Tracking didn't update on ebay - Buyer refunded for an inr after item was delivered

[pjcdn2005]

tyler@ebay 

Sorry in advance for the long post but I wanted to tell all of the facts.

On the Jan 13th community chat I mentioned that a buyer had opened an INR for an item shipped in December. The item was tracked and the tracking was showing on the Canada Post site but ebay was showing that the item has never been accepted at the post office/  I asked you if they would check the tracking on Canada Post or USPS before they closed the inr case and you stated that yes, they were trained to look at the postal site before they closed the case.

 Apparently, that isn’t the case.  The item was delivered on Jan 15 and that evening I entered the tracking number into the case. I hadn’t entered it earlier because it was entered when the label was made and it seemed pointless to enter it again when ebay was not showing any tracking information. When I did reenter the tracking number I also added a note that the item had been delivered and that could seen on both the USPS and CP sites. The buyer wrote back to confirm that they had the wallet.

On Jan 16 ebay wrote to say that the buyer had asked ebay to step in and to make a final decision.  The buyer did not ask them to step in or try to do anything with the claim. Shortly after that ebay closed the case and refunded the buyer.

Today I received an unresolved case defect on .com. Either yesterday or today the tracking on ebay finally updated showing that the item was delivered on Jan 15th and the tracking was entered about 4 hours later.   

The buyer did repay me so I’m not out the money although if this had happened with a different buyer I may not have been so lucky.

Questions

1. Since tracking information is now showing on ebay will the defect automatically be taken off?  I did try to find some way to appeal but it looked like that was being blocked for this transaction. 
2. If it is unlikely to be not be done automatically then should be next step be FB customer service?
3. Is the fact that tracking is not showing as having being entered until after the item has been delivered (but before the case was escalated) going to be a factor?
4. Is there really a need to enter the tracking number AGAIN for a case even though it is already showing on ebay? 

Comments

• If ebay is going to step in and force a refund they should not be lying and saying that the buyer asked them to step in.   Why blame the buyer?
• Personally I don’t think that ebay should be deciding on their own to refund when the buyer is willing to wait and hasn’t asked ebay to make a decision.  I understand that some buyers don’t realize that they can ask ebay to step in but address that problem by setting up the system better to let them know. Don’t penalize sellers if there is no tracking or if the tracking hasn’t been updating..especially right now mail service not being at its fastest.
• I'm fairly good at navigating this site but in this situation the help section would not lead to me to a phone number...just in circles. When I tried to appeal the defect online I was told to go to returns and when I went to returns, there were no options. Considering that the problem was caused by ebay's failure to update tracking and to read any information in the case, it is very frustrating and poor customer service.

Thank you

[flyhooks4less]

That is just terrible service indeed, refund a buyer who didn't ask for a refund? sounds like eBay owes you an apology and a defect removal.

Hopefully they can fix this soon, INRs due to slow shipping are frustrating sellers.

[teenytrinkets]

This is an EXTREMELY disturbing story, because I've also been repeatedly informed that tracking number delays in Ebay would not affect INR outcomes, nor would it result in a seller defect.

And to get the runaround after that would be super frustrating! I hope this is resolved quickly! And I hope Ebay changes its practices and doesn't let this happen again!

[ricarmic]

What a pain indeed.

I do think this supports my theory that it is important to always keep the case "action" on the buyer.

I do think it is silly that we have to manually put the tracking number into the case when it is clearly already on the actual item, but I have always had to.

Despite whatever wording is on the emails, I'm sure the BOTs do most of the work and I believe the BOTs are looking for seller interaction within the case* (and perhaps that the action is not on the seller). I haven't spent maybe enough time mapping out the timings (and morning coffee hasn't happened yet) but I would be extremely extremely surprised if an actual eBay person ever looked at this.

I am sure that a call to the CSRs will be positive and they'll undo the defect, however, because (in my eyes) the bots did this, I will be very interested to know if the CSRs can actually remove it permanently.

I had an OOS defect applied because the buyer used a different ID than the purchase ID for the refund, and I had 2 different CSRs on 2 different occasions fix it for me but it kept coming back. I'll be interested to know if they can make this one stick since it was an automagic one.

*As a note so far I do not have personal experience about a case that goes past the due date that is still in "waiting for buyers response" mode. I suspect the BOTs will not automagically engage and close the case in the buyers favour and that the buyer has to manually escalate the case. So far all the case problems I've read about here appear to have been in the state where the action is still on the seller when the due date hit. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had a case in "waiting for buyers response" mode when the due date was passed that was automatically closed in the buyers favour without the buyer manually requesting it.

[motomike_canada]

Call Merchant Support.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Seller-Protections-extended-for-shipping-delays-and-Nort...

We will automatically remove any defects, and associated negative or neutral feedback for “item not received” cases closed without seller resolution when: 

• Tracking was uploaded and has a physical scan from the carrier before the case was opened.
• A delivery scan shows the item was delivered after the case was closed. 
• In addition, these cases will not impact your service metrics rating.   

