Trying to pay for buyers return. Ebay help phone was an disappointing experience.

[7366carl]

Hi,

I have had a buyer message to say they were unhappy with a purchase. They explained why and I politely pointed out that all those issues are all explicitly explained in the condition. But in order to make the customer happy I thought I would just pay for the buyer to return the item. Provide above and beyond service. My settings are buyer pays for returns.  But I told them I would pay for them to ship it back . Wow, what a mistake. Called eBay help line. I asked for how to do this. Wow, I would love for some on eBay to listen to that call. He said I was trying to manipulate the buyer into picking a return. Dude, I just want to know what to tell them to pick so that I can pay for their shipping but not take an unfair ding to my reputation. He said I was trying to find the right script to tell the buyer and I shouldn't be doing that. I just wanted to know how to help my buyer.  I should just have been a hard ass it seems. 

He told me it's impossible for the seller to pay for a return if my policy is that buyer pays. Just for one return? This could not be the only time this has happened before??

I think the most disappointing thing was being treated so poorly by eBay when calling to try and get advice on what to do to make this buyer happy. I remained calm but I almost lost it a few times. Sigh. Especially when he said I was trying to manipulate the customer. I felt insulted. I try to be 100% honest in everything I do. I deserve better service than that.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Is your buyer in Canada or the IUSA?

For Canada go to SnapShip and send a return Canada Post shipping label.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/business/shipping/find-rates-ship/snap-ship.page

For a USPS shipping label, go to Shippo (I'm sorry, this is the only way I know)

https://goshippo.com/login/?next=https%3A//app.goshippo.com/orders/manual/

You will need your Small Business Solutions number if you don't already have a Shippo account.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

But you should be able to buy a USPS First Class International Package label with tracking to Canada. I did it once, and I am a technodolt who has to set up a new Shippo account every time I try to use the service.

If the customer doesn't use the label to return the purchase, you do not have to refund (NO REFUNDS WITHOUT RETURN)  and eventually you will be credited with the cost of the unused label.

Oh, to find the USPS FCIP rates, enter your postal code and the measurements of your original package

Go to -> Size and Shape

Go to-> list and scroll to very bottom.

[femmefan1946]

treated so poorly by eBay when calling to try and get advice

Yeah. The American clerks are pretty clueless. It's a dead end minimum wage job, the Yankee accents are painful, and most of them are only vaguely aware of the existance of any country other than the USA nor can they understand that we have a different postal system, government, and culture.

The Philippino clerks have jobs that are (for the Philippines) well paid and sought after, so they tend to be more intelligent. They also understand that there are other countries in the world than the USA, and probably have a cousin in Winnipeg (which now has a Jollibee!).

Unfortunately, they are also given much less responsibilty than the American clerks.