Buyer asked for refund, package arrived the next day, no repose for removal

[triber]

I had sent a small package rate item to buyer without tracking because it was less expensive. Buyer asked for refund after a week for item not recieved. I explained that mail from Canada to the US takes  longer than that. She sent a message 2 days later to say that it had arrived. After 6 messages she has still not cancelled the refund request and I can find no way to contact eBay to say that the package has arrived.

[john_koenig99]

The key word is no tracking. You are pretty much SOL without it, unfortunately.

Now, you could try calling eBay reps, or use their webchat,  but their reputation for not being helpful is notorious. You may fare batter if you contact eBay via X or Facebook. 

Good luck. 

[femmefan1946]

Tracking is a Seller Protection agains false claims of non-delivery.

When we don't track, and most of my domestic sales are not, we are gambling that our buyer is honest and that the post office delivers promptly.

Usually it works fine.

When it doesn't , we lost the gamble and refund.

Unlike gambling at the casino, where the house always wins, usually everything goes smoothly .

When it doesn't , whether the buyer is lying, the post office lost the shipment, or the delivery was delayed, we use the refund as a tax deduction against our profits.

Most experienced sellers will tell you that we have less than a 1% failure rate. The lower your sales numbers the more it hurts though.

Unless the buyer escalates the Claim, it is possible that it will just lapse. Don't poke the bear.

[recped]

eBay will automatically close the refund request after 21 business days of no activity if the buyer doesn't escalate which is sounds like they will not because they did get the order and are "happy".

There is no point in contacting eBay because they will not do anything on your behalf because the buyer is the only one that can close the request prematurely. eBay might close it for you but only if you had tracking showing delivery. Since you don't have the tracking they just let it time out.

[raanana]

No tracking = 100% refund.

Even ,if a buyer confirms receiving it a day after of filing INR. Had exactly the same issue few years back.INR was filed,issued a refund and the very next day buyer confirm receiving.She promissed to pay back not once but twice,never did. Unfortunately part of the business and there are different people.

[marnotom!]

@raanana, in this particular case, @triber has not issued a refund. The refund request is still open without further action from the buyer.

[recped]

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@raanana wrote:

No tracking = 100% refund.

Even ,if a buyer confirms receiving it a day after of filing INR. Had exactly the same issue few years back.INR was filed,issued a refund and the very next day buyer confirm receiving.She promissed to pay back not once but twice,never did. Unfortunately part of the business and there are different people.

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There are two parts to an INR, part one is a "request", part two is a "case", if you have the skills to convince buyers to have a little patience then in almost all situations the request never turns into a case and no refund is every done.

Some buyers will be proactive and close the case and some just assume it's all done and over in which case you have to wait for it to time out.

I rarely have these issues anymore but back in the day (including the 1970's - early 2000's when most shipments had no tracking) I developed the skills to deal with this sort of thing and rarely if ever refunded and buyers always got their orders and usually on the dates I assured them it would arrive.

[dinomitesales]

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@recped wrote:

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There are two parts to an INR, part one is a "request", part two is a "case", if you have the skills to convince buyers to have a little patience then in almost all situations the request never turns into a case and no refund is every done.

Some buyers will be proactive and close the case and some just assume it's all done and over in which case you have to wait for it to time out.

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But does it time out? It's been a while since I had an INR case opened. But if you wait long enough with an open request doesn't it just automatically turn into a case on a certain date and immediately refund the buyer (and ding your account in the process) if no tracking is updated?

[reallynicestamps]

But if you wait long enough with an open request doesn't it just automatically turn into a case on a certain date and immediately refund the buyer

devon@ebay 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@triber 

@reallynicestamps 

Does it come anywhere in play that there was a physical message which eBay is able to view that stated buyer had received (noted in original post)? Shouldn't that have a part in the situation? Can't see the buyer being dishonest about an item being received. The issue in all this is getting the buyer to close. Once the buyer receives they figure the work is all done. 

As for it being small packet air(USA) the tracking within ebay "was" still working awhile ago (UR### ### ###CA). Unsure if it still is. It's possible ebay has disabled. As a side note if you call USPS they may be able to send you a confirmation email stating the item was actually received for back up proof. Although the tracking does not show up on eBay's website it is available internally. Only way is a direct call to confirm one way or another. Tested this on 2 occasions. Once to the local depot and 2nd time to a sort plant. Gave them the UR number and they were able to view all tracking details for the shipment including present status.

Re: UR number entry. When shipment is shipped now you have to manually update to get it in play. The current number ebay ports to tracking is only a shipment reference used for billing. It is NOT trackable from my testing.

PS. As a side going forward any parcel shipments to the USA sellers should be using the  discounted Tracked service for USA/Intl and ebay labels. Unless the item is crazy heavy, tracked is usually cheaper than small packet air.

[triber]

I can't see any way to show eBay her message that the package had arrived. I have now sent 6 messages asking please close the refund request, No reply!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@triber wrote:

I can't see any way to show eBay her message that the package had arrived. I have now sent 6 messages asking please close the refund request, No reply!

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@triber 

Customer service both chat and Facebook etc have access to that info. If you are in discussion with them you would also be able to copy and paste but a date you corresponded with your customer should be all they need to access the info. eBay CS sees all!!! 👓

(We get the same kind of baffling rational when we have a supposed INR and first thing ebay says is to update tracking. The tracking info (for regular tracked shipments) is there, front and center attached to the original shipment. It's not like as a seller we just made that info up. 

[triber]

Good news! She finally closed it with one day to spare! I guess not everyone checks their emails many times a day which I am sure many of us do.

I really appreciate all the helpful suggestions, you people are always so kind.

[recped]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

But if you wait long enough with an open request doesn't it just automatically turn into a case on a certain date and immediately refund the buyer

devon@ebay 

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No it will not, ONLY the buyer can escalate from a INR request to an INR claim.

[raanana]

His problem is solved for now.A problem with request is,that buyer can escalate it any time and if not refunded promptly,then you can get a defect  .When I have INR filed,the very first thing is to try to comunicate with a buyer.There are different people and some abuse the system.Last month had a buyer in USA who with short period of time  after the shipping filed INR,he went mute never contact me,never answered to messages.I simply refunded it ,before he escalated it.Regular mail,no tracking ,no way to deal with ebay.I'm taking photos of potmarked letters at PO,it is just proof ,that I mailed it,nothing more.This buyer just wanted free items from very beginning ,it's it,he got it,end of the story. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@recped wrote:

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@raanana wrote:

No tracking = 100% refund.

Even ,if a buyer confirms receiving it a day after of filing INR. Had exactly the same issue few years back.INR was filed,issued a refund and the very next day buyer confirm receiving.She promissed to pay back not once but twice,never did. Unfortunately part of the business and there are different people.

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There are two parts to an INR, part one is a "request", part two is a "case", if you have the skills to convince buyers to have a little patience then in almost all situations the request never turns into a case and no refund is every done.

Some buyers will be proactive and close the case and some just assume it's all done and over in which case you have to wait for it to time out.

I rarely have these issues anymore but back in the day (including the 1970's - early 2000's when most shipments had no tracking) I developed the skills to deal with this sort of thing and rarely if ever refunded and buyers always got their orders and usually on the dates I assured them it would arrive.

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Similar to getting a follow up response with eBay regarding technical issues, getting follow up from both buyers and sellers has become a major hassle and or challenging. In many cases, next to impossible.