Postage charge when refusing delivery

betsybee

Hi all

Just after some advice.
I am the most undecisive person and so when ordering something I couldn't decide from two models. I ordered both but then emailed and asked to cancel one ten minutes after the order was placed. This was late on Thursday. Both items ordered from the same company on ebay.

I got a reply Friday morning saying the item was already loaded on the delivery truck so I should refuse delivery and when it was returned to them I'd get a full refund. No problems there.

Both items arrive saturday morning (with no warning, I was told delivery would be monday!) and I duly refuse one and the driver takes it back.

I then get an email Saturday from the company saying that although I will get a refund the return costs will be deducted. I wasn't told this initially and stupidly assumed if I refused the delivery I wouldn't be charged anything.
I have no idea what the return fee will be. It's a large piece of flatpack furniture so really heavy so the costs could be huge.

Is it right that they can pretty much deduct anything for the return postage without letting me know the cost beforehand? The item was marked up as free delovery so I have no idea of what the delivery cost them.
If I'd known I was liable for this I would have shopped around and double checked I couldn't get the postage cheaper elsewhere.

I assumed as the item technically hadn't been delivered then they wouldn't be able to charge me. Yes I know they will incur costs but thats the cost of doing business online. Plus I messaged them straight away to cancel! I have my own online business but I only post small items and luckily have never had a refused delivery.

This will teach me to stop being so undecisive!

Thanks for any and all advice.

soolin

This is a tricky area and one where a buyer can cause issues for a seller. Technically if you open an INR case ebay should refund you in full, the only caveat to that is that just recently there was mention on the community board that a buyer lost a case where it showed delivery had been refused by them - obviously I don't know the full back story, it might have been more complicated (some buyers will cause mischief by costing the seller money by refusing delivery) . However, ebay is clear, as are paypal that if a seller cannot prove delivery to the address then buyer is due a refund, by refusing delivery it is deemed to be not delivered.

Just noticed that OP does not return to update threads but it would be nice to know the outcome of this as it all adds to the information we can pass on to other people in the future.

betsybee

Just thought I'd update.

The item was recieved back by the seller a while ago and I'm yet to hear from them so I've sent them a polite hurry up. I'll update again if/when I receive a redund.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin wrote: »

. However, ebay is clear .... that if a seller cannot prove delivery to the address then buyer is due a refund

eBay is also clear that buyers remorse isn't covered by the Money Back Guarantee.

Although they generally just side with the buyer, given the messages between the OP and the seller stating they'd changed their mind, to the letter of the terms and conditions eBay has no place to intervene.

theonlywayisup

Are you able to tally the tracking and return tracking (if there is any) for the parcel you refused? If so, give ebay a ring and give them the info and ask them to refer to your messages to show you cancelled and the seller agreed to accept the refusal.