Item returned as faulty: nothing wrong with it?

marliepanda

I'm not a hugely experience seller on eBay but I've been around on it for a while, never had issues before.

I recently sold a few items of clothing including a cream jumper. When the jumper arrived the buyer told me there was a stain on the front which 'ruined the beauty' of the jumper and she wanted to return it. I questioned this as I had pictures of it before sending, no stain. She said it only showed up when worn. I asked for a picture and she said she could not send one as her camera wasn't good enough and the stain was 'within the weave'

When looking at the claim on eBay I clicked 'accept return' to see what the terms of the return was, not realising is automatically agreed to a return. No bother I thought, I'll just get it back and resell as clearly she's not happy. However eBay was requiring me to pay for the return postage through them which I refused to do. I emailed and her said on the absence of a photo of the issue I was unhappy to prepay her return postage. She wasn't happy but did send the jumper back and I got it today.

There's nothing wrong with it. I've taken photos of it in different light both on and off a person and nothing. Obviously eBay has taken back her refund and as I have the jumper back I am fine for her to be refunded. But surely I do not have to pay the return postage when there is no fault. What protection is there for sellers for buyers trying it on?

theonlywayisup

marliepanda wrote: »

Obviously eBay has taken back her refund and as I have the jumper back I am fine for her to be refunded.

I'm not clear what you mean. Did you refund and ebay has given it back to you?

marliepanda wrote: »

But surely I do not have to pay the return postage when there is no fault.

What 'stage' is the return case at? Has it been escalated and ruled in the buyer's favour? How did the buyer return the item (what postage method)?

If she opened a SNAD return, you accepted and refused to pay, you may find Ebay have billed you anyway, if she used their label. Also, if they ruled in her favour, you will be given a strike for non resolution.

marliepanda wrote: »

What protection is there for sellers for buyers trying it on?

None, as it's not easy for Ebay to find out who is being truthful. Therefore they have to do the fairest thing and ask the buyer to return the item for a refund. As the claim is SNAD, that means the seller pays return postage.

marliepanda

My answers in red:

theonlywayisup wrote: »

I'm not clear what you mean. Did you refund and ebay has given it back to you?

Sorry, they have taken the sales money from my paypal

What 'stage' is the return case at? Has it been escalated and ruled in the buyer's favour? How did the buyer return the item (what postage method)?


Its closed, as I authorised a refund to her so she has back the original amount, its the return postage I am concerned about really. I said to ebay I had 'sent my own label' and she complained I hadnt sent her a label, and I said without a picture of the fault I wasnt prepaying. She seemed unhappy but has just sent it normal royal mail, not via ebay. I know I probably was a bit naughty in refusing to refund until she sent it back at her own cost but I was annoyed that I had to pay out double postage with no proof of faut


If she opened a SNAD return, you accepted and refused to pay, you may find Ebay have billed you anyway, if she used their label. Also, if they ruled in her favour, you will be given a strike for non resolution.


It looks at the moment as if I have refunded without getting her to send back. There is no mention of return postage on the refund/resolution page


None, as it's not easy for Ebay to find out who is being truthful. Therefore they have to do the fairest thing and ask the buyer to return the item for a refund. As the claim is SNAD, that means the seller pays return postage.


is there nothing you can do when you get the item back and the item is in perfect condition? I accept the refund as I have the item back, but I am not paying 2 lots of postage for nothing, thats not fair as I described it accurately. Currently I am out of pocket for postage to her, and she is out of pocket for postage to me

19lottie82

You can't be forced to pay return postage retrospectively, but unfortunately there is nothing you can do re the return, even if the buyer was pulling a fast one.

Confirm the return and refund, then add the buyer to your blocked bidders list.

theonlywayisup

Ebay can claim the reimbursement back from your seller account for the returns label if you refused to pay.

When you say the case is closed, did she close it or did you actually refund. You only say you authorised a refund, I ask because it will have a bearing on your dashboard and reimbursement of fees if you forced Ebay to refund her.

marliepanda

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Ebay can claim the reimbursement back from your seller account for the returns label if you refused to pay.

