Buyer wants refund but doesnt want ti open a claim.

[winner188]

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]

Also, what was the item and how valuable was it?

[lachnrd]

If there is no tracking PayPal will refund them right away. I had someone open a case a day after shipping with PayPal and they got the money as item had no tracking. PayPal doesn’t care.

[femmefan1946]

Did you respond to the Dispute ?

If you ignore a Dispute, you lose a Dispute.

Even if your response, is 'could you wait until Friday before proceeding?' that usually satisfies the 'bots (until Friday).

When PP refunds they also refund their fees. So refunds lose them money.

PP may not care about you but they love their money.

[winner188]

Thanks everyone for the help.

[winner188]

I have refunded the buyer since he opened a claim through PayPal. What's the best way to let EBay know about my experience with this buyer, a phone call ?
In the future I will try to find a way to offer tracking in more of my listings.

[momcqueen]

If you want any kind of action to be taken on anything with eBay, you have to call. The online Reports don’t seem to accomplish much until x number of reports are logged from y number of different users.

Calling takes time both for you to make and eBay Customer Service to receive so it seems to be granted a higher level of importance.

[winner188]

momcqueen you are so helpful, you take time to answer all my questions. You have great knowledge and advice for everything. Thank you very much.

[momcqueen]

You are very welcome. I aim to please, and I am glad to hear you find that helpful.

Good luck with your call, report back if you think of it.

[rose-dee]

Wow, just wow.  It seems to me there are a whole lot of people jumping to a whole lot of conclusions here. 

You are going to report the buyer?  For what exactly?  For requesting a refund after a reasonable time, and for possibly trying to make it easier on you?  For opening a Paypal claim rather than an eBay claim?  Or as a punishment for his bad English?

I'm sorry, but unless the buyer has actually given you some clear indication of an intention to defraud you or extort feedback, it's completely unfair to report him.  You indicated: 

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"

The way I read this message (I'm a linguist by training, so I tend to read through the lines of broken English) is that the poor guy was trying to give you a break.  Likely he's been told by someone (or perhaps he's done some eBay selling himself some time ago) that a claim will result in a defect, and he may not know the rules have changed with regard to refunds.  He was suggesting that if he opened a claim on eBay, that would be worse for you than a direct refund.  I also believe his reference to your having 5 stars was meant to say that he felt he could trust you to just send him the money without involving eBay.  

Yes, it would have been better, and protected both of you had he opened an official claim on eBay, but it's quite possible he thought Paypal would be less problematic for you.   Directing a buyer whose understanding of both English and eBay policy may be dubious to open an eBay claim may just create more (and different) issues.  If this were a sale under about $50, I'd have just sent him a direct refund.  But that's based on my confidence that his message was not in the least nefarious. 

Frankly, this is a buyer I wouldn't mind having as a repeat customer.  I wouldn't punish him for his efforts.  It's neither his fault nor yours that the post office can't deliver within a reasonable time.  He did what he felt he had to do in requesting a refund, but was trying to save you some grief in the process.   

[pjcdn2005]

I don’t see any signs of extortion either so I’m not sure what the buyer would be reported for.   They do seem to be impatient and/or anxious but I’ve had buyers like that and they weren’t being dishonest.