How does the return process work?

[bombbloke]

Sorry to ask about something seemingly so elementary, but I've somehow only picked up minimal knowledge on this issue.

Just over a month ago I ordered a phone display for a local repair job. This one turned out to be defective; over the years I've only ever very occasionally received busted parts, and they're worth so little that I've always just ordered another and sucked it up (or only found out months after receiving them, by which time it was too late). But prices vary depending on the phone model, and for the first time, I've gotten a busted and expensive part and found out early-ish.

(Truth be told, I've only ever performed ONE return before, and that, coincidentally, was a couple of weeks ago - for an even more expensive part that was of entirely the wrong type. That took about two weeks of fluffing about with a seller, which may've been due to my lack of knowledge about protocol, may've been because the seller was an idiot, may've been because of a language barrier, or may've been some combination of all three. In any case I don't wish to repeat that sort of experience, and am glad I've made it this far with so few difficulties.)

So I clicked "contact seller" and followed the prompts, and was led by the canned responses (filled in by either the seller or eBay, who knows?) to initiate a return.

The system tells me the seller has approved that, but the thing that's confusing me is that eBay wants me to contact said seller for a shipping label so they can pay postage. Ok, sent a message last week... no reply. In the meantime, eBay's messaged me again saying to either ship the item by Thursday or risk losing the refund. No options for what to do if the seller seemingly isn't participating in the process, apparently.

I've messaged the seller again, but it strikes me that it might be a good idea to furthermore gather some info on how this process is supposed to work. Do they need certain details from me (that I could be gathering already), or do they just send me some sort of magic label? (If so, why wasn't I asked for those details when they approved it? If not, why wasn't I provided with the label when they approved the return?? I assume the answer boils down to "eBay doesn't always make sense", but I could be missing something here...)

To my understanding, Paypal refunds are supposed to cover a period of at least 45 days, and if memory serves that was even extended quite some time ago. Is eBay telling me I've somehow forfeited on that coverage?

I'm rather tempted to just send the thing back sign-on-delivery without worrying about the label. I'm not terribly concerned about the postage cost (which I assume'll be less than $10). Is that a bad idea? I rather suspect that my message has been ignored in the hopes that that's exactly what I'll do, but since I'm lacking in past experience (and can't know for sure what's going on in the seller's head if they won't tell me), for all I know something's simply come up and they're incapable of answering messages at the present time. Maybe they'll get back to me tomorrow. Who knows. What happens if I just wait it out and they never reply?

Any advice (general or otherwise, even links to past threads that're relevant) would be appreciated. I assume I could just call eBay's support line, but my lurking over the years has led me to suspect I'll get more accurate information here.

[bombbloke]

Thank you all for your responses.

I've still yet to receive any replies from the seller. Rather than opening a PayPal dispute, for now I've opted to just send the thing back SOD. eBay seems to have accepted the tracking number.

I certainly didn't get offered a "print label" button, though I imagine I might've done if the seller had bothered to open their inbox. I wouldn't know, but that's what eBay's instructions suggested should happen - contact seller for label, print label, post.

[lane-ends]

I have heard of buyers who didn't receive labels contacted Ebay and they just refunded and told them they no longer needed to return the item.

Ebay priotitize refunding buyers over sellers getting their item back

[phorum_junkie*]

So you would rather pay for sending back rather than talk to eby on the phone? Not sure why you asked in the first place if you were going to ignore most of the advice anyway!

[bombbloke]

The gist of the advice I see seemed to be along the lines of "just send the item back" - apologies if that was wrong. I was more concerned about whether that would cause additional problems rather than the $5 it cost me to do so.

[*tippy*toes*]

Now that you sent the item back,  if the seller is ignoring you, what makes you think you will get a refund? 

[bombbloke]

I'd like to say "the tracking service", but is there something you know that I don't?

[phorum_junkie*]

If you just return the item without going through an ebay dispute then the seller can say they have a different address for returns, do it through a dispute and you will be given the address by ebay and there will be no argument as long as you have used registered or SOD service.. 

[bombbloke]

I've been following eBay's return process, and have used the address given there; I've just been confused by the part where eBay has told me to hurry up and post, despite also telling me to get a label from the seller.

So I've sent the item SOD to the address given to me via eBay's "return details" page (no, I'm not just following some message the seller sent me - I don't have any of those). I'm not sure if simply initiating a return constitutes a "dispute"; the seller a couple of weeks ago who sent me the wrong part told me it was (albeit via Engrish), and knowing eBay, I tend to believe them.

Guess I'll find out the fun way!

[digital*ghost]

Once the item is delivered, eBay will basically see it as a refund becoming due. The initial request has guided steps for the buyer and seller, but it can be escalated if they can't reach a mutual resolution (i.e. either the buyer or the seller can get eBay to "step in and help"), so if it is delivered and a refund isn't issued by the seller (I'd give them one chance, after confirmed delivery, for the seller to respond and/or issue the refund - by which I mean if they don't do either shortly thereafter, I'd message them and request an update etc because delivery has been confirmed), you can escalate it and eBay will make a decision. In general, as long as you've sent it back and delivery can be confirmed via online tracking, a refund will be issued. 

[bombbloke]

The part arrived Monday, according to AusPost's site - but eBay's tracking didn't pick up on that at the time, despite showing a postage tracking "progress bar" with the AusPost tracking number next to it.

I was intending to message the seller this evening, but it looks like eBay's system finally caught up and marked the item as "delivered". The refund was processed that same minute. So I guess eBay's "post tracking" system just waits for the seller to push a button? Beats me.

In any case, all's well that ends well. Thanks again for the replies!