How long until you refund on ebay?

bylromarha

No pleasing some buyers. They expect ebay to be as fast as buying in a bricks and mortar shop.

All of my stuff goes out same/next day, and still it isn't fast enough.

In the height of the snow, a buyer who purchased on Monday asked me on Wednesday where her item was. I asked her to wait until the snow and backlog had cleared and to please email at the end of next week if she still hadn't received it. No response, so item arrived I presume.

Having said all that, 1 buyer bought a £50 item that got lost in the post and it took her forever to chase it with me. She took a week to respond to any emails I sent her. I refunded her when she agreed she'd like a refund and the item turned up on my doorstep 2 days later as it had been at the sorting office for collection.

fred7777

cyberbob wrote: »

Long dispatch times put customers off. Also the rest of customers don't bother looking anyway.

I suppose it depends on the item. If I were selling DVDs with a lot of competition then it may put people off but most of the time I'm selling unusual & hard to find items and they are the only ones of their type on ebay so I don't think it has an effect.

cyberbob wrote: »

Putting tracked as an option is pointless as tracking is for the sellers benefit. If you want an item tracked don't give an option

I agree, although some buyers have actually asked for tracking! It's the faster option which is more use, most of my buyers choose the lower priced Royal Mail Standard Parcels option but I'm sure the fact they were offered a faster option and chose the slower one makes them more patient.

cyberbob wrote: »

If you do this in likelihood the buyer is more likely to open a paypal claim against you (I would) as it looks like your trying to avoid responsibility.

It depends on the situation and how you do it (a lot of time buyers actually ask for tracking information). Usually the email I get after 4 days is along the lines of "I haven't received the item yet, have you sent it?" A polite reply stating when it was sent estimating when it will be delivered and thanking the buyer for their patience goes a long way, especially when you can prove it was posted.

cyberbob wrote: »

I refund after 10 days Never had any problems with getting people to wait that long (not that I get much lost mail) It's the amount of time I would expect a Seller to refund me.

Again it depends on the item and the sale. Post Office Counters quote 5-7 working days for Standard Parcel delivery and that's without snow. For some unusually large or heavy items I have to book a special courier who may take up to a week to collect from me. At the moment I am negotiating a ebay purchase with a lead time of 8 weeks.

Crowqueen

bylromarha wrote: »

No pleasing some buyers. They expect ebay to be as fast as buying in a bricks and mortar shop.

All of my stuff goes out same/next day, and still it isn't fast enough.

In the height of the snow, a buyer who purchased on Monday asked me on Wednesday where her item was. I asked her to wait until the snow and backlog had cleared and to please email at the end of next week if she still hadn't received it. No response, so item arrived I presume.

Having said all that, 1 buyer bought a £50 item that got lost in the post and it took her forever to chase it with me. She took a week to respond to any emails I sent her. I refunded her when she agreed she'd like a refund and the item turned up on my doorstep 2 days later as it had been at the sorting office for collection.

Not everywhere has much snow. We in Reading got a light covering for a few days, but it didn't stop the post being delivered. Now there's nothing but freezing fog.

Whereas sellers may be struggling, buyers in areas which haven't got snow (it's still fairly warm down in Cornwall for instance) can't necessarily understand the other side of the coin.

soolin

fred7777 wrote: »

I
Again it depends on the item and the sale. Post Office Counters quote 5-7 working days for Standard Parcel delivery and that's without snow. For some unusually large or heavy items I have to book a special courier who may take up to a week to collect from me. At the moment I am negotiating a ebay purchase with a lead time of 8 weeks.

I assume you have considered the fact that you will be outside the time frame for any buyer protection?

Strapped

bylromarha wrote: »

No pleasing some buyers. They expect ebay to be as fast as buying in a bricks and mortar shop.

All of my stuff goes out same/next day, and still it isn't fast enough.

In the height of the snow, a buyer who purchased on Monday asked me on Wednesday where her item was. I asked her to wait until the snow and backlog had cleared and to please email at the end of next week if she still hadn't received it. No response, so item arrived I presume.

Having said all that, 1 buyer bought a £50 item that got lost in the post and it took her forever to chase it with me. She took a week to respond to any emails I sent her. I refunded her when she agreed she'd like a refund and the item turned up on my doorstep 2 days later as it had been at the sorting office for collection.

I had a "where is my item?" query yesterday from someone in Scotland for an item ordered on Weds and posted Fri! 'Tis the season to be merry, fa la la la, la la la la.

luvvlyjubbly

No offence to the good hardworking posties.....but there are a lot of them not leaving a "we tried to deliver" cards.....sick to death of trying to convince buyers this week that they don't always leave one and could they please check....had a few snotty replies.....bet most of them are sat waiting at their sorting offices...

I generally let 3 weeks pass before I refund.... but I do state this on my listings, so upto them if they still want to bid

stephmcuk

I think its funny that people complain to those on ebay when its not there fault ,because if it was a big company that said sorry its the snow people wouldnt complain so much.Esp when bigger companies make you wait even longer for a refund. I remember play.com making me wait a month for a refund when something got lost in the post.

I have waited 2 weeks now for something from superdrug and they have told my it was dispatched on the 24th ..... If i was selling stuff on ebay a buyer would be banging on my door right about now.

soolin

luvvlyjubbly wrote: »

No offence to the good hardworking posties.....but there are a lot of them not leaving a "we tried to deliver" cards.....sick to death of trying to convince buyers this week that they don't always leave one and could they please check....had a few snotty replies.....bet most of them are sat waiting at their sorting offices...

I generally let 3 weeks pass before I refund.... but I do state this on my listings, so upto them if they still want to bid

Seriously, take that term out, you are virtually asking for trouble. Buyers can get a refund several days before that and as you make yourself look a little 'dodgy' you may well incite people to go for a full chargeback when perhaps they wouldn't usually do it for a few more days.

luvvlyjubbly

soolin wrote: »

Seriously, take that term out, you are virtually asking for trouble. Buyers can get a refund several days before that and as you make yourself look a little 'dodgy' you may well incite people to go for a full chargeback when perhaps they wouldn't usually do it for a few more days.

I haven't had a problem......I'm polite and assure them it will be sorted....I have known a few things arrive after 2 weeks....but i used the term I generally refund after 3 weeks, it just depends on what reaction i get.....

Hammyman

Mandles wrote: »

I think i will leave my reply to her a little longer as she is one of those buyers who will just go on and on at me, thinking i can make post quicker.

I had one of those. I pointed out that we had a foot of snow in just one day alone, it'd been snowing for 6 days and if they'd watched the national news they'd have surely seen how hard the north east had been hit.

I've now had someone complain that item is not as described because a laptop I sold as Spares currently doesn't work. Yeah...thats why it was £30 and sold as spares....

I used to have people who would buy keyboard keys I listed as NOT available. When I got sick of that and listed keys that were available, I still got people buying ones not available and I've currently a list of 5 people who seem to think I'm clairvoyant and haven't told me what keys they wanted. Its been a week now so no doubt I'll get marked down for dispatch time....

Deep breath.