[pjcdn2005]

In the spring update last year they announced that they may refund buyers after an inr was open if there was no tracking even if the buyer didn’t ask ebay to step in. Although I don’t agree with that policy as it should be up to the buyer whether they are willing to wait, I knew that it could happen, however, in this case there was tracking uploaded but ebays system was not acknowledging tracking updates and did not acknowledge delivery until 2 or 3 days after the item had been delivered.

So it is definitely an eBay caused problem and it is irritating as heck that the defect was given by a bot not a person and that the system keeps taking me round in circles when I try to fix it online.

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Announcements/Your-Spring-Seller-Update-is-here/ba-p/434500

.....if proof of shipment is not provided within 3 business days after an “Item not received” case is opened, we may decide the case in the buyer’s favour without requiring the buyer to contact eBay. We recommend you upload tracking to eBay within your stated handling time. When buyers receive regular updates on the shipping status, they are less likely to file “Item not received” claims even when their items are not received by the estimated date.

[pjcdn2005]

I’m sure that customer service will remove it too but haven’t had any luck in contacting them so far.  Facebook cs will probably be my next move.

I did reply to the case in time and the buyer did not request ebay to step in but as I mentioned earlier, they told us they might close it on their own without a buyers request.  If the tracking was updating on the eBay site the result would have been different as the item was delivered.  If the tracking was updating but there was no delivery yet, I’m not sure if ebay would have escalated and closed the case on their own or if they would have extended the case.

[ricarmic]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I’m sure that customer service will remove it too but haven’t had any luck in contacting them so far.  Facebook cs will probably be my next move.

I did reply to the case in time and the buyer did not request ebay to step in but as I mentioned earlier, they told us they might close it on their own without a buyers request.  If the tracking was updating on the eBay site the result would have been different as the item was delivered.  If the tracking was updating but there was no delivery yet, I’m not sure if ebay would have escalated and closed the case on their own or if they would have extended the case.

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Hi @pjcdn2005 ! OK just so I'm 100% sure, the case was in "waiting for buyers response" mode when it automagically closed it in their favour? 

[pjcdn2005]

When I asked Tyler about that rule he said that it was for .com  but might apply to .ca at some point.  If I can ever contact cs it might apply to me as it was a ,com listing.  I’m sure that I’ll get it fixed somehow but it is frustrating that the way the system is set up allows it to happen and that it can take a lot of our time to fix.

[pjcdn2005]

I don’t recall if that term ‘waiting for buyers response’ was ever stated.  I received a message from eBay saying to respond before the 16th so I reentered the tracking number on the 15th.   The item had already been delivered but that was only showing  on the postal sites, not eBay.  I mentioned that face in the case and the buyer replied confirming the item had been received.

eBay refunded on the 16th after saying the buyer asked them to step in.  The buyer did not ask them to do anything, they stepped in on their own.

[ricarmic]

Hi again @pjcdn2005 

At some point I'll likely become annoying, but do you remember if the buyer answered or sent a message from within the case AFTER you put the tracking number in?

I ask because if the buyer responds with a message within the case, it puts the case back in "waiting for Seller response" mode and that I'm sure that would trip the BOTS.

(I've had to keep answering back to buyers to keep the case in waiting for buyer response in some cases of mine, not sure what would happen if they answer after the due date, probably the BOTS would kick in.)

(PS the status is in the case details in the seller hub, it says either waiting for seller response or waiting for buyer response (or something close to that))

[pjcdn2005]

Yes, after I entered the tracking number they confirmed that they had received the wallet.

I have no idea if there were comments about 'awaiting buyer or seller's response' at anytime but that doesn't mean that they weren't there.  I could be wrong but as far as I know that doesn't really matter anyway. It's my understanding that the only response the bots look for is whether or not the item has been delivered.  If there is back and forth between the seller and buyer within the case I don't think that matters at all as far as the bots are concerned.

Perhaps tyler@ebay can answer that?

Also..Tyler, when I posted about this last week you had asked me to tag you in a thread if the inr didn't act as predicted but you haven't yet commented on my first post in this thread yet.

At this point I still have a defect for an unresolved case even though the item had been delivered before the case was closed. What is the best way to try and get that taken off?  The details of it happened are in my first post on this thread.

[pjcdn2005]

I guess I'll try one more time to see if Tyler will comment and answer my questions on this thread. So far he seems to be ignoring me. 😞

tyler@ebay 

[pjcdn2005]

UPDATE for anyone that is interested....

I contacted customer service on the ebay for business Facebook account on Jan 24th..Sunday evening. They replied on Monday saying that they would appeal the defects for me.  Yesterday I received a message from ebay saying that they would reverse the defects and I see that today, I am defect free!

Although I have often suggested that sellers contact cs on FB this is the first time I've had to do so and it was easier than I thought it would be.  The results were great too although I'm sure that depends on the situation. 

[ricarmic]

It is always good to know the "ending"!!!!!

[lucitabby]

I know you got the defect removed but did you get the money back that ebay had refunded?

[maximus7001]

Did you get the $ back? You should get getting the $ back as the tracking ultimately proves delivery. If you call ebay about this or get them to call you I cannot see you not getting the $ back.

[pjcdn2005]

Yes, I got the money back.