eBay: problems with buyer...

marcouk76

I have sent an item worth about £22 to a buyer who shortly after claimed she did not receive (sent via ordinary post, so no way of tracking) and asked for a refund.
I said I'd be happy to refund her the money, but I asked her to fill in a claim through the eBay resolution centre or Paypal as I wanted to print that off to try and claim the money from Royal Mail, but she said that if she had to "waste time" making claims, she would leave a negative feedback, which she did.
She always seemed very reluctant in claiming through eBay, which I have always found very suspicious, and insisted I just give her a straight refund.
In the end though she did make a claim! So I got a negative feedback and a request for money which eBay will eventually automatically give to her from my account.
I have then tried to leave a positive feedback (no other choice as I cannot leave a negative feedback to a buyer!) but in the comment I wrote "VERY DIFFICULT BUYER! NEVER AGAIN! AVOID!" but she said she will get that removed as it is a conflicting feedback.
How can she win on all aspects? Do seller have no protections at all?

sam.4000

No seller have very little protection.

soolin

marcouk76 wrote: »

I have sent an item worth about £22 to a buyer who shortly after claimed she did not receive (sent via ordinary post, so no way of tracking) and asked for a refund.
I asked her to fill in a claim through the eBay resolution centre or Paypal as I wanted to print that off to try and claim the money from Royal Mail, but she said that if she had to "waste time" making claims, she would leave a negative feedback, which she did.
She always seemed very reluctant in claiming through eBay, which I have always found very suspicious.
In the end though she did! So I got a negative feedback and a request for money which eBay will eventually automatically give to her from my account.
I have then tried to leave a positive feedback (no other choice as I cannot leave a negative feedback to a buyer!) but in the comment I wrote "VERY DIFFICULT BUYER! NEVER AGAIN! AVOID!" but she said she will get that removed as it is a conflicting feedback.
How can she win on all aspects? Do seller have no protections at all?

You may need to have a re read of your obligations as a seller . Firstly, it is never a good idea to get buyers to open a case against you as those cases count as a seller strike on your seller metrics and can cause problems if you have any further issues later.

Secondly, you don't need a claim opened to be alble to do a claim from RM. You just need a print out of the PayPal page showing the refund has been made, proof of posting and the eBay details

Lastly, why on earth did you leave a positive, the buyer is quite right that will be removed as feedback abuse and you'll get another warning on your metrics for abusing the system.

Incidentally, if a seller asked me to open a claim against them I'd leave a neg as well.

soolin

In answer to the question 'do sellers have any protection' yes we do, we have as much protection as UK law allows. That means that we can ensure we have the correct insurance with RM to recover losses as of course we remain responsible in ensuring that buyers receive their goods.

marcouk76

soolin wrote: »

You may need to have a re read of your obligations as a seller . Firstly, it is never a good idea to get buyers to open a case against you as those cases count as a seller strike on your seller metrics and can cause problems if you have any further issues later.

Secondly, you don't need a claim opened to be alble to do a claim from RM. You just need a print out of the PayPal page showing the refund has been made, proof of posting and the eBay details

Lastly, why on earth did you leave a positive, the buyer is quite right that will be removed as feedback abuse and you'll get another warning on your metrics for abusing the system.

Incidentally, if a seller asked me to open a claim against them I'd leave a neg as well.

Well it clearly shows I am not really experienced at this; however, why would you leave a negative if the seller asks you to claim you did not get the item? All it takes is to go to the Resolution Centre and click on "I did not get my item"! It is not like you need to fill in forms and stuff...
I do appreciate your advice on everything else.

soolin

marcouk76 wrote: »

Well it clearly shows I am not really experienced at this; however, why would you leave a negative if the seller asks you to claim you did not get the item? All it takes is to go to the Resolution Centre and click on "I did not get my item"! It is not like you need to fill in forms and stuff...
I do appreciate your advice on everything else.

There is no point at all in doing a formal claim, on the community boards it is suggested as a way of catching out scammers so I would think you were calling me a liar.

Sellers have to refund so forcing buyers into a dispute doesn't really achieve anything.

Seller metrics are important it's what eBay use to assess how 'good' a seller is. get too many issues and eBay may start restricting a seller, so best avoided.

hermum

The buyer probably thought that you were trying to shirk your responsibilites, them opening a dispute through ebay will only mean that their refund will take longer to get. It won't make any difference to you claiming from RM.
If it's something that won't fint through a letter box it could very well be at the delivery office waiting for the buyer to collect. If your address is on it, then it should eventually get back to you.