Advice needed on a Return Claim

[pancaket52]

On the 19/02/15 I sold a Blouse (on another account).

On 11/03/15 Customer opened a MBG through ebay citing item didn't fit. No communication with me at all.

As Measurements were in the listing I said I would accept the return but she would have to pay the postage.

Nothing has happened except that she has left me glowing feedback on an 'excellent transaction' !!?

She hasn't returned the item and I haven't refunded her.

Today I get a message from ebay asking me if I have received the item and would I like to refund her. The answer is no to both.

What happens now? If I leave it does the case just expire? Do I have to do something?

I don't want to contact her as I think she's made a mistake in leaving me feedback. 

ebay have suggested I get them inolved to finalise everything but I read on here the other day that that wasn't a good idea.

HELP!

Spoiler

[pennyforum14]

Sounds like she didn't want to pay return postage, and if she has left you glowing feedback she must have decided just to keep the item anyway.  I would just reply to the message from eBay and say no the buyer has not returned the item, but has left positive feedback so no refund is required.  They should then close it in your favour.  Whether or not they will remove the defect you got when the buyer opened the case is another story, but if they don't you may just have to wear it rather than rock the boat.

[pancaket52]

Unfortunately there is nowhere to reply to ebay on the message - unless I click the 'involve ebay' link. Don't want to do that as previous posts seem to say that ebay automatically refund the buyer.

I think it's just a generic bot message as there is also a link to' unsubscribe from these messages'.

[thecatspjs]

What choices does the advice give you ?

[donnashuggy]

I had something similar where I sorted out the buyers problem through my messages and left the case alone, I had already replaced the item and I didn't want to respond to the claim as that would have given her  a refund as well as keeping the item so I ignored it. I still got the defect, the case did not expire as eBay dish out the defects prior to sorting out any problem.

[digital*ghost]

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@pancaket52 wrote:

On the 19/02/15 I sold a Blouse (on another account).

On 11/03/15 Customer opened a MBG through ebay citing item didn't fit. No communication with me at all.

As Measurements were in the listing I said I would accept the return but she would have to pay the postage.

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I had a similar request a few weeks ago, the reason selected by the buyer was wrong size... so I accepted the return and waited for it to be received (under my return policy, buyer pays return postage). 

The buyer never sent the item back, nor contacted me directly about anything (eg to let me know they have returned it and wanting to know about the refund, or to confirm they wouldn't return it etc), so I got the same email from eBay - I have basically ignored it, as the only options are to confirm receipt of the item and issue a refund, or contact the buyer, neither of which are wholly appropriate now (by which I mean it may be appropriate to send a follow-up message if several days go by and you hear nothing, just in case the buyer needs assistance with how to proceed, but they do get relatively clear instruction from eBay, along with a confirmed return address, and the option to progress the request by indicating the item has been posted back and enter a tracking number). 

The buyer actually has 5 days to post the item back, so my guess is ebay's email is a bit like a feedback reminder (i.e. do you need to follow anything up on this? No, ok ... carry on then... well, that's how I take it, anyway). 

The request itself is supposed to time out after around 30 days, but I have heard sometimes they hang around for longer. Mine was initiated by the buyer a while ago, and it's no longer showing as an open request - I may have to double check the exact dates and make sure, though. 

[digital*ghost]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

 it's no longer showing as an open request 

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Scratch that, it's still open.... it just wasn't showing on my summary because it was started more than 31 days ago.

Request opened 6th March, approved immediately, then no further progress.

It's currently saying that the item "should have been delivered" and that a refund is due by 16th April, so it will probably (maybe) time-out on the 17th. 

[pancaket52]

Two Options are given - Refund or  involve ebay.

[pancaket52]

That's exactly what my message said - mine times out around 25th April.

Now, does ebay refund automatically if nothing else occurs in the Timeline given - or does it just expire.

As yours expires before mine -would you  please update as to what happened.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Pauline

[digital*ghost]

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@pancaket52 wrote:

Now, does ebay refund automatically if nothing else occurs in the Timeline given - or does it just expire.

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It should just expire, at least that is the understanding I have. If eBay got involved (which, as far as I know, they won't do unless the buyer or seller ask them to), the buyer would need to prove return postage, and they should also have to prove that it was within the allowable timeframe, which is within 5 days of the return address being confimred (proof of postage would generally show date of postage). 

I'll update the thread on the 18th with what's happened to my request (just to allow for the possibility it's working on US time).