When you say the case is closed, did she close it or did you actually refund. You only say you authorised a refund, I ask because it will have a bearing on your dashboard and reimbursement of fees if you forced Ebay to refund her.

Sorry, I am not really 'up' on the specifics so apologies if I am not answering correctly.

The first I heard of an issue was her making a claim through ebay, she never contacted me beforehand, I woke up to a SNAD claim and a -£10 paypal balance. I don't think I 'forced' eBay to refund her, but at the same time I didnt really have any choice as they had already removed the sale amount from my paypal account. I did however 'authorise' them to send it to her, it appears eBay had held it up until then?

She has not used a returns label, she has just taken it to the post office herself. The option I clicked to refund ended up being one to the tune of 'just issue a refund' as the others required either paying 3.00 to eBay, uploading my own label, 'confirming' I had sent an label and putting a tracking number on, or saying I had put a return label in my original package. As none of those were true I hit the other button which seemed to just be 'send a refund.' without a requirement to have the jumper returned?

theonlywayisup

marliepanda wrote: »

Sorry, I am not really 'up' on the specifics so apologies if I am not answering correctly.

The first I heard of an issue was her making a claim through ebay, she never contacted me beforehand, I woke up to a SNAD claim and a -£10 paypal balance. I don't think I 'forced' eBay to refund her, but at the same time I didnt really have any choice as they had already removed the sale amount from my paypal account. I did however 'authorise' them to send it to her, it appears eBay had held it up until then?

She has not used a returns label, she has just taken it to the post office herself. The option I clicked to refund ended up being one to the tune of 'just issue a refund' as the others required either paying 3.00 to eBay, uploading my own label, 'confirming' I had sent an label and putting a tracking number on, or saying I had put a return label in my original package. As none of those were true I hit the other button which seemed to just be 'send a refund.' without a requirement to have the jumper returned?

No need to apologise , Ebay cases are quite specific and the order in which something has happened will have a bearing on whether the advice given is correct.

It sounds as though you 'accepted' the return and then there was an impasse over the returns postage.

What did you do next, did you press the 'refund the buyer' button or did you get a message from Ebay saying they had found in favour of the buyer?

Does your returns centre show any open returns?

marliepanda

theonlywayisup wrote: »

No need to apologise , Ebay cases are quite specific and the order in which something has happened will have a bearing on whether the advice given is correct.

It sounds as though you 'accepted' the return and then there was an impasse over the returns postage.

What did you do next, did you press the 'refund the buyer' button or did you get a message from Ebay saying they had found in favour of the buyer?

Does your returns centre show any open returns?

I did accept the return yes, then threw a bit of a strop (as I had only intended to look at the options as there wasnt much info, my own fault!) and as the buyer said she couldnt provide pictures of the fault I said I wouldnt pay for the return postage until she showed me the pictures. She said her camera wasnt good enough, so I said well send it back and if it does have a stain I'll send you the postage money (and I absolutely would have! But theres nothing there...)

She had a bit of a moan but I said I am totally talking your word on this fault so its up to you. I think if she had pressed this with eBay then the outcome would have been different, but she didnt, and just sent it herself.

When I got the jumper I emailed her several pictures (both on and off a person and in different lights) saying look theres nothing there I dont understand what you mean? I went onto my resolution centre and pressed 'issue a refund' and the original cost and original postage were 'released' to her (already removed from my PP account)

I now have a 'closed return' on my account but its not open. EBay never sent me anything about 'finding in favour of the buyer.'

Reason for closing says: Return closed with refund.

theonlywayisup

Well, you've kept your dashboard free of a strike by giving the refund. Whilst Ebay do have the facility to bill you or make a reimbursement from your funding source, it sounds as if you may just be lucky and not have to pay. But keep an eye on your end of month invoice just in case.

Unfortunately there are sellers who opt for the SNAD route in order to get a freebie return. On the plus side, at least your buyer hasn't damaged the item and you will be able to block her and relist it.