a buyer just opened a case asking for refund

[zee-chan]

I just got a buyer open a case for a comic book that hasn't arrived and she asked for a refund. The book was shipped 3 weeks ago from Japan and she is accusing me of never shipping the book in the case details. She didn't contact me prior to opening the case. 

What should I do now? This is the first case that ever happened to me. If I reins now, does it mean a defect is inevitable? 

Thanks for your input =(

[zee-chan]

Sorry refund*, not reins.

[zee-chan]

So when I open the case, I had the following three options:

Add tracking details

Refund the buyer

Send a message to the buyer

I can't add tracking details since it's not tracked. If I click "refund the buyer", does it mean I will get a defect right away?

I'm going to send a message to the buyer and ask her to wait for another week... Any other suggestions? Thanks 

[cutepaperstory]

I have had this problem in the past as I also ship from Asia. Customers don't understand that it can take time. I always write to them and let them know where the item is coming from and ask them to be patient.  Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't.  Sometimes I'm sure they have gotten the item and are just scamming me.  Write to them asking them to be patient, if they won't wait, just refund them and don't worry about 1 defect.

[decal-fx]

As soon as a case is opened you have a defect. If you give a full refund even with out a case being open you have a defect. With out tracking eBay will side with buyer. If the buyer escalates to ask eBay to step in  before you refund them, you will have the more serious defect of "cases have closed without seller resolution" 

Unfortunately all options lead to a defect. At this point you are best to refund your customer, and politely ask the to let you know when the book shows up so that you may re-invoice them.  This will not remove your defect for this transaction, but not losing the payment from the sale and cost of shipping will easy the sting a bit.

[zee-chan]

It's just very upsetting to get my very first defect and it's not even my fault. I'm losing sleep over it. With every message I send to buyers letting them know their item had been shipped and please contact me if they have questions, so far all of them messaged me first except this one decided to start with a case. She agreed to wait for another week, and still I'd have a defect according to both of you. 

Last year when the stupid defect rule came out, I told myself I'll stop selling on ebay when I accumulate 3 of them. Now that I got my first one because of an inpatient buyer (who's also a seller!), I'm really losing interest to keep selling here. And here I thought I'm doing well when I finally got TRS this year.  I don't have the selling volume to "dilute" this defect.  Does it mean I'm gonna lose my TRS soon? Refunding isn't a problem, my cookie jar has been filling up nicely over the years... it's the fact that even if I issue a full refund now and I'd still get a defect that leaves a really bitter taste to my mouth and not letting me sleep. 

Really, buyers shouldn't be allowed to open cases before they contact the seller first. This is just really upsetting. 

[ricarmic]

If it helps here are some of my canned responses I use in these situations, please feel free to use whatever might work for you.....

This is around the where's my item aspect:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/I-haven-t-received-my-item-or-Item-not-received-case-the-... 

This is around situations after there is a problem - I'm thinking you can customize the wording to encourage them to contact you after it arrives later:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Neutral-Negative-ratings-or-threats-thereof-the-form-lett...

If you sell enough stuff you are going to have problem buyers/situations, regardless whether it is your fault or not, it is part of doing business.

Just like you expect there to be costs of selling stuff (buying envelopes, stamps etc) there are "problems" costs like lost/stolen packages, difficult buyers etc.

It is very very hard not to take this stuff personally but you will have to find a way. At least so far this looks like a fairly polite situation, try to minimize the negative impact on you (ie avoid a neutral/negative rating) and move onward.   (You will be stuck with a defect, that is just another cost of doing business here)

[tobyshitzu]

You need 5 buyers causing a defect to lose trs, 1 doesn't matter at all

[femmefan1946]

Choose Send a message to buyer.

Then send ricarmic's sensible response.

There is time allowed for some communication.

If the item arrives, the dispute ends.

If the item does not arrive, refund, asking that the buyer return the refund when the item arrives using Paypal's Send Money service. (Because once refunded the original transaction is dead,) In my experience, this usually works, the buyer is nervous not dishonest.

 You already say thank you and give the shipping date in your feedback. Perhaps you could add Canada Post Air Mail to remind the buyer that the book is coming from a foreign country.

But even if you have to refund, this is just a business cost. Don't take it personally. You have hundreds of happy customers. And one sourpuss.

[zee-chan]

Thank you all for your input.

So for losing TRS after 5 defects, is it 5 defects within 12 months? My understanding is that defects, just like negatives, goes away after 12 months, is that correct? Still, 12 months is a very long time...

My buyer has agreed to wait until August 1. But the case detail said I only have until July 29 to resolve the case. Does it mean if I don't refund the buyer on the 29th (if the book still doesn't arrive), the case will be escalated?

[zee-chan]

I really wanted to message this to my buyer, but since it's probably not a good idea so I'll just post here to help vent, and to help me sleep... While this buyer was being polite over all (except for the fact that she accused me of never shipping the book) and it's probably not her fault that eBay has conned buyers into opening these cases for any issues, it doesn't change the fact that I'm burned by it. eBay and its dumb rules. Oh yeah, did I ever mentioned that this buyer asked me to add tracking AFTER the sale and she haggled for $2.50 off? Probably irrelevant. 

