Real Life MMD: Should I refund the postage cost?

shiftyk

I agree with scotsbob. If postage was paid for to the amount of £5 then a posted package is expected. It's like quoting 1st class delivery by RM and then sending 2nd class. I'd be equally annoyed if I paid for 2nd and a parcel was sent 1st class recorded which would require someone to be in to sign for it and were i not in it's going to delay my receipt of that parcel. It's being very picky and you could argue that the buyer received a better service than he paid for but he didn't get what he paid for.

angieplus4

No i would not refund some people on ebay u can never please no matter what u do have u asked for feedback revision <but they dont have to reply> a bit of a liberty asking for a refund its your gain if u decided to deliver if he had a problem he should have said so ther and then. Goodluck

Rich44_2

What a load of old garbage simple contract buyer saw the "offer" accepted the contract including the £5 delivery regardless of how it was delivered he accepted the charge was £5 end of there's no argument either way. TBH door to door delivery £5 is CHEAP hey you can't even go 2 miles in a taxi for that these days.

The buyer is just another dodgy ebay chancer who should be banned from the site scum the lot of them, as for he might have wanted to collect, if it was not explicitly offered then he should have checked before bidding and certainly before paying.

Why do people seem to think you can't charge for your time etc in posting something, the postal charge can include whatever you like I include the cost of all packaging, the fuel to get to the PO (rural location 2 miles each way to the PO) and a little for my time (like about 50p) I clearly state this on my auctions and I also lean towards overcharging if i'm unsure and also include in my terms that if I post and it costs significantly less then I will immediately refund the balance as no one likes getting totally ripped on postage.

I'd have taken a delivery note (printable from ebay) and had the buyer sign for it as well, perfectly safe then you don't need to worry about all this tracked delivery rubbish then too.

Using the above i've not had a single complaint about anything i've sold on ebay and as I post all these things on every single auction (along with the don't ship abroad etc) i've never had a single problem as I guess the chancers think twice....

jax1305

If I've ever planned on buying something on ebay from someone local, I've always asked first if I'd be able to collect as it saves me paying postage. Stands to reason that the same courtesy applies as a seller - ask first if your buyer minds you delivering in person and offer a discount for it. As the buyer didn't ask to collect and the seller didn't bother asking if it was a problem, I think the buyer has every right to be miffed and post negative feedback - that's what the feedback system is for. And as other people have commented the seller has no protection if the buyer says it didn't arrive.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you! And what goes around, comes around!!

vickster78

The buyer didn't have to pay the postage and could have collected in person and save themselves the £5 cost.
Plus once they leave the negative, you can't do much about it.

bogwart

Absolutely not. The buyer is just trying it on - if it happened to me I'd be happy that you were delivering, although I have to say you should have checked with them first. You don't say what the item was, so I hope it was worth £5 to mail it.

Now that eBay has stopped sellers from leaving negative feedback some buyers take that as carte blanche to do what they want. If he has left you neutral or negative feedback all you can do is add your piece on the feedback report, but I would be very temped to launch a dispute via PayPal.

It seems to me people become more greedy, selfish and rude every year.

kneelbeforezod

bogwart wrote: »

It seems to me people become more greedy, selfish and rude every year.

Indeed...and they're often people selling goods on eBay

nqsenile

Check RAC/AA car running costs. 80p per mile is quoted for my car 1786cc and low annual mileage

yaddayadda

Yes, you should refund given the circumstances - I'd have said being charged a quid may be fair - a fiver is taking the michael...

JaspaC

elsien wrote: »

I'm with the buyer on this one - if it were me I'd feel well and truly ripped off.
There is no way it cost you anywhere near £5 to deliver it. You're assuming he should grateful for the faster delivery - why, if he was happy with the postal delivery time should it being there a day or so early make any difference? If it was only a couple of miles away you could have offered the collection option and saved him the fiver completely - if I were them, that would be my line of reasoning anyway.
I can see why he's aggrieved - I would be as well. You don't mind paying postage costs if there's no other option,and the item is still within what you want to pay. In this case there clearly was another option, hence delivering but still charging what you did is a rip off.

Edit - you shouldn't be charging for the time you spend posting/delivering, that doesn't come into it.

Why not? that's exactly what Royal Mail do. And that time is still time out of the OP's day that could have later been spent working for money or even browsing this site to save money :rotfl: