eBay

jhssparky · ‎04-25-2016

I bought a control board for an istick 30w to repair a customers device, the unit came in and I installed it but later that night as it was charging I noticed the oled screen flickering, the next day it started going blank then flashing wildly. I msg'd the seller but didn't get a reply, 2-3 days later I asked ebay to help, the seller replied that day and I offered video as proof (youtube) the seller Ok'd the return but then asked if I had the packaging I said it was thrown out. I msg'd back 3 times asking what to do, that the USB port was now lose and to update that the board (while off) caught fire, all msg's were ignored.

Now a week later I received a msg "the seller cannot purchase a return shipping label" and that I have 5 days to ship it back or possibly lose the possibility of a refund. My problem is that the (minor) fire damaged the whole device so I purchased a new same device ($75) for my customer and now can't afford to pay shipping for at least a couple of weeks, I msg'd ebay CS twice now explaining my situation but only received a canned replies. I now have 2 days left.

What does "the seller cannot purchase a return shipping label" mean?

In 2 days will I be S.O.L? will I have any other options?

Thanks for any help.

John

sylviebee · ‎05-03-2016

Note the other current thread about this topic.

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Canada-Not-as-Described-Return-Part-2-How-to-contact-CS-th...

That buyer shipped the item back to the seller without waiting for the funds for the return. Don't make that mistake.

After escalating, if the case is found in your favour, wait the required five days for the seller to send you a return label or the funds for the label. If nothing happens call eBay and they weil issue a refund on the spot or a return label.

Again: If you post the size and weight of the item here we can advise you on how much it will cost for ship via CPO and how much $ to request from the seller.

View solution in original post

jhssparky · ‎05-03-2016

Sorry I took the size and weight off the shippers packing slip.
I read the other thread you posted. Thanks, great advice.
Thank you for all your help.
John

View solution in original post

jyerxa10 · ‎04-25-2016

Basically if the seller does not live in Canada ( or the same country as you) he/she cannot provide you with a return shipping label,,your only option to return the item is to ship on you dime and hope the seller will refund you the total price plus your shipping cost.

maggiebvintage2010 · ‎04-25-2016

In addition to paying the return shipping, you need to use a service with delivery confirmation to prove to eBay that it was returned.

I have never had to deal with this, but I believe that you can telephone eBay and ask them to step in - that in the past they have provided the label. Perhaps some other posters here can provide more information for the OP.

If that doesn't work, you will have to decide (based on how much you paid) whether it is worth the $$ to send it back.

sylviebee · ‎04-25-2016

Have you opened a case and escalated it?

If the case has been found in your favour, then eBay will put it on hold for 5 days and during that time it's the seller's responsibility to send you the funds for return shipping.

This is not a partial refund and if the seller processes it that way insist that you also get the actual funds to your paypal account.

The seller will need your paypal adress.

If you post the size and weight of your item here we can let you know how much it will cost to return it to the seller so you know how much money to ask for.

If the seller does not get you the funds within 5 days eBay will refund your initial payment without requiring a return.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-26-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
Have you opened a case and escalated it?

If the case has been found in your favour, then eBay will put it on hold for 5 days and during that time it's the seller's responsibility to send you the funds for return shipping.

This is not a partial refund and if the seller processes it that way insist that you also get the actual funds to your paypal account.

The seller will need your paypal adress.

If you post the size and weight of your item here we can let you know how much it will cost to return it to the seller so you know how much money to ask for.

If the seller does not get you the funds within 5 days eBay will refund your initial payment without requiring a return.

If the buyer escalates "asks eBay to step in" because the seller has not or will not pay ahead of time for shipping, should the buyer also phone eBay and explain the problem? Or, is there a place in the escalation screen to explain so that eBay won't jump the gun and rule in favour of the seller simply because the buyer was waiting for a label/money to send the item back?

sylviebee · ‎04-26-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
@sylviebee wrote:
Have you opened a case and escalated it?

If the case has been found in your favour, then eBay will put it on hold for 5 days and during that time it's the seller's responsibility to send you the funds for return shipping.

This is not a partial refund and if the seller processes it that way insist that you also get the actual funds to your paypal account.

The seller will need your paypal adress.

If you post the size and weight of your item here we can let you know how much it will cost to return it to the seller so you know how much money to ask for.

If the seller does not get you the funds within 5 days eBay will refund your initial payment without requiring a return.

If the buyer escalates "asks eBay to step in" because the seller has not or will not pay ahead of time for shipping, should the buyer also phone eBay and explain the problem? Or, is there a place in the escalation screen to explain so that eBay won't jump the gun and rule in favour of the seller simply because the buyer was waiting for a label/money to send the item back?

Once eBay steps in and finds in favour of the buyer they put the case on hold for 5 days to give the seller time to get a label or money to the buyer.

After that the buyer is shut out and there's no longer anywhere to respond other than entering a tracking number.

If the seller sends the funds to the buyer, the buyer enters the tracking number and the case proceeds based on that.

If no funds are sent that requires a phone call and I don't what happens if the buyer doesn't call eBay at that point.

