Why ebay is so stupid?

[mrshawnwu]

I got two unpaid item this week. All from someone without transaction in the recent one year. And I cancelled the orders. Then ebay told me, ebay was trying to confirm with the buyers that they already got the refund.

They didn't pay the item. It's so explicit in the system, why I have to wait 10 days for the scamer to accept the cancellation?

[rose-dee]

You should really not have cancelled the orders without the buyer first asking you to cancel, otherwise the eBay system may assume you cancelled the transaction due to seller error, and that the buyer is therefore owed a refund.  What reason did you use when you processed the cancellation?  

If a buyer is being a bit slow in paying, I will often send an eBay message asking if they made a mistake or changed their mind and want to cancel.  If they reply "yes" within a day or two, then I process the cancellation using the reason "buyer made a mistake or changed mind".  

However, it is usually much better to file an unpaid item dispute if the buyer is being unusually slow (the definition of "unusually slow" depends on each seller's personal view).  If the buyer pays, there is no problem.  If the buyer doesn't pay or respond to the UID within the required time, the system closes the transaction and you get your FVFs back.  More importantly, the buyer will get a strike on his record.  If he does this to other sellers and they also file UIDs, the buyer may find himself kicked off eBay.  

Unfortunately, it appears there is a "logic disconnect" in the current eBay cancellation system that doesn't take your sort of scenario into account (sellers cancelling where a buyer is being slow in paying, but the system thinking a refund is due).  This is what happens when computers -- and not people -- make decisions. 

This issue was brought up by a seller at this Wednesday's Board Session, so you're not alone.  You may want to read Post #9 in this thread: http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Weekly-Board-Hour-Session/September-16th-2015-Weekly-Session/m-p/313560#...

I think what I'd do in this situation is call eBay customer service, explain the situation (also mention you are a fairly new seller and didn't realize a seller cancellation wasn't the right thing to do in this instance).  They may say there is no way to know whether the buyer really did want to complete the transaction, so you may get a defect for the seller-fault cancellation.  However, eBay should be able to see that the buyer never did pay, and therefore you should not be obliged to make a refund.  

Best of luck getting this sorted out.  Oh yes, and after you do, make sure you add this buyer to your Blocked Bidder List. 

[dutchman48]

I cancelled due to an address issue and still went through the same scenario.

I did not get an answer to any of my questions on cancellations yesterday if you read the replies I got.

[rose-dee]

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@dutchman48 wrote:

I cancelled due to an address issue and still went through the same scenario.

I did not get an answer to any of my questions on cancellations yesterday if you read the replies I got.

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Yes, I noticed.  Raphael didn't address the underlying issue at all, nor did he admit there was a problem with the system.  It didn't seem that he grasped what you were describing.  

Personally I don't like the way eBay handles cancellations.  It's convoluted, awkward, and not always logical.  I know what they're trying to achieve in protecting buyers, but it often puts sellers in a difficult spot, as you've found out. 

[neatjerseys]

Here Is another stupidity that Ebay can take credit for. Why is it if you are on .ca and you have a return request from .com and you want to see details of the request, you receive a technical difficulties message.

Someone not that familiar with ebay would just sit there and wait till this cleared up, but it never will. You would think by now that you can transpond between .ca and .com. Or at the very least leave a message saying that you need to log on .com

[neatjerseys]

Have you ever tried to argue a not as described return with Ebay. I got more response out of my cat.

[mrshawnwu]

I cancelled because the guy said his paypal account had problem and paypal would solve the problem within 24 hours. I waited 36 hours and got no message then cancelled. Yes, I raised the "item not paid" issue last year for the same scenario. I left ebay for half a year. So this time I cancelled, and it became worse than that. As a seller it seems very common some new ebay user would come and bug you.

[neatjerseys]

I have had similar issues as I think many of us had if you have been on Ebay long enough. Many times these issues worked out. Newbies sometimes need to be nursemaid through transactions