cases have closed without seller resolution metric question

Inigo_Montoya

Does anybody know what happens if you breach the 0.3% limit & go 'below standard' ?

Do you have to get back under 0.3% within a certain time or can you be a little over 0.3% & not have any problems such as account suspension ?

reason I ask is that Im currently on zero cases but potentially maybe on 1 if a buyer escalates before I can refund (buyer is claiming non delivery & Im asking them to wait a bit longer) - that would be 1 in about 260 transactions which is just over 0.3%

I'd then need to get to 1 in about 340 to get back under 0.3% which I would struggle to do as I dont sell that much

edit :
this link here
http://sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/seller-performance-standards
possibly suggests you are allowed 2 cases ? (even if over 0.3% ?)
... but its not clear

soolin

I believe that the process is that your account would go below standard but that you would not face suspension on just one escalated case. A below standard private account would be likely to lose the free listings though but possibly not get any other restrictions.

However, this is the easiest defect to avoid , which is why the defect rate is so low, as It is one a seller can control. You will have to refund so just make sure you do it before it is escalated . if buyer escalates they will of course win the case automatically if you can't prove delivery,and if escalated you will lose the FVFs which you would normally get back if you refunded yourself.

As a buyer I would never leave poor feedback for an item lost in the post nor would I ding the stars at all as it is not the sellers fault. However , if seller allowed a dispute to go right to escalation and gets ebay to intervene to give me my refund then I would definitely consider poor feedback.

mrcol1000

Bear in mind that it will also affect other accounts in the household using the same IP address. When I first started my business account my personal account went below standard for a few months. When I contacted Ebay about raising the selling limits on my new business account, they refused because my personal account was below standard.

Inigo_Montoya

thanks for the replies

so far the buyer doesnt want to communicate further (besides asking them to wait a bit longer, Ive asked them to confirm their address & confirm they will co-operate with any royal mail investigation by replying to any letters sent - i asked this as Ive read if the buyer doesnt reply then royal mail wont pay out)

I just hope they dont suddenly escalate without asking me if I will refund first - in their initial message they just asked to confirm it had been sent & didnt ask for a refund other than choosing that 'option' when you initiate a conversation

Personally if something hasnt arrived I first send a message to the seller - i dont go immediately to 'problem resolution' which for me does raise a bit of a red flag as to the validity of the claim (which is irrelevant of course as I cant prove it was delivered)

soolin

Inigo_Montoya wrote: »

thanks for the replies

so far the buyer doesnt want to communicate further (besides asking them to wait a bit longer, Ive asked them to confirm their address & confirm they will co-operate with any royal mail investigation by replying to any letters sent - i asked this as Ive read if the buyer doesnt reply then royal mail wont pay out)

I just hope they dont suddenly escalate without asking me if I will refund first - in their initial message they just asked to confirm it had been sent & didnt ask for a refund other than choosing that 'option' when you initiate a conversation

Personally if something hasnt arrived I first send a message to the seller - i dont go immediately to 'problem resolution' which for me does raise a bit of a red flag as to the validity of the claim (which is irrelevant of course as I cant prove it was delivered)

Unfortunately a buyer does not have to confirm anything- you cannot wait for a response agreeing to co operate with a RM claim or such like. If you do make a claim from RM they do occasionally ask buyer to confirm- but not always.

There should also be an escalation date in the dispute- I believe it is 7 or 8 days from the case being opened, so if you are near that just refund now to close the case. It does get you back your FVFs and may avoid poor feedback.

Inigo_Montoya

soolin wrote: »

Unfortunately a buyer does not have to confirm anything- you cannot wait for a response agreeing to co operate with a RM claim or such like. If you do make a claim from RM they do occasionally ask buyer to confirm- but not always.

There should also be an escalation date in the dispute- I believe it is 7 or 8 days from the case being opened, so if you are near that just refund now to close the case. It does get you back your FVFs and may avoid poor feedback.

I understand the point about the buyer being under no obligation to confirm anything & i was never planning on not refunding before escalation if they didnt confirm

My thinking at the time was as follows : if the claim is genuine then in theory they should have no problem saying they will co-operate - if the claim is not genuine then theres a chance mentioning the word 'investigation' could but a novice occasional scammer off

IIRC the case was opened on tjhe 17th so Im holding fire on the refund for now

I understand what you are saying about pre-empting any issue & just refunding without any further coms but I think Im going to risk at least waiting for a 2nd message from the buyer before refunding because they havent even requested a refund in a message yet - they only asked if it had been sent

soolin

Inigo_Montoya wrote: »

I understand the point about the buyer being under no obligation to confirm anything & i was never planning on not refunding before escalation if they didnt confirm

My thinking at the time was as follows : if the claim is genuine then in theory they should have no problem saying they will co-operate - if the claim is not genuine then theres a chance mentioning the word 'investigation' could but a novice occasional scammer off

IIRC the case was opened on tjhe 17th so Im holding fire on the refund for now

I understand what you are saying about pre-empting any issue & just refunding without any further coms but I think Im going to risk at least waiting for a 2nd message from the buyer before refunding because they havent even requested a refund in a message yet - they only asked if it had been sent

My point remains though, you have tried to gently frighten off a buyer in case they were making a fraudulent claim, but your bluff hasn't worked. If it is a full case open and they have requested a refund as part of that resolution then they are no longer obliged to respond to you. Once a case is opened the buyer only has 2 choices, they can either request a refund or a replacement, so if this was just a one off item they could only opt for a refund.

You've probably got a few days yet before buyer wins their case by escalating but I would really recommend refunding before escalation, even if buyer doesn't add anything further to the case.

Inigo_Montoya

Well holding off refunding turned out to be correct decision in the end

I sent a follow up message today (first day they could escalate) mentioning royal mail 'investigation' again & they have closed down the request so either the items arrived badly delayed or Ive scared off a novice scammer

I also guess people who regularly claim non delivery will want to fly under the radar & not have too many royal mail claims registered against their address