Frustrated eBay always sides with the buyer, no matter what.

[enticedecorations]

A buyer opens a INR case which i am totally fine with and always take them at their word.

I ask if they would either like a refund or a replacement sent, they ask for a replacement.

A few days later they ask eBay to step in, without even giving enough time for the second item to be received.

Ebay gives them a refund. How is this fair?

I talked to eBay and they agreed that is was not fair but said there isnt anything they can do.

Now i know i take a risk sending without tracking (profit doesnt allow tracking), but seriously, all i wanted is another few day for the item to potentially arrive.

Sorry for the rant but a few scenarios like this is starting to get me down.

[imastawka]

If they message politely first, then I would replace if they asked.

But opening a case?   Refund every time.

[enticedecorations]

Thanks, i have learnt my lesson the hard way.

[jellybirddesigns]

Never send a replacement, no matter what the buyer asks for.

If you don't have tracking, best to refund as you're now out the money and 2 products.

Even Amazon does not recognise sending a second item as a solution when a buyer opens a case - one of the reasons is that it mitigates your losses when a buyer is trying to scam you.

If you don't want to add tracking, then at least add some shipping. For items that I send in a small padded envelope, I charge around $4,00, which covers the cost of the envelope plus shipping. I honestly don't know how you're making any money by offering "free shipping", becuase at the end of the day it's coming out of your profit much more than 1 or 2 "missing" items.

[davewil1964]

'Free' shipping doesn't usually mean free. It usually means postage included.

I send anything that will fit in an envelope as 'free' shipping. That doesn't mean postage is free, nor does it mean that I am absorbing the postage cost from my profit. It means the cost of postage is included in the item price, so my profit is not reduced. I doubt I am alone in using such a business model.

[gutterpunkz05]

Sorry but your buyer has not done anything a couple of days after opening an INR,  keep up to date with ebay.  If a buyer opens an INR case and the item has been shipped untracked, you have 3 days to resolve the matter with the buyer  and have the case closed or they are automatically refunded.

[enticedecorations]

Thanks for all the advice.
When a case is opened the buyer has to select if they want a refund or the product. So I assumed a resend is required when they select 'product'. But I will just automatically refund from now on.

I understand free shipping is not free. My business model is free postage on all. When a buyers buy more then one item they essentially pay 2 lots of shipping that's factored in.
If I charged for shipping they would demand only one lot of shipping per whatever fits into the envelope.

I still make profit even if I have to resend the item x2 +postage x2. But doing a refund as well hurts.

[doobelly]

Yep.. Buyer says not received after THREE MONTHS.  She claims not to have "realized"  that she didn't receive item woth $30.00.  Yeah, right.   There was no tracking (small item in envelope).

Surely there has to be time limits on such claims.

.

[padi*0409]

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@doobelly wrote:

Yep.. Buyer says not received after THREE MONTHS.  She claims not to have "realized"  that she didn't receive item woth $30.00.  Yeah, right.   There was no tracking (small item in envelope).

Surely there has to be time limits on such claims.

.

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Without tracking you will lose any INR dispute, with eBay's MBG tracking has to show delivery, with Paypal the seller only has to show that the parcel was lodged.

Time limits are :-

eBay MBG 30 days after the final ETA,

Paypal 180 days after the sale date.

[enticedecorations]

Thanks for the time limits, nice to know.

Have another dispute recently via PayPal from a sale 3.5 months ago and they are claiming 'payment was not authorised' whatever that means.

Once again, I'm sure they will find in favour of them.