Item Returned Insufficient Postage

[bernie_u]

Two weeks after mailig an item( single postage stamp) with 92 cents postage  and regular  envelope , weight 18 grams. Item returned as insufficient postage, Why ?.  About same time the buyer files an item not received case. I promply mailed item with new postage. Ebay wnts me to resolve the issue in three days. It will take at least 2 weeks  for buyer to receive item. Buyer has been cotacted. How do I resolve these issues?

[brettjet38]

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@bernie_u wrote:

Two weeks after mailig an item( single postage stamp) with 92 cents postage  and regular  envelope , weight 18 grams. Item returned as insufficient postage, Why ?.  About same time the buyer files an item not received case. I promply mailed item with new postage. Ebay wnts me to resolve the issue in three days. It will take at least 2 weeks  for buyer to receive item. Buyer has been cotacted. How do I resolve these issues?

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What did you ship and where did you ship it to, Canada, the USA?

[femmefan1946]

Did you use tracking on the returned package?

You already have an annoyed customer, so be ready to refund and to ask the customer to refund the refund when his item arrives.

OTOH, this is where Cookie Jar Insurance comes in.

Assuming that like most sellers you use untracked LetterMail when the shipment is of low value, having those few pennies set aside to cover losses like this is important.

You did the right thing in contacting the buyer.  But without proof of Delivery you are going to have to refund in a couple of days.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You have to issue the buyer a refund. If you do not issue them a refund, they can ask eBay to step in by the deadline. Because there is no tracking, eBay will issue them a refund. The difference is, if you issue the refund you do not receive a defect on your eBay account. If eBay issues your buyer a refund (which still comes out of your money), you will receive a defect, which can hurt the standing of your account. In either scenario, you end up covering the cost of the refund. There is no way to get around that.

The best route would be to politely explain what happened to the buyer. Let them know that because an INR case was opened, you are required to resolve it by the deadline with a refund. Apologize to them for Canada Post's error. Politely ask that they contact you when the item arrives so that you can arrange for them to re-pay for the item. To do that, you can either exchange Paypal information, or you can make a generic eBay listing for the amount they owe you such as one titled "Private Listing For X". You can make that listing for the same amount they owe you for the original item. Making it with a generic title ensures that a different buy doesn't wrongly buy it. 

You can also suggest that if they do not want the item, instead of paying back the refund, they can return the unopened letter to the post office to refuse it. That way, it will be returned to you at no cost to them. 

In the future, the best route to take when an item is returned is to contact the buyer before re-sending. That way, if they don't want to wait, you avoid an INR. If they do want to wait, they won't open an INR because they will know why it was delayed. 

[ricarmic]

@bernie_u  We've seen others with items returned for insufficient postage when physically 92c worth is on the envelope instead of a "P" because there are some who believe $1.07 is required if it isn't a "P" stamp. Based on your comment and seeing what you're selling I'm assuming you had 92c physical on it which is probably what caused the return as a result of a "$1.07 believer". (There is a very long thread about the 92c vs $1.07)

In terms of communication to the buyer, here is a cut and paste of a section of one of my prewritten messages, portions of this might be of use, I need to run so I'm pasting it as is, use/adjust whatever part(s) work for you...

Now that cases have been opened the only options eBay gives me are to send a message or refund and irregardless of messages, I have to refund by Thursday June 17th. If it is ok by you, I will wait to refund until Thursday June 17. If they arrive before then, you can just close the cases. If they don't arrive by the 17th, I will refund out of my own funds. There is a very very good chance it will arrive after that, and if it does please let me know and I’ll send another invoice so you can pay again (this is my full time job, small parcels like this are not insured so I am out 100% if they do not arrive).

[pjcdn2005]

Someone at one of the sorting centres appears to think that unless a P stamp is used, a letter costs $1.07.  That's incorrect of course but we recently got one back as well.

Unfortunately, ebay  doesn't seem to be set up well for mailing replacements once buyers have opened a request for a refund.   If you dont refund within the 3 days ebay will likely refund the buyer even if the buyer has agreed to wait for the new item.  You might be able to contact eBay and ask them to put a hold on the request but without tracking I'm not sure if they will.  You could also ask the buyer to close the case but since that can seem a bit sketchy,  they may hesitate to do so....I don't know if  I would.

tyler@ebay  any suggestions on how the op could handle this?  It isn't fair that the buyer get refunded if they agreed to wait longer regardless if the item has to be sent again because it was returned to the seller or just because the mail is slower than eBay predicted.   I really don't understand how eBay can justify stepping in when the buyer hasn't asked them to just because there is no tracking.   The buyer has 20(?) Days to ask ebay to step in, so they should be given that option of waiting if they choose to do so.

[marnotom!]

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@bernie_u wrote:

Two weeks after mailig an item( single postage stamp) with 92 cents postage  and regular  envelope , weight 18 grams. Item returned as insufficient postage, Why ?.  About same time the buyer files an item not received case.

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Sorry if this comes off as impertinent, but I haven't been involved in selling on eBay for a while and I'm curious about this aspect of the Money Back Guarantee.  Were you told that a "case" was filed for a not-received item or a "request"?

[recped]

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@bernie_u wrote:

Two weeks after mailig an item( single postage stamp) with 92 cents postage  and regular  envelope , weight 18 grams. Item returned as insufficient postage, Why ?.  About same time the buyer files an item not received case. I promply mailed item with new postage. Ebay wnts me to resolve the issue in three days. It will take at least 2 weeks  for buyer to receive item. Buyer has been cotacted. How do I resolve these issues?

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Since the buyer has opened a request you basically have two choices. (I am assuming they have opened the "request" but not escalated to a "claim").

Refund them now, let them know what happened and tell them if they still want the item to repurchase,

or

Let them know what happened and reship. It would be nice if they would close out the request but they might not be willing, they might be more likely to accept your explanation, put the request on hold and wait for you to resend.

Which way you go depends on your percieved attitude of the buyer, if they are grumpy now just refund, if they seem pleasent and just want there item but understand what has happened then option two might be fine.

[recped]

Forgot to add.....if you are resending take it to a post office and explain what happened they should allow you to resend without any additional postage.

[ricarmic]

@pjcdn2005 is absolutely correct, from personal experience at 1 second after midnight of the advised day ie if it says before March 4th, immediately after midnight on March 3rd it will automagically close in the buyers favour, which also causes a defect so don't wait it out.

[pjcdn2005]

@marnotom! 

It is officially a request until ebay is asked to step in. Then it is a case.

But I would say that most of us use the word case or claim instead of a request.

[bernie_u]

Thank you eveyone for your comments. I'm getting more returned letters since my last post. Clerks at postal outlets are of no help. From now i will be using $1.07 in stamps to avoid these problems. What are your thaughts on this?.Raise my shipping fee?.

[pjcdn2005]

You've had more returned for not enough postage?   It's up to you but I I would look to see if there was a Canada Post media site such as Twitter that you could complain on.  Perhaps it would give them incentive to let their staff know how much a non P stamp letter is.