Did eBay just commit theft??

[motoheaven_com_au]

Has anyone encounter the following issue before, since when has it been okay for eBay to gift a customer of ours a product that we have not received payment for? This does not seem right on so many levels so here it is.. 

On the Wednesday afternoon 13/10/2021  I sold a product to the value of $793.00, there was an issue with getting the product shipped originally due to a break down of communication however the product was then shipped via the delivery partner on Tuesday 19/10/2021.

The tracking details where uploaded and the customer and I could see the item was on the way. However it has been known that COVID-19 is still causing issues for all shipping partners here in Australia and it is possible that delivery's may take longer than usual.

After the date of despatch the customer then opened a 'Item not received' dispute (complete understandable) as the delivery partner had now had the item for over a week. The customer was then issued a refund by eBay and the sale deducted from our account despite us resupplying tracking information and communicating the delivery partners delay.

Given the situation above, the boots now remain our property as they have not been paid for and eBay has taken the sale away and it would be up to us to seek compensation from the delivery partner. However as the product was never "Lost" just delayed, it was delivered at a later date 13/11/2021. The delivery partner will no longer provide any compensation being the service was completed.

We contact the customer to arrange the return of the item at our expense and we received the following message which he claims was sent to him by eBay.

Before we take this further has anyone been in a similar situation and found a reasonable solution?

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[jellybirddesigns]

Ebay has made a big fuss of how they're "protecting" Sellers in the event of delays. This should be brought up in any communication with CS reps.

Not sure what your handling time is, but definitely move it out substantially to allow for future delays.

Sorry this happened - it totally sucks.

[papermoon.lady]

From what I have read here no the board, if an item arrives after a refund, eBay is not responsible and it becomes a matter between the buyer and the seller. If the buyer does not re-pay you, it is the buyer who has committed theft. I have never heard of eBay saying that if an item arrives after a refund it is a gift from them. Some sellers here tried to recover their money through a debt collector.

That message the buyer shared with you sounds strange.

[papermoon.lady]

As a matter of fact, this is what eBay really says. Either the buyer is a scammer, or the eBay person who wrote to him/her has no idea:

If your item arrives after you've received a refund

It's possible that your item may still arrive after you've been issued a refund. If this happens, you should get in touch with the seller and try to reach an agreement on what to do next. You can choose to either:

• Return the item and keep the refund
• Keep the item and arrange to reimburse the seller

From: https://www.ebay.com.au/help/buying/returns-refunds/get-help-item-hasnt-arrived?id=4042#:~:text=If%2...

[papermoon.lady]

By the way, I don't know if you have replaced the buyer's ID with "customer" because names are not allowed on the board, but eBay uses first names, not a generic "customer"...

[jellybirddesigns]

Reading it again, the whole thing seems a bit off, but it may just be the communication style of the agent. However, the main issue here is that they have refunded the buyer just because the item was delayed, which is shameful.

If Ebay won't help you, you may need to write to the buyer and tell that that now that they have the item and the money, they need to repay you and that failing to do so will mean that you open a case with a debt collector or the small claims court. Maybe the Ombudsman is another option too.

If the buyer agrees to pay, then you can send them a Paypal invoice.

[papermoon.lady]

Jelly, the OP has already contacted the buyer to arrange for a return at their expense, and they got those strange emails allegedly received from an eBay representative as a response, so the buyer does not intend to return the item or to pay again for it.

I think the OP should contact eBay to verify the authenticity of those emails for starters.

[motoheaven_com_au]

Hi yes we replaced the user name with Customer 🙂

[motoheaven_com_au]

It is the buyer who sent me that communication and he does not wish to return the boots but has directed all communication back through eBay. We have appealed and they closed the case and have said no further appeals! Seems nuts to me

[motoheaven_com_au]

Yes doing that now, thanks