Buyer didn’t notice item was at her post office and it was returned. Now asking for full refund.

[gamer_empire]

Hello

I sold and shipped an item to a lady who after 22 days, told me today, it was at her post office but she didn’t know about and it was returned in the mail to me. (Haven’t received it back yet). And is requesting a full refund.

Am I supposed to just lose the $7.8 shipping costs here and refund in full once I receive it back? She acknowledges the item arrived but she didn’t pick it up in time. For a person to return an item they must pay return shipping costs. I assume I ask her if a partial refund is acceptable minus the shipping costs?

Thanks for any input you can give.

Matt

[lm-entertainment]

depending on your volume of sales (mine isn't huge) - i always monitor the tracking of items i've sent and when an item is awaiting collection, send the buyer a message along the lines of - 

"Dear Buyer,

This is just a courtesy message in case you aren't already aware that the tracking for your item shows it is now awaiting collection from BANKSTOWN LPO. 

If you plan on collecting it, please disregard this message, but if you were unaware, please ensure you collect your item sooner rather than later to prevent having Australia Post return it to the sender.

Thanks and have a great day / afternoon / evening."

i also attach a copy of a screenshot of the tracking showing it's awaiting collection and the location. 

obviously if your sales volume is extremely high this would be time consuming, but sometimes, it has helped me avoid parcels being returned as the buyer was never carded, were unaware it was awaiting collection or simply forgot :]

[davewil1964]

My volumes seem to be about the same as yours, but as I have a day job I'm not prepared to spend my evenings buying trouble.

No queries from buyers = no problems.

[countessalmirena]

I missed a wonderful opportunity to bombard you with queries about details and whimsies and sealing-wax. It's too late to do that now.

[davewil1964]

You did. It is.