Real Life MMD: Should I refund the postage cost?

paul_k

you charged postage,you did not post the item,so you should refund the postage.
next time quote delivery cost and do not specify it will be posted.
this leaves you options.
I would have been upset too if i had paid post and someone did not post it.













You

Kaos_2

So, I read the first 4 pages of this thread and was too angry to read any further... thanks for ruining my day ungrateful people of the world!

Now I see why people have so much small print on their auction listings! As someone else described it, you upgraded the service for free... same day courier service instead of the item being used as a football by RM, it beggars belief that anyone could find a problem with that.
I'm a seller and have hand delivered items on more than one occasion. Once I did so without asking first... the reason being that we were passing their house so we knocked on the door. The item was already packed and ready to post, if the person hadn't been in we would have posted it as usual but they were and they were delighted. Other times I have offered to drop it off (which takes longer due to them having to see the email and reply) which has always been accepted and I have always been told that my service was impeccable... thank god I didn't offer to help any of you who for some reason think that a free upgrade is a bad thing!
Incidently, it has often cost me more to drop off myself but I have absorbed that cost. If I offer to deliver something it is because I want that buyer to have the best experience possible, the quickest delivery time, the safest delivery.
Regarding the cost of fuel (completely irrelevant anyway) that so many people are so quick to claim is wrong... Don't you realise that it costs extra money each time you start the car and that for a short journey you are running on choke the whole way. A four mile journey in my car WOULD cost about £5... and before you claim I have some expensive gas guzzling car... no I don't, I have a clapped out old banger because I can't afford something better!
Now I don't agree with people overcharging P&P, but you know the P&P cost before you buy and I can't understand why people don't vote with their feet (or clicking finger) rather than whinge about it afterwards. Report people to Ebay if you think they're overcharging on P&P. Comitting to buy with the intention of complaining about the P&P charges you agreed to is fraud in my book. (That's in response to the comments on this thread rather than the original question)

Anyway, that's my input... at least I've vented some of my anger.:mad:

I won't be coming back to this thread, I don't want to know just how many ignorant and/or bad people there are in the world.

Kaos_2

suebachorski wrote: »

Should I insist on insurance/special delivery on my listings in future & price accordingly? It puts me off the whole thing really, as in addition to refunding the buyer, Ebay & PayPal have already taken their fees, so it's a complete waste of time & loss for me - I'm worse off financially & don't have a nice jacket either!

Definitely! I won't send anything less than Recorded Delivery, not actually because of a bad experience on Ebay but because someone I know told me that if they buy anything off Ebay and it is sent without tracking they claim they haven't received it :eek:

Do you realise that Royal Mail offer FREE Proof of posting? Nowadays it's usually part of the receipt and entitles you to a refund up to the value of 100 first class stamps (currently £41 unless it has gone up recently) if the item goes missing or is damaged. Paying for insurance won't make the claiming process any easier (they make you jump through hoops and try every trick in the book to get out of paying) but if you pay for a trackable service you can keep an eye on whether or not it has been delivered online (hence why I use it).

coys_2

No way should the recipient get, nor should they expect, a refund on postage/delivery charges.
The item was delivered, as promised, and as to how it was delivered is irrelevant!
If the recipient wanted to save on paying postage/delivery charges, they could have asked if it was possible to pick up the article from the sender?

sturose

paul_k wrote: »

you charged postage,you did not post the item,so you should refund the postage.
next time quote delivery cost and do not specify it will be posted.
this leaves you options.
I would have been upset too if i had paid post and someone did not post it.

Rubbish!!!!

The item WAS posted. Do you think that only Royal Mail offer a postal delivery service?? It was "posted" by a personal courier service. THE SELLER.

No way EVER should this numpty get a refund. Most people have home shopping channels on TV now, take a look at their postage costs. Do you really think it costs £8.99 to post most of the items they sell? Does anyone complain? No because the buyer is under the illusion they are getting a bargain.

All the people who have suggested that a refund should be given obviously do not value time. RM charge for their service so does every other courier in the world, why should you not charge for providing that (in most cases better) service?

What I would do is offer a full refund of the purchase price when the item is returned and see what method the buyer uses to return the item. I suspect he would just ignore the request.

Block the buyer and learn from it.

janls

mayling03 wrote: »

I don't think you should. Negative feedback can't be taken away even if you do right? I think buyer is trying it on. Is he a regular ebayer? What's his feedback like? Seems unreasonable to me.

Negative feedback can be revised actually. You can suggest that if you give him the postage would he revise his feedback, that way you can get your 100% back

spankius

Hell no.
Things like this have really put me off ebay. When i list something on ebay i estimate the postage cost, sometimes it is over, sometimes it is under but it is always clearly listed.
The cost of postage should also allow for me driving to and losing half my lunch break to post the item and the fact that if i sell 5 items on a sunday i have been to post every day for the next 4 days because people payed on different days.
I have been charged a lot for next day delivery but they then wait 4 days to post it because they were waiting for a payment for another auction from someone else before posting.
If something costs you £20 from somewhere else delivered you don't then buy from ebay for £18 plus £4 delivery and think you have saved money. You take into account the complete total, the amount charged for postage is irrellevant, it's only because ebay lose money that they imposed caps.

kwl327

I would have done the same as you. He agreed to pay 5 pound for postage, regardless of who delivered it. your service was quicker and you know it got there in one piece so the 5 pound should include that.

He is definelty trying it on and i would speak to ebay about his neg feedback or put a reply to his feedback. He agreed to a 5er so a deal is a deal

WitchDrAsh

I've done this a few times when a buyer was close, most of the time they've asked, and I've always taken cash at the door, rather than via paypal or another payment system. The buyer has always been happy they haven't had to wait a few days for delivery, I'm happy I've got a wad of cash in my hand.

It's win win, leave a comment under the negative feedback, move on with your life.

winnoch

For those who say it's a postage charge.. it aint. It clearly states on ebay's T+C that you should also include in your postage charge a fair estimate of the cost to you of packaging and time spent. Therefore it really is a postage and packing charge that you state when you are selling on ebay- always has been.
I would agree with some others though that it would've been prudent (and polite) to simply mention your intention to hand-deliver, or to include the collection option. As the OP didn't do this, then a refund of a couple of £ before they had left their negative feedback would probably have smoothed things over. Now the negative feedback has been left? Nah, clock it up to experience and move on.