Itsm Not Received - I Want A Refund NOW!

mimi1234

Sold some razor blades on the 28th June and I posted on the 29th. Item has not been received and the buyer wants a refund immediately.

I have tried explaining that I will refund in 21 days and then put a claim in against Royal Mail. Buyer is still not happy. Do I just go ahead and give them a full refund or do I ask them to wait a bit longer?

Could someone please tell me what I should do? The buyer is getting really shouty.

chemical.galaxy

I would definitely refund now - you may still save your account from a neutral/neg
I try to get my buyers to wait up to 10 working days (for 2nd class post) - but it really depends on their 'tone', if they sound unhappy then I refund.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

21 days is too long and the RM claim is for you to do after refunding BUT first email to any INR claim should be along the lines of:

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your email, I'm very sorry to hear that your order hasn't arrived yet, may we kindly confirm your full address please and we can look into this further.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you in advance[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Once you confirm they have provided the correct address I would ask them to allow two weeks from dispatch for delivery.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Any buyers demanding refunds, especially "NOW", would have me checking their feedback and previous experiences with other sellers to establish whether there was a pattern of non-receipt and if so reporting this to eBay via the link on the dashboard or over the phone to CS staff in Dublin.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ultimately if you didn't send tracked with POD then you'll have to refund.
[/FONT]

lovinituk

ludovico wrote: »

first email to any INR claim should be along the lines of:

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your email, I'm very sorry to hear that your order hasn't arrived yet, may we kindly confirm your full address please and we can look into this further.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you in advance[/FONT]

Excellent advice. I have had several customers in the past who still had their old addresses on ebay.

Another thing to do is to contact the buyers local Royal Mail delivery office to see if its there. I do this for every INR and more often than not its at the DO and the postie hasn't left a calling card!

You can find out their local DO address by phoning 0845 6050767 and then put the address in google to find a phone number.

Strapped

mimi1234 wrote: »

I have tried explaining that I will refund in 21 days.

And that will almost certainly see the buyer open a case. Bad idea. You can't make buyers wait that long just because you can't make a claim until then.

mimi1234

Thanks LUDOVICO, you are a star as are the other posters.

Address was confirmed, so I just gave them a refund.

Funny thing was, he replied and said "Don't worry, I will leave you positive feedback". A bit strange for someone who has less then 15 feedback and also messaged saying "I'm a really new user of eBay, so don't really understand how things work". Oh well. My bad.

RM probably won't cough up either.

So, for my future reference.........if a buyer says, my item has not been received, I check the address and then refund them straight away? If I were to make them wait, what would be a good number of days?

And finally, I know people keep saying ALWAYS SEND RECORDED/SIGNED FOR, does this put buyers off? I understand it's to my benefit but will it put buyers off? Thanks again all x x

Crowqueen

I'd usually wait up to two weeks, and expect the seller to ask some reasonable questions, offer a replacement (if possible) and be as helpful as humanly possible. After two weeks I would be getting impatient if the seller is stalling or saying it's not their responsibility or whatever. I wouldn't go to dispute until three weeks was up or the seller looks like they are washing their hands or calling me a scammer or whatever.

I would say one to two weeks is normal for buyers to allow. 21 days is far, far too long for someone to be without something they paid for. Claims are not the buyer's responsibility - and quite often RM will need to contact them, so you need to make sure people are kept onside.

I'd be suspicious of someone demanding a refund now but realistically speaking, some people can come across as belligerent in writing, and some people have had poor experiences with other sellers so are already defensive and anxious. Anyone in this situation is also waiting for something they paid for and hasn't received, so insisting on absolutely perfect behaviour is a bit much to hope for.

And finally, I know people keep saying ALWAYS SEND RECORDED/SIGNED FOR, does this put buyers off? I understand it's to my benefit but will it put buyers off? Thanks again all x x

Puts people off (inconvenient for people who are not in to receive deliveries, which is most of the working population, particularly on cheap items), costs more, doesn't insure, doesn't expedite, doesn't always get a signature.

It's not a service that is really appropriate for items that can fit through a letterbox and cost less than £46, and above that value Special Delivery is insured and expedited. RD IMO is a white elephant that is best avoided.

If I had to go to the PO to collect a set of razors or a book or a DVD, I'd just cut out the middleperson and go and buy them from a normal shop.

mimi1234

Thank you for that Crowqueen, appreciate it.

Can I check somewhere what items RM will compensate for? I did send the blades normal delivery. I know RM do not compensate for perfume as it has alcohol in it and must be sent Special Delivery.

Thanks in advance.

pearl123

I'd would have refund promptly. It's not worth a negative.

Crowqueen

mimi1234 wrote: »

Thank you for that Crowqueen, appreciate it.

Can I check somewhere what items RM will compensate for? I did send the blades normal delivery. I know RM do not compensate for perfume as it has alcohol in it and must be sent Special Delivery.

Thanks in advance.

My pleasure; I'm primarily a buyer so I know what I would do/feel in certain situations.

I'm not entirely sure of the rules regarding razors. I suggest you try the Royal Mail website for more information.

ThinkingOfLinking

ludovico wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Any buyers demanding refunds, especially "NOW", would have me checking their feedback and previous experiences with other sellers to establish whether there was a pattern of non-receipt and if so reporting this to eBay via the link on the dashboard or over the phone to CS staff in Dublin. [/FONT]

Can I just ask how you report them and what for? I understand that a lot of INRs is dodgy but I am asking what eBay class it as in terms of reporting it? (Just for future reference).