemic is a factor in shipping time.

However, eBay knows better and should protect sellers especially at a time like this.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-02-2020

@oldhousejunk wrote:
And it gets even worse! I had a buyer return an item (which I paid for tracked shipping back). Has been in the mail over 6 weeks, and buyer claimed to ebay that I had received it (not sure HOW she did that since tracking still shows it is in transit).
Ebay refunded her FULL payment ($2000) without the item being returned.
Got a message from ebay today that I am not eligible to get my ebay fees back since the buyer claims I received her package (over $200 in fees).

If you paid for the shipping, can you not file for insurance with the shipping company?

As for the ebay fees: tyler@ebay

marnotom! · ‎05-03-2020

@sylviebee wrote:

This is annoying. I shipped an item to the States April 16th (11 business days) and today eBay allowed a buyer to open a case for Item Not Received.

Even during the best of times that's not long enough.

Just letting off steam because I don't understand why eBay would allow the buyer to open a case during the pandemic after only 11 business days for item not received.

Any idea as to the delivery time estimate to the buyer's location? I'm just wondering how long the buyer waited after the last estimated delivery date had passed.

katlover1952 · ‎05-03-2020

This does not really makes sense. eBay says refund once item received. Just because there is a tracking number does not means it has been received. What if it is returned damaged or a different item or who knows. I do not think eBay should be processing refunds automatically. For heavens sake in the world we are living in today even Amazon Prime shipments take longer. eBay should be helping sellers out at this time not making it more difficult.

universal-solder · ‎05-03-2020

eBay shows these days one more time how less they care about sellers. If you are not able to survive, someone "better" will. Darwin's theory.

We just had a similar case some days ago, and we deal with 2 to 5 threatening customers every day these days. We ship same day from the middle of Saskatchewan, and to get stuff to our customers in for example Quebec always takes more than a week. Now it takes 2 or even 4 weeks. And eBay doesn't care. They just don't update their reality-ignoring estimates.

We have customers from Texas, ordering with letter mail shipping for not even 4 bucks shipping fees, and open claims after not even 10 days. We have to refund 10 times as much as usual to protect our account. And everyone eventually receives their orders - some days later. Happy Birthday! Nobody ever sends you an email and ask for how to repay you.

And this is eBay, only eBay. Everything is fine on Amazon. Like the idiots would shop on eBay, and the smart people on Amazon. Really?

I am waiting for maybe 2 more negative reviews due to delayed shipping, then I will shut eBay down. Not worth the trouble. Only 2 grand profit from eBay a month, down from 5 in 2018. But COS up to 13% from just under 10% in 2018. Wouldn't hurt much to just pull the plug. The relief is maybe worth it.

I am not crying, but I am **bleep**.

travis7s · ‎05-04-2020

In Shippo, click on Shipments, and there should just be a "download" button under Label Status. Then just copy and paste from the PDF.

That said, Small Packet USA has not been very reliable in terms of scans being made. My items seem to be getting delivered but only around 50% of them actually get some kind of scan.

sylviebee · ‎05-04-2020

@travis7s wrote:
In Shippo, click on Shipments, and there should just be a "download" button under Label Status. Then just copy and paste from the PDF.

That said, Small Packet USA has not been very reliable in terms of scans being made. My items seem to be getting delivered but only around 50% of them actually get some kind of scan.

The download button didn't work. I accidentally requested a refund and so of course this time they promptly issued the refund. Normally I have to wait a month while legitimate refunds are denied before I can call to collect.

I emailed them with the problem(s) but so far haven't heard back.

sylviebee · ‎05-04-2020

@katlover1952 wrote:
This does not really makes sense. eBay says refund once item received. Just because there is a tracking number does not means it has been received. What if it is returned damaged or a different item or who knows. I do not think eBay should be processing refunds automatically. For heavens sake in the world we are living in today even Amazon Prime shipments take longer. eBay should be helping sellers out at this time not making it more difficult.

That's true: Just because there's a tracking number doesn't mean it's been received, but it works that way for sellers as well. If you ship with tracking and the buyer says it didn't arrive the seller is still covered and the buyer is out of luck. It goes both ways.

If it's returned damaged or the box is empty the buyer still gets the refund so refunding prior to actual delivery for tracked packages is all the same.

tyler@ebay · ‎05-08-2020

@ypdc_dennis wrote:

@oldhousejunk wrote:

And it gets even worse! I had a buyer return an item (which I paid for tracked shipping back). Has been in the mail over 6 weeks, and buyer claimed to ebay that I had received it (not sure HOW she did that since tracking still shows it is in transit).

Ebay refunded her FULL payment ($2000) without the item being returned.

Got a message from ebay today that I am not eligible to get my ebay fees back since the buyer claims I received her package (over $200 in fees).

If you paid for the shipping, can you not file for insurance with the shipping company?

As for the ebay fees: tyler@ebay

Thanks for the tag @ypdc_dennis! Typically eBay fees are not refunded if we needed to step into the request and decided in the buyer's favor. If that's not the case the best option would be to contact CS for a review and consideration of a credit.

Thanks!

Tyler,