Is it time to refund the buyer : item posted 7th oct

WLM21

 I sold an item which was posted off, using Royal Mail on 7th October

A few days ago the buyer opened a case, stating item was not delivered.

I checked the reference on the Royal Mail receipt and the website stated.."An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your site"

I uploaded this number to the item listing and contacted the buyer

(This not a tracking number as such, just a reference number which indicates when an item has been delivered.

Now, this morning I receive an email from eBay stating I must resolve the case today.

Is it time for me to refund the buyer ?

What happens, if say it arrives tomorrow

How do I claim a refund from Royal Mail 

thank you

Mark_d

If the buyer paid for guaranteed next day delivery then the item should have been shipped and delivered last week.  Since the item was not delivered within this timescale eBay is prompting you to issue a refund - so yes you should do this.  If the item does eventually get delivered then you should go to eBay and ask them to reverse the refund.

WLM21

Thanks .. I have just refunded it now and asked the buyer to let me know if it ever arrives.  I'll keep looking at the tracking number too

GadgetGuru

eBay cannot reverse any refund. 
If the item arrives now it's down to the buyer to pay the seller directly, assuming you have an honest and trustworthy buyer of course. eBay cannot automatically take any funds from a buyer like they can from a seller. This is what eBay have told me in the past anyways. 
If the item is delivered and the buyer ignores your requests for payment, you'll have to take it down as a stolen item, report to the police, and proceed with small claims court - dependant upon the value of the sold item and whether you feel it is worth it (I would out of principle more then anything else!).

soolin

Mark_d said:

If the buyer paid for guaranteed next day delivery then the item should have been shipped and delivered last week.  Since the item was not delivered within this timescale eBay is prompting you to issue a refund - so yes you should do this.  If the item does eventually get delivered then you should go to eBay and ask them to reverse the refund.

There is no indication that buyer paid for anything guaranteed, the fact there is simply a delivery confirmation code suggests a standard parcel, a refund also can’t be reversed even if item arrives. 

OP you have done the correct thing in refunding , failure to do so within the time frame given by eBay would mean there would be a forced refund which gives you a seller warning. 

You can make a claim online via Royal Mail just check the time period you need to wait before starting it. 

winkowinko

I had a similar situation earlier this year, and Ebay advised me NOT to refund the buyer for at least 30 days, just in case the parcel did show as 'delivered' at some point. They also advised that if I refined the buyer now, but the delivery status changed to 'delivered', they would not be able to claw the money back.

soolin

winkowinko said:

I had a similar situation earlier this year, and Ebay advised me NOT to refund the buyer for at least 30 days, just in case the parcel did show as 'delivered' at some point. They also advised that if I refined the buyer now, but the delivery status changed to 'delivered', they would not be able to claw the money back.

I see eBay advisors are still as incompetent as ever. Once a case is open a seller is forced into a corner , they either refund  within the time scale , which I think is  4-5 days now, or the refund is made automatically and seller gets a warning, either way seller loses the money and buyer gets a refund. I am constantly shocked at how little the CS rep understand their own t and cs, and how many problems they could cause a seller if we followed their ‘advice’. 

GadgetGuru

soolin said:

 a case is open a seller is forced into a corner , they either refund  within the time scale , which I think is  4-5 days now, or the refund is made automatically and seller gets a warning, either way seller loses the money and buyer gets a refund. I am constantly shocked at how little the CS rep understand their own t and cs, and how many problems they could cause a seller if we followed their ‘advice’. 

This ^

The question the OP asked was what happens if the buyer receives the item (obviously late) AFTER the refund has been issued via eBay. So tracking updates to show item has been delivered, but the seller has already been forced into the refund by eBay. 
As far as I'm aware that refund cannot be reversed and it would be up to the seller to reach out to the buyer for re-payment, or to mark the item as stolen?

RedImp_2

Must say something posted on the 7th and raising an INR “several days” before the 17th is much too early by my reckoning.

soolin

GadgetGuru said:

soolin said:

 a case is open a seller is forced into a corner , they either refund  within the time scale , which I think is  4-5 days now, or the refund is made automatically and seller gets a warning, either way seller loses the money and buyer gets a refund. I am constantly shocked at how little the CS rep understand their own t and cs, and how many problems they could cause a seller if we followed their ‘advice’. 

This ^

The question the OP asked was what happens if the buyer receives the item (obviously late) AFTER the refund has been issued via eBay. So tracking updates to show item has been delivered, but the seller has already been forced into the refund by eBay. 
As far as I'm aware that refund cannot be reversed and it would be up to the seller to reach out to the buyer for re-payment, or to mark the item as stolen?

Unfortunately that is the case, seller can only hope that buyer re pays for the item. 

GadgetGuru

RedImp_2 said:

Must say something posted on the 7th and raising an INR “several days” before the 17th is much too early by my reckoning.

It is, but thats eBay for you.