eBay

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

I shipped an item without tracking.
Buyer says they have not received item after two weeks.
Buyer ask for refund, I suggest to open a claim through EBay.
Buyer doesn't want to open claim

Buyers message - " you can send me the refund by Paypal, you have 5 Star on EBay"

Buyers message - "If i opening the claim on EBay, maybe that is bad for you ?
Thanks"

Should I direct the buyer to open claim or should I refund through PayPal without opening claim?
Thanks
Bill

momcqueen · ‎04-18-2018

My suggestion would be to assure the buyer that opening a claim via ebay is the proper thing to do. It's possible the buyer is trying to spare you what they anticipate will be a blotch on your record as a seller but the reality is that it's better for ebay to know which buyers are opening what number of claims. Gently encourage them to do it via official channels.

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Thank you

momcqueen · ‎04-18-2018

You're welcome.

Come back if it starts to get really weird, like there is a massive resistance on the part of the buyer to doing so. Or they begin to behave oddly in other ways.

I'm thinking they're thinking they're doing you a favour by wanting to be sneaky about it but you never know, this might be their modus operandi and they could be on official warning already or something. Probably not, most likely not.

mcrlmn · ‎04-18-2018

Buyers message - " you can send me the refund by Paypal, you have 5 Star on EBay"
Buyers message - "If i opening the claim on EBay, maybe that is bad for you ?

eBay has zero tolerance for extortion from buyers.

Report the buyer.

Don't follow up with any additional correspondence.

You've already advised the buyer to open a case.

Don't refund until the case is opened.

If eBay messages you of the INR case, you can correspond within that format and refund if necessary.

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Thanks, I will report buyer to EBay.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎04-18-2018

Quote:
My suggestion would be to assure the buyer that opening a claim via ebay is the proper thing to do.
-----------------------------------

This would be my approach as well.

However, if it's only been 14 days including weekends and holidays I would not go there immediately.

Alternatively, I would politely ask the buyer to wait a few more days for delivery before opening an official request.

It's not at all that unusual for Small Packet USA to go 10 business days, I've had good results with asking the buyer to hold on for a few additional days. The item usually does arrive.

If it doesn't arrive in a few days ask the buyer to make an official request.

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Buyer opened claim in PayPal that they never received item.
Sorry I don't understand but isn't the claim supposed to be opened through EBay?

mcrlmn · ‎04-18-2018

https://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html

A claim can be opened on either venue.
You can respond in the PayPal resolution Centre.

momcqueen · ‎04-18-2018

Oh, no. I misunderstood then. As long as their claim is open somewhere. They can't open one in both ebay and paypal but mccrimm is right, the buyer does make it sound like feedback extortion may be at play, I thought it was just broken English on the part of an international buyer. Did you get the sense they were trying to threaten you with bad feedback?

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Thank you

momcqueen · ‎04-18-2018

Also, kawartha gives good advice to ask the buyer to wait a few more days. What was their actual Estimated Date of Delivery?

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Yes , I did feel the buyer was trying to extort me but I didn't mention it in my original message, I wanted to see if others felt the same way.

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Yes, asking for more time is good advice, I have already gone through this process, the buyer was contacting me shortly after I mailed the item.

winner188 · ‎04-18-2018

Item was mailed on April 2

kawartha-ephemera · ‎04-18-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
Oh, no. I misunderstood then. As long as their claim is open somewhere. They can't open one in both ebay and paypal but mccrimm is right, the buyer does make it sound like feedback extortion may be at play, I thought it was just broken English on the part of an international buyer. Did you get the sense they were trying to threaten you with bad feedback?

I also was of the opinion the buyer's motives were shall I say "not definitive" but I guess that opinion is out the window now.

So glad to sell in categories where sending untracked is not an open invitation for this sort of buyer to take advantage of honest folks. Send 95% of stuff not tracked with very, very few problems.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎04-18-2018

@winner188 wrote:
Yes, asking for more time is good advice, I have already gone through this process, the buyer was contacting me shortly after I mailed the item.

Rarely get that type of buyer but when they do appear the result is highly predictable. Best of luck with this one.

mcrlmn · ‎04-18-2018

The buyer seems adept. How long has the buyer been a member?
The cynic in me is curious as to why the buyer went directly to PayPal.
PayPal typically resolves claims much faster, but I'm also wondering if the buyer is wary of opening a claim on eBay based on possible history.

momcqueen · ‎04-18-2018

Yes, my instincts lead me to this too.

I feel that most buyers who shop on ebay will open their INR within 30-days on ebay as per the MoneyBack Guarantee (MBG) and turn to paypal only after that 30-day MBG is expired. To my mind, the fact they went to paypal first and maybe even before the EDD was cleared, is suspicious. Especially so combined with that message.

I think if it were me, I'd call ebay Customer Service to, shall we say, share my concerns. ebay certainly cannot save you from having to refund the buyer as part of the paypal INR case but you can sure put this buyer on their radar for this.