eBay

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-23-2016

I sold on item on Saturday at 7:42:35. A claim was filed for "Item Not Received" on Monday at 7:47:38 PST. I called eBay and they said it did not go through them, it was a PayPal claim. I called PayPal and they said there was nothing they could do, that the claim came through from her Credit Card provider. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he told me the same thing. It was suggested that I refund or ship the item. I chose to ship the item because I do not wish to receive a "defect" on my selling account.

The purchaser was livid! She said she will do everything she needs to do to make sure I don't get my money back and it will be held until she gets it.

She also told me that she paid with a PayPal Credit and NOT with a credit card.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

She did NOT ask to cancel the item. I would have been happy if she did, it was a very HOT item. In the last 10 days, I have sold 4 on eBay and 27 on Etsy. I am down to 3 and chances of getting more are nil.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

She knew it was not going to be shipped until Monday. She never indicated that she was in a hurry or that was not agreeable with her.

I sell jewelry. I never take it to a post office until the day they have delivery. I do not want it sitting around, tempting anyone to make it disappear or take a chance that it gets damaged.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

Yes, you are missing something. I had several conversations with the purchaser on Saturday and Sunday and nothing was said about her changing her mind.

She wanted to know how much it would cost to send with tracking and when I would ship it.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

You are assuming.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

She did not file through eBay. She filed only with PayPal. I spoke with eBay and they said it was out of their hands.

momcqueen · ‎11-25-2016

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
She knew it was not going to be shipped until Monday. She never indicated that she was in a hurry or that was not agreeable with her.

I sell jewelry. I never take it to a post office until the day they have delivery. I do not want it sitting around, tempting anyone to make it disappear or take a chance that it gets damaged.

I'm not criticizing you for that. You are not expected to dispatch on weekends, it's not a business day. I'm just trying to understand why the buyer behaved as she did. As I stated earlier in the thread, I'd have done precisely as you did after the INR was opened via PayPal: ship it with tracking. If you'd cancelled it via eBay, you'd have found yourself with a defect. I think it's good that you didn't. I take it there's been no further action or communication from the buyer?

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

There is no set rule. The only reality is that no matter what the buyer claims, the case is always found in their favor,

I sold over $1.4 million in the past 12 years and I could write a book on the different cases of buyer fraud.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

Thank You for getting this clarified for me. My business means a lot to me and I know that I owe my customers the best service possible. Unfortunately its impossible to please everyone and when something like this happens, I think we all agonize over the best solution and even after we make a decision, there is always that gnawing fear that maybe our decision was wrong.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

The item was delivered, on the 23rd, I had PayPal verify delivery and they refunded my funds.

I hope thats the end of it.

As I mentioned before, she asked me how much extra it would cost her to have it shipped with tracking because she was afraid it would get lost. My shipping was only $5 for Light Packet Air, so taking into consideration eBays FVF on shipping, I quoted her an extra $10. I did not invoice her for it because I was planning to go to Michigan on Monday and I would just have shipped it from there at no extra cost to her. I did not tell her that because I was not 100% sure that I could spare the time to go that day.

All the best to you. I hope you will have a ton of sales this holiday season, all without problems.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-25-2016

The buyer did NOT ask for a cancellation,

zee-chan · ‎11-26-2016

I hope it'd be the end of it too but please let us know if there's anything new. This is indeed a very curious situation and I hope I'd never encounter it myself... Thank you for sharing your experience.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-26-2016

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
Buyer DID NOT ask for a cancellation.

I never said or even thought that your buyer asked for a cancellation. I am glad that things worked out for you.

sylviebee · ‎11-26-2016

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
Yes, you are missing something. I had several conversations with the purchaser on Saturday and Sunday and nothing was said about her changing her mind.

She wanted to know how much it would cost to send with tracking and when I would ship it.

Since the buyer opened the case it was clear that something wasn't sitting right with her.

IMO it was your job to figure out what the problem was before shipping.

In any case, you still had an entire day to ship with no threat of a defect. That would have given you a lot of time to communicate with your buyer and get a clear idea of what the problem was.

