Item posted to Argos .. not collected in time

WLM21

I sold an item a couple of weeks ago and the address given was at Argos. the item was posted off.

Today I receive this message through Ebay from the buyer

===================
Hi
My apologies. I didn’t realise Argos only kept items for 7 days. I was away last week so went today and was told it had been returned for refund.
I’m happy for this to be posted to my home address instead rather than refund me
Please let me know
===================
Now I have not yet received the item back, but if / when I do, what should i do ?

Do I have to send it on again at my expense ?
If I ask her for extra payment she might give negative feedback. It's only £2.95 postage, but surely I can't be out of pocket

Ebay help pages state that non-collection from Argos is treated as a cancelled sale. I could then refund the buyer, but do I refund the purchase price only or the purchase price plus the original postage.

soolin

WLM21 wrote: »

I sold an item a couple of weeks ago and the address given was at Argos. the item was posted off.

Today I receive this message through Ebay from the buyer

===================
Hi
My apologies. I didn’t realise Argos only kept items for 7 days. I was away last week so went today and was told it had been returned for refund.
I’m happy for this to be posted to my home address instead rather than refund me
Please let me know
===================
Now I have not yet received the item back, but if / when I do, what should i do ?

Do I have to send it on again at my expense ?
If I ask her for extra payment she might give negative feedback. It's only £2.95 postage, but surely I can't be out of pocket

Ebay help pages state that non-collection from Argos is treated as a cancelled sale. I could then refund the buyer, but do I refund the purchase price only or the purchase price plus the original postage.

Be careful here - this is why I opted out of Argos collection. The item will show as returned and will be automatically refunded once item shows as delivered to you - so do not resend it unless buyer re purchases. Ebay will refund the buyer in full, using your funds - including the original postage.

I did wonder, and perhaps it is just me being paranoid, whether there was a scam possible here- buyer orders something, does not collect from Argos and whilst it is on return either persuades seller to send a replacement to their home address or does that in the short window between item arriving back and the refund occurring- buyer then gets a free item.

Personally I blocked these buyers, if they order stuff and don't bother collecting what's to stop them doing it again and costing postage over and over again?

WLM21

OP here .. update

I contacted Ebay on this about 2 weeks ago as the item had still not been returned to me. They couldn't answer the question as to where the parcel was.

For the sake of a few pounds I decided to provide the buyer with a full refund anyway ... the possibility of negative feedback was always there. The Ebay representative couldn't guarantee that it would be removed.

Anyway .. two weeks later .. still no returned item.

So I have lost the item AND the money. What should / can I do now ?

thank you

kazwookie

Did you put your address on the outside of the packet?

If not how are the post office or similar know where to return it to?

soolin

WLM21 wrote: »

OP here .. update

I contacted Ebay on this about 2 weeks ago as the item had still not been returned to me. They couldn't answer the question as to where the parcel was.

For the sake of a few pounds I decided to provide the buyer with a full refund anyway ... the possibility of negative feedback was always there. The Ebay representative couldn't guarantee that it would be removed.

Anyway .. two weeks later .. still no returned item.

So I have lost the item AND the money. What should / can I do now ?

thank you

A returned Argos item should be fully tracked, phone eBay again, insist on speaking to the dedicated Argos team and insist they refund you as it's basically their label that's gone wrong.

soolin

kazwookie wrote: »

Did you put your address on the outside of the packet?

If not how are the post office or similar know where to return it to?

Argos returns don't work like that. After a set period of time a label Is generated for the return, the label should be fully tracked. It does not just return to sender using a return address the seller uses.

theonlywayisup

WLM21 wrote: »

OP here .. update

I contacted Ebay on this about 2 weeks ago as the item had still not been returned to me. They couldn't answer the question as to where the parcel was.

For the sake of a few pounds I decided to provide the buyer with a full refund anyway ... the possibility of negative feedback was always there. The Ebay representative couldn't guarantee that it would be removed.

Anyway .. two weeks later .. still no returned item.

So I have lost the item AND the money. What should / can I do now ?

thank you

Firstly, remove yourself from the Argos C&C option if you don't want this hassle again. Secondly, never refund voluntarily in a situation like this - eBay would have protected you but only if you do as they stipulate.

You need to ring eBay Argos team and ask them what has happened to the return, get them to reverse any possible defect.