Refund before or after RM deal with claim?

Piggy-bank_2

An item I sent 1st class on the 7th of December still doesn't appear to have turned up (as of Tusday 20th). As I have proof of posting and the 15 days required by RM have now passed, as soon as I hear again from the buyer I am going to submit a claim.

With over 150 Ebay sales/purchases this will be the first time I've had anything go missing, damaged or substantially delayed in the post so I have no experience of the claim process. Do they generally pay out? or tend towards dragging their heels investigating?

The buyer has been incredibly patient and I suspect that the item was purchased as a christmas present, so I feel I should refund her before christmas, but am I likely to get stung if I do so before RM deal with my claim?

Thanks for any advice,
Cheers! :beer:

jaffa30

Hi Piggy

Some sellers do refund before claiming others dont

I always give a refund and then claim off the PO.
It can take a good few weeks for them to cough up but they get there in the end.


Jaffa

bleugh

it's up to your buyer how patient they are,
personally, i'd refund after about two weeks anyway, you've got proof of post, so royal mail WILL refund you (less the cost of posting of course tho), the buyer should not be out of pocket.

soo has had a lot of experience with this, and from past posts i'd say RM are pretty good at paying out without hassle, so can't fault them in that respect

princessmoneysaver

You do realise that it is 15 WORKING DAYS from the date you posted before you can claim. I sent an item 1st recorded on 5th Dec which I was told I can't claim for until the 23rd Dec (Today) but yours was posted 2 days after mine so I presume you won't be able to claim until around 27th/28th Dec now because of the weekend & bank holidays in between.

princessmoneysaver

Oh & yes I would refund now as it may take another 2 weeks before you get the money from Royal Mail.

Piggy-bank_2

bleugh wrote:

it's up to your buyer how patient they are,
personally, i'd refund after about two weeks anyway, you've got proof of post, so royal mail WILL refund you (less the cost of posting of course tho), the buyer should not be out of pocket.

thanks for the replies!

do you mean that even tho I paid about £4.50 to post the item they wont refund for this even if they've lost it?

If anyone could give me a guide as to what my claim should be for given the below approx figures that would be great (or is it just the selling price that counts?)

item original price £28
item sold on ebay (still new in box) for £14
Ebay & paypal fees approx £1.50
Packaging £1
Postage £4.50

Thanks!

jaffa30

Hi
Its the value of the item that they pay out on not the postage costs.

Jaffa

talksalot81

Id refund..... there is no question that the buyer is not at fault. The only concern is whether the item would subsequently arrive meaning RM wouldnt pay and the buyer would potentially have money and goods.

As for the claim, I would always claim the full £28..... RM will screw you at half a chance, so always get as much back from them as you can.

Adam

P.s. I never followed the non-refund of postage cost. At the end of the day you paid for a service which was not provided..... so why should you pay for it?

princessmoneysaver

piggy-bank wrote:

thanks for the replies!

do you mean that even tho I paid about £4.50 to post the item they wont refund for this even if they've lost it?

If anyone could give me a guide as to what my claim should be for given the below approx figures that would be great (or is it just the selling price that counts?)

item original price £28
item sold on ebay (still new in box) for £14
Ebay & paypal fees approx £1.50
Packaging £1
Postage £4.50

Thanks!

If you can find anywhere online where the item is still for sale @ £28 then send a printed copy of this with your claim rather than the ebay invoice & you will get £28 back which should be enough to cover your postage costs too. As far as Royal Mail is concered the item is worth £28, what's to say it has nothing to do with ebay at all?

dog_2

Apparently if you write to the post office stating the postage costs and that you have paid for a service they have failed to provide (ie they lost it), they refund postage costs. I only know this from reading these boards... it does seem that the post office are being a little sharp here, we pay for the item to be delivered, if they fail to do this they have not done what we paid them for. Really they should pay the postage with the claim for the goods.

bootman

This has answered my question I think. I sent P/Orders for an item I won. Seller claims not arrived. Have got my claim form ready. I don't want to send payment again though till I know they have not been cashed as they were sent uncrossed as asked.

I have the counterfoils but no receipt, so I hope thats enough to get my money back