Maybe she was buying time to make sure you'd ship with a different method, or she wanted to cancel.

Since you didn't ask her you don't know what was up, but she's telling you loud and clear that it's something.

Not sure why you wouldn't want to clarify that before shipping.

Unless your right on the edge, a possible defect doesn't mean much if anything.

ricarmic · ‎11-26-2016

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
The item was delivered, on the 23rd, I had PayPal verify delivery and they refunded my funds.
I hope thats the end of it.

As I mentioned before, she asked me how much extra it would cost her to have it shipped with tracking because she was afraid it would get lost. My shipping was only $5 for Light Packet Air, so taking into consideration eBays FVF on shipping, I quoted her an extra $10. I did not invoice her for it because I was planning to go to Michigan on Monday and I would just have shipped it from there at no extra cost to her. I did not tell her that because I was not 100% sure that I could spare the time to go that day.

All the best to you. I hope you will have a ton of sales this holiday season, all without problems.

Wow this has been a most interesting example to follow and (somewhat) understand!

I've been around a long time, and shipping something to someone who was complaining they hadn't received it before it was even shipped (the next business day) would never ever have occurred to me to be the correct solution!

Having said this, the rules around all these cases across PAYPAL and/or eBay make us do some pretty bizzarre things sometimes. The part that worries me is if one called in a couple times, I'm not sure one would get the same answer from the support folks which is more worrisome.

Certainly if one sells enough stuff here one is going to experience some knobs and pretty strange and very frustrating situations.

I'm glad this has so far worked out well, it has certainly been an enlightening thread for me, it seems no matter how long one has been here, there continues to be so much to learn.....

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-26-2016

Thinking that I was going to ship it without tracking, she was hoping to get her money back and to keep the item. But that's just hindsight speculation.

What upset me about the whole thing was:

1) that PayPal took her claim so early and

2) that they lied to me about it being a Credit Card Charge back. Not just the agent but her supervisor as well.

sylviebee · ‎11-26-2016

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
Thinking that I was going to ship it without tracking, she was hoping to get her money back and to keep the item.

But since you said that she was the one asking you to ship with tracking that makes no sense.

momcqueen · ‎11-26-2016

I believe the buyer asked for a postage quote for tracking. Not to have it shipped with tracking. Subtle difference.

rose-dee · ‎11-26-2016

@mjwl2006 wrote:
I believe the buyer asked for a postage quote for tracking. Not to have it shipped with tracking. Subtle difference.

Which could explain why the buyer became livid when told the item was being shipped. Perhaps she thought she'd be charged for the full tracked shipping cost. I have to wonder whether this was an inexperienced buyer who erroneously opened the INR claim on Paypal thinking that was the way to halt the transaction (or get her money back for what she thought she was going to have to pay).

I understand why the OP would have shipped, and no one would blame her for taking Paypal's recommendation. What I question is the appropriateness of Paypal's advice, and frankly the even worse act of allowing an INR to be opened on the very first business day on which the item could be shipped.

FWIW now I do agree with 'pj' and 'toby' that the best thing would have been to resolve the INR via a refund, as there would be no defect. Also, shipping even with tracking to a buyer who already proved herself to be problematic might open the seller up to a phony SNAD claim, creating an even bigger problem.

This thread has been intriguing, although it's hard to imagine these particular circumstances occurring very often. What it's shown however is that Paypal customer service may not be as trustworthy as we'd like to believe.

I sincerely hope for the OP's sake that this scenario turns out to have a happy (or at least quiet) ending.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎11-28-2016

@rose-dee wrote:
@mjwl2006 wrote:
I believe the buyer asked for a postage quote for tracking. Not to have it shipped with tracking. Subtle difference.

. What it's shown however is that Paypal customer service may not be as trustworthy as we'd like to believe.

.

You hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what I had the biggest problem with. My intention was not to cry and whine about what some buyer did to me. It was PayPal's role that distressed me.

As I mentioned before, the item was delivered, I phoned and confirmed with PayPal and they refunded my money. I have not heard any more from the buyer and I hope that is a good sign.