For future reference, it would be a lot more considerate to contact the seller directly about any issues with a sale rather than going straight to opening a case, especially when it's still less than a month post-sale. When buyers open a case, sellers get something called a "defect" from eBay irregardless of the outcome of a case. Needless to say I'm really upset about getting this "defect" for the first time in my life, and it will stay with me for a whooping 12 months even if I issue a full refund to you right now. Any reasonable and responsible sellers like myself have no problem with issuing necessary refunds and there is no need for you to threaten sellers by opening a case. 

She's definitely going on my BBL after this stupid case is all done and over with. 

[lucitabby]

No, this  should not be sent to the buyer.

I hope the vent helped - wait for the package to arrive and then forget about this buyer.

Enjoy a beautiful summer Sunday.

[mr.elmwood]

The TRS discount? To me it is less than a half a day's sales. The discount is 1/60 to 1/70tn of a month's sales, for me.

Nice to have? Yes. Meaningful? No.

[tobyshitzu]

All defects count for a year.  You have an advantage in keeping TRS with transactions  just over the 100/year. The minimum 5 give you almosts 5% defects before TRS is lost vs 2% for a higher volume seller

[zee-chan]

(On an unrelated note) Waking up to find the mod editing my post certainly doesn't make my summer Sunday beautiful lol. And since I work graveyard hours I would've preferred that the rain lasted till the evening. Now it's too hot to sleep...

Glad to know that the TRS status stays as long as I keep my 100 transaction a year. Thanks.

[canadian.tree]

tell him to wait a bit.

I got my only defect was someone bought 2 items and I shipped them separate, I did not tell the buyer this I never do. It was around Christmas so in the sorting facility one package could get out before the other as there was a holiday in a few days. A week later he opened a case saying I get 1 item the other did not arrive. I said please wait the other item probably got stuck at the facility during holiday and that one got out...

Next day he says he got the item said thank you thank you etc... Apologized for the case and said if he could help get it removed he would try. I called eBay they said no the buyer opened the case because he was not happy we can't remove this..(Face palm) I thought okay eBay support you tell me that after reading our message history.. 1 case is not the end of the world just keep selling good and keep your head up and don't let it bug you!

[pjcdn2005]

I got my only defect was someone bought 2 items and I shipped them separate, I did not tell the buyer this I never do.

Why do you not tell buyers when you ship two items separately? I know that I If you had communicated that to your buyer you might not have that defect. I agree one defect isn't a big deal but imo it's easier to let buyers know what is going on before there is a problem. It's also good customer service.

[zee-chan]

If I end up shipping my buyer's items separately I always contact them after I shipped to tell them that it's mailed separately, and in my mails outside I write something like #1 of 2 and #2 of 2. Inside I do include a note saying that the other book(s) is in a separate mail, please wait for it patiently. No problems so far and I had some buyers who leave positives first for whichever arrived first. 

I only do this for international mails, where mailing a separate 500g + 200g pieces is a few bucks cheaper than mailing a 1kg piece... 

------

(I have cooled off a lot by today, partly thanks to how my last three nights of work was very smooth, and I happened to work with my favourite colleagues as well) 

Just wondering if anyone can tell me more about this... since in my case detail it says I need to resolve the case within 4 days, does it mean I should issue a full refund to my buyer by tomorrow (case opened July 24), even though in the case messages she agreed to wait until August 1? If I don't refund by tomorrow, does it mean the case could get escalated? I'm guessing if the case gets escalated it'd be very bad for me, since I had no tracking, eBay would rule the case in her favour for sure...?

Thank you for all your help and input 

[zee-chan]

Actually, I just checked my case detail e-mail now and it says...

Here's what you need to do next:
You should respond to the buyer and try to resolve the problem by Jul 30, 2015. Most buyers and sellers are able to work things out by communicating with each other directly.

If you haven't already done so, provide shipping information, such as an item tracking number, shipping date, and shipping carrier to the buyer in the Resolution Center.

What you should know:
If you don't reply, or if the buyer isn't satisfied with the outcome by Jul 30, 2015, the buyer can escalate the case to eBay Customer Support.



So, I obviously already replied and the buyer agreed to wait until August 1 as mentioned. If I do nothing else now, does it mean eBay will prompt the buyer to escalate the case by July 30th? Would it be "safer" for me to refund fully before the 30th so that the case can't get escalated?

Sorry I have so many questions about this. As mentioned this is the first time I ever had a case opened against me...

[femmefan1946]

Oh yeah, did I ever mentioned that this buyer asked me to add tracking AFTER the sale and she haggled for $2.50 off? Probably irrelevant. 

Asking for a discount in shipping price AND an upgrade in shipping service would be a red flag to me. Have I mentioned before that I am a nasty-minded and cynical old lady? 

Keep an eye on the tracking. When I promise a response by (eg) August 1, I usually try to make the actual response on (eg) July 31.

Is this a summer job or have you completed your university courses? Nice to know you like your co-workers. That always makes a job easier, no matter how challenging.