My best guess is that the case would just go away.

The whole procedure is so full of holes that there's a myriad of places where things can and do go wrong.

If the buyer calls, eBay either sends a return label on behalf of the buyer or they refund the initial payment.

I don't know how they decide which option to choose but it probably has something to do with item cost.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only who's wondered why it's not possible to buy labels from other P.O.s? It seems that this should be a relatively simple thing to implement.

A change like that would be a nice feature to add for those of us who buy and sell internationally and could useful in so many ways.

maggiebvintage2010 · ‎04-26-2016

So then, just to clarify for OP jhssparky - It seems time is running out on the 5 day window, so:

s/he should now first escalate and "ask eBay to step in" through the case in the Resolution Centre, and also phone eBay immediately in order to get either a shipping label or the funds to buy one.

Is this correct?

sylviebee · ‎04-26-2016

"""" Now a week later I received a msg "the seller cannot purchase a return shipping label" and that I have 5 days to ship it back or possibly lose the possibility of a refund. .............
What does "the seller cannot purchase a return shipping label" mean?
In 2 days will I be S.O.L? will I have any other options?"""""

jhssparky's post didn't quite make sense to me.

It's not clear if he opened a case. Did eBay send the message that the seller can't purchase a shipping label or did the message say the seller had 5 days to supply a return label?

Maybe that's something new and different as they seem to be changing the procedure regularly.

sylviebee · ‎04-26-2016

..or........

It does made sense if it (a case) wasn't escalated and found in the buyer's favour.

That would mean that the buyer is responsible for the label.

sparky: Did you open and escalate the case?

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-26-2016

Have you tried to buy a label on USPS?

If you or anyone else has tried to do so but hasn't been able to, please tell me why you couldn't...was there a certain point

that you couldn't go any farther?

I have to run right now but will check back later.

sylviebee · ‎04-26-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Have you tried to buy a label on USPS?
If you or anyone else has tried to do so but hasn't been able to, please tell me why you couldn't...was there a certain point
that you couldn't go any farther?
I have to run right now but will check back later.

WOW!!!! That is an excellent question.

I've always just assumed that it's not possible because everyone has been saying it's not.

I just went to the USPS site and created an account.

I would have no trouble buying a label to ship from the US to Canada.

Perhaps it's also possible to do the same on the CPO site for shipping from Canada to the US.

Go Figure!

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-26-2016

I created an USPS account a while ago but when I wanted to buy a label, there was a message telling me that I had to change my profile address to a U.S. one so I 'assumed' that I couldn't print a label there. However, they were talking about it on one of the U.S. boards last night so I did a test run. I believe the note I saw about needing a U.S. address is only because the originating/return address has to be in the U.S. and when I put the fake buyer's address in that field, everything seemed to be fine. Payment choices were a cc or Paypal but it looks like the cc info needs to have a U.S. billing address. I have no idea if they require that the Paypal account be in the U.S.....if not, we should be able to print a label using Paypal to pay for it.

sylviebee · ‎04-27-2016

I was surprised to see that the USPS site has the option readily available for opening International accounts.

It really makes no sense that they'd invite us in and then prevent us form spending our money.

Did the American posters indicate that they could open accounts on the CPO site?

We've all been saying that it's not possible to buy labels over borders but maybe that option has been available all along.

Well........ wouldn't that be something.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-27-2016

One Canadian poster there just answered me said that they did buy a label on the USPS site and they used a cc to pay using their company's U.S. business address. I just asked her if that was the actual billing address for the cc, I'll check back to see if she answers. I guess it doesn't really matter because either way you need a U.S. address to use a cc.

Did the American posters indicate that they could open accounts on the CPO site?

One American said they did try to open an account on CP but they were unable to. I don't know why they couldn't.

reallynicestamps · ‎04-27-2016

Do you have to live there?

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States

jhssparky · ‎05-03-2016

Sorry for the delay, I thought I would receive a notification for your reply.
A refund request was accepted only after I asked ebay for help (not escalated) ebay has basically said "work it out with the seller" for now. The seller asked me if I had his packaging, I said no that it had been thrown out, seller has since ignored my emails.
I will now ask the seller to advance the shipping costs and see where we end up.

John

jhssparky · ‎05-03-2016

Sorry for the delay, I thought I would receive a notification for your reply.
I thought I did open a case but I guess it was just asking for help. The email from ebay was the seller cannot purchase a return shipping label and that I had 5 days to buy one and ship the device back or risk losing the refund. Hope this helps. John

jhssparky · ‎05-03-2016

I now think I just asked for help, not escalate it. I will try again to ask the seller to advance the shipping costs. Thanks John

jhssparky · ‎05-03-2016

Sorry for the delay, I thought I would receive a notification for your reply.
I could not find a link to purchase a label but I admit I didn't try too hard, partly because I bought the item to repair a customers device the item (a control board) caught fire and destroyed my customers device, I immediately bought a new device to replace the burnt one I have a strict policy concerning damage as a result of my repair. I paid $75 for the new device and now for at least a couple of weeks I can't afford an additional ~$20 shipping