Double refund?

user1690

Greetings all!

So im in a rather nasty situation, just wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do.

I sold a gaming computer on eBay, buyer pays, i ship it off. Simple right? Nope. Buyer starts complaining, accusing me of sending him faulty goods, demanding to know why this and that isnt working despite me having proof it never left me in the condition he claimed. In the end, we both agreed he should return the item for a refund.

So, i refund him! Again, simple right? No, not simple at all. The refund goes through as an eCheque via PayPal. So its in the proccess of clearing, the buyer is made aware the eCheque will take 7 working days to clear.

He then opens a return request with eBay, eBay then inform me once the item has been delivered back to me they are going to charge me when they reimburse him. But...wait a second, i've already refunded it so why am i being charged again?

I get on the phone to eBay, whoever it was i spoke to didnt seem to give a flying F about this and hung up on me as i was explaining the problem.

I call PayPal, hoping that if i can get the eCheque cancelled then when eBay charge me it wont matter as i wont have been charged twice. PayPal say only the person i've refunded to can opt to refund the eCheque. So i call the buyer, practically begging for him to cancel. He says, word for word;

"I cant cancel the eCheque as i checked out as a guest with eBay"

So...where and who the heck is the refund going to?! As far as i know when you checkout as a guest you just put your card details into PayPal and then pay that way, if thats the case there is no PayPal account for this buyer to even receive a refund. Also when i asked the buyer if he would send back any excess money if i am double charged i just got a long silence before he said he was ending the call.

Is there a safe way to cancel the eCheque myself? It seems certain im going to be charged twice and i'll be down about £300 instead of £150

Thanks in advance for any information

cattie

When you phoned ebay, did you speak to somebody in the Philippines? Only often if you can speak to somebody in the Northern Ireland call centre they can be more helpful & knowledgeable I've found. To increase my chances of getting through to N Ireland I tend to try to phone in the mornings as there is more chance of success then.

user1690

I did speak to someone in Ireland yeah

...At least they sounded irish! :huh:

sequence

This exact thing happened to me. I never got a resolution to it, as it was only £3 I gave up.

I never refund outside of a case anymore.

user1690

sequence wrote: »

This exact thing happened to me. I never got a resolution to it, as it was only £3 I gave up.

I never refund outside of a case anymore.

Darn, well i guess its the waiting game then. If i have to contact the police for fraud i will, because the buyer will essentially be holding £150 that still belongs to me i was just hoping to avoid this long proccess thats already long enough as it is.

After repeated calling the buyer has actually said he'll refund any excess money but it still sounds shady so, we shall see.

soolin

user1690 wrote: »

Darn, well i guess its the waiting game then. If i have to contact the police for fraud i will, because the buyer will essentially be holding £150 that still belongs to me i was just hoping to avoid this long proccess thats already long enough as it is.

After repeated calling the buyer has actually said he'll refund any excess money but it still sounds shady so, we shall see.

Form hat sort of money I would be going as far as the Police or even small claims. make sure you screen grab copies of everything you can now.

user1690

soolin wrote: »

Form hat sort of money I would be going as far as the Police or even small claims. make sure you screen grab copies of everything you can now.

Good Morning, i totally agree and i have copies of all communications!

I have just spotted something though, an email from eBay that i missed with regards to the refund i initiated myself.

The email says "You've initiated a £150.00 refund for Intel Core i5 Gaming Computer # 181927477742 through PayPal as an eCheque. Because it takes up to 6 working days to clear, the return will remain open. If the refund isn't received by then, the buyer can open an eBay Money Back Guarantee case. This can affect your seller standing."


Does that mean when my eCheque clears this problem will be resolved?
I think that may be why eBay has said its going to charge me? Because the eCheque hasnt cleared yet they see it as me not having refunded yet because an eCheque can bounce? Im not entirely sure to be honest. If this still all goes sideways and the buyer doesnt return excess money if im double charged i'll goto the police.

sequence

No, the echeque will still clear. No idea how or why they allowed this to happen but both refunds will go through.

user1690

sequence wrote: »

No, the echeque will still clear. No idea how or why they allowed this to happen but both refunds will go through.

Alright, well i'll post an update in the next few days as to whtats happened. I agree its stupid how this is done, i would think eBay would give me a chance but evidently not.

Brooker_Dave

user1690 wrote: »

Does that mean when my eCheque clears this problem will be resolved?
I think that may be why eBay has said its going to charge me? Because the eCheque hasnt cleared yet they see it as me not having refunded yet because an eCheque can bounce? Im not entirely sure to be honest. If this still all goes sideways and the buyer doesnt return excess money if im double charged i'll goto the police.

Best course of action is to use the small claims court to get the money back from paypal/ebay.

By all means go to the police, but they no doubt claim that this is a civil matter.

MsBlonde

I had this situation, I refunded a buyer via paypal, and there was a case open. The case automatically picked up that I had refunded via paypal and stayed open until payment was cleared.

As long as you haven't sent money to them direct to their paypal account you'll be fine...

As they paid by guest, your echeque will clear paypals end then they will refund his card not his paypal. Paypal like to sit on eCheques, possibly to gain interest for their company.