What happens if I ignore the buyer's return request filed after 30 days

[bonas-74]

So a buyer has opened a return request 34 days after date of delivery with reason being that the item is damaged. I sold them a second-hand laptop and their description of the problem indicates the battery has likely failed and now it only works plugged in. I mentioned in the listing that the battery is worn and doesn't hold as much charge as before. I don't want to accept their return request as the issue wasn't present when first delivered and only developed after a month of use. What would my best option be here? Can I simply ignore the buyer's request given the buyer isn't covered by MBG? There's a line that says "Please take action by 27 July" What happens on 27 July? Also, how would it work if the buyer decides to open a PayPal dispute? As a manged payments seller, does Adyen fight the case on behalf of me?

[purveyor_of_tat]

The buyer is out of time to claim under the MBG.

The buyer could open a case in PP, PP do look at case more closely than eBay. PP normally expect buyer to open case for INAD upon delivery, so it may close in your favour.

The buyer may issue a chargeback with their card issuer, this can be harder to fight. If it is a low value item, it can sometimes be better to refund to avoid paying the admin fee.

Seller protections have lessened since Adyen were introduced, do not rely on them to protect you!

[digital*ghost]

The date of delivery is irrelevant - what matters is the last day of the ETA the buyer had, as they are eligible to claim for 30 days after that. That means if the latest estimated delivery date is still less than 30 days ago, they can still claim and if you ignore it, the buyer can escalate and it will automatically be found in their favour.

Look at the order history to determine if the buyer is still eligible, if they are not, you need to contact eBay CS via chat and explain that the buyer has opened the claim outside of the allowed window. Make sure you are speaking to someone in the claims department - as long as the window has expired, CS should close the case without refund to the buyer.

If the buyer is still eligible, and i suspect they are because the last time I had a return request for INAD and the buyer was out of time, I had the option to decline it, so unfortunately eBay will require you to handle the case as normal. It is not a good idea to ignore, because as soon as the buyer escalates, your account will get a case closed without seller resolution defect, and you can only get two of those before it's possible for ebay to restrict or suspend your account. 

[curraone]

Digi:  The date of delivery is irrelevant - what matters is the last day of the ETA the buyer had,

How do you find this out?

[digital*ghost]

You used to be able to see it in the order details, but looks like eBay aren't displaying it there anymore and I can't find it through any of the other transaction records. 😠

Unless someone else knows where to find it, the only thing I can think of (at least for sellers regular sellers) is to plug in the buyer's postcode on a current listing with the same handling time, and see what the delivery timeframe is like, apply that to the purchase date of the order, plus 30 days, which will give you a pretty decent guideline, at least. 

Considering they allow buyers to open disputes regardless of their eligibility, not providing sellers with a means to confirm whether or not they actually are eligible (if that indeed is the case) is pretty shonky (i.e. the only reason they would do that is to get sellers to make a decision minus facts that could change that decision, which IMHO is basically a lie by omission with blackmail over their heads encouraging a specific decision).  

[curraone]

So  when I look at the OPs item it says delivery within 5 days;   so the timeframe is 35 days.

The OP's first premise is therefore incorrect - that he is protected because it has been 34 days?

[curraone]

On the other hand:   ebays MBG does say delivery date:

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-pol...

Actions & time frames for "not as described" returns

30 calendar days after the estimated or actual delivery date or within the seller's stated returns window, whichever is longer

[jellybirddesigns]

I hate reading these types of posts as you just know the poor seller is going to get burned.

OP - even if you accept the request, I'm virtually guaranteeing that the buyer is going to send the wrong thing back and because they know exactly what they are doing and they will send with tracking, in Ebay's eyes, that will be "good enough" to warrant the buyer getting their money back.

If you end up losing your money - the alternatives to Ebay include lodging a claim of theft, small claims court, or even involving a debt collector. Before accepting the return, you might want to  inform the buyer that should the item not match what was sent, you will follow those steps in order to recover your funds.

What you need to do is accept the return before the 27th, and send a postage label to the buyer. The buyer will have to action the return within a certain number of days. If they don't send it back, you know that they understand there may be consequences for trying to  defraud you.

[digital*ghost]

That's new (or perhaps just new to me 😳 ), but that's saying as long as the item delivery took place before the ETA, the actual delivery date is used so yeah, in that case, the buyer is out of time and the OP should contact eBay to get the case closed. 

[purveyor_of_tat]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

You used to be able to see it in the order details, but looks like eBay aren't displaying it there anymore and I can't find it through any of the other transaction records. 😠

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Click on the item listing itself, then on "items sold", then next to the buyers user ID, click "view order details".