topic Re: return to sender . . . . LMAO in Buying

returning items by post

michellebartley — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 04:54:51 GMT

What is the correct protocol to return an item. Mark it return to sender at post office or rewrap it and then pay for postage yourself. Dont some sellers have a return permit which they issue to you?

Re: returning items by post

rkwm888 — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 05:09:36 GMT

rewrap the parcel and make sure you pay for signature on delivery and then you have tracking and the seller has to sign for it

Re: returning items by post

amber-eyed-girl — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 07:12:38 GMT

You should ask the seller what their policy is on returns, they may pay you back for return shipping, they might not.

If the item is faulty or not as described, I hope they pay the return shipping, but they don't have to.

If you are returning it as part of a Paypal claim, you will be out of pocket the return shipping, as only the original payment is refunded by Paypal under buyer protection.

Re: returning items by post

bsal6160 — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 08:17:29 GMT

DO NOT return an item until instructed by paypal. under no circumstance return an item simply because the seller may ask you too.

Re: return to sender . . . . LMAO

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 09:36:43 GMT

@michellebartley wrote:
What is the correct protocol to return an item. Mark it return to sender at post office or rewrap it and then pay for postage yourself. Dont some sellers have a return permit which they issue to you?

'Return to sender' . . . . continuing to crack me up

edit: just to make it clear, my advice is DO NOT mark it 'Return to sender'

Re: returning items by post

lyndal1838 — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 11:38:34 GMT

You cannot mark a previously opened parcel "Return to Sender"....the PO will not accept it.

If the return is part of a paypal claim you have to return it by trackable post to the address given to you by paypal or you will not get your refund.

Re: returning items by post

phorum_junkie* — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 23:06:59 GMT

You cannot mark a previously opened parcel "Return to Sender"....the PO will not accept it.

I seem to remember reading an announcement a year or two ago that you can in fact return an opened parcel return to sender and the recipient has to pay the postage at their end. Of course it would be completely unsuitable for a Paypal funded return as you would have no tracking.

Re: returning items by post

thecatspjs — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 00:02:28 GMT

There is no fee for return to sender of unopened articles - including parcels.

A fee applies (cost of ordinary post) that the person returning a parcel pays to return an opened parcel to the original sender.

There are some AP post services such as e-parcel that do provide a choice for the sender to offer a return service to their customers, including nominating whether the original sender or the addressee will pay the return costs.

Sources: AP website & Postal Industry Ombudsman

Re: returning items by post

jensmanchester-australia — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 00:42:19 GMT

thecatspj - I think some of that information has recently changed and that AP now reserve the right to charge a fee for unopened parcels which are returned to sender.

Re: returning items by post

thecatspjs — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 01:03:38 GMT

Australia Post can reserve the right to do a lot of things, but they must abide by their own terms and conditions.

If an article is unclaimed, undeliverable or refused and there is a return address and the article is unopened they are bound to return it to that address at no cost - unless the AP product has terms and conditions that clearly state otherwise and outline relevant costs involved such as e-parcel etc.

It is also against the law for a consumer to incur "hidden" costs such as costs for a parcel marked "return to sender." Charges for the service, and in the event of AP being unable to provide that service the costs must be clearly stated up-front. This at least gives the sender a choice to opt out of such a charge, by not putting their return address details on the article - OR including in the delivery instructions what to do if it can not be delivererd.

Re: returning items by post

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 04:47:44 GMT

seeing as these are eBay discussion boards we can assume that the OP is asking about an eBay related item when they ask "What is the correct protocol to return an item".

What reasons are there that an item might need to be returned to the seller . . . . . . item is broken, counterfeit, incomplete, wrong item or any of the many other reasons that would make an item Not As Described.

To know that the item fits any of these reasons for return then one would think that the parcel/package would need to be opened.

Re: returning items by post

thecatspjs — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 05:11:36 GMT

Yes one might assume it would be opened.

And a seller is also not obligated to pay post return costs for an opened parcel - unless they subscribe to a post return service (such as that available through e-parcel) or they have offered to cover return posts to buyer in the listing or via messages to buyer.

Re: returning items by post

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 05:56:55 GMT

@thecatspjs wrote:
. . . . or they have offered to cover return posts to buyer in the listing or via messages to buyer.

in which case the OP would have no need to ask the question here because they would have the answer already (unless there was some other motive for posting).

Merry Christmas cats, have a Happy New Year too. I'm offline for the Christmas period soon so the same message to all the regulars, readers and new posters.

Re: returning items by post

thecatspjs — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 06:00:23 GMT

lol re the OP ....

Merry Christmas to you too Slr Sales ... hope you have a lovely break

Re: returning items by post

chameleon54 — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 11:00:18 GMT

I have only ever had one parcel marked "return to sender" sent back to me by a customer who had taken it home and opened it. In that case I had to pay the return postage plus an extra $8.00 fee on top of post cost to recieve it back. It was part of a paypal claim in which the buyer was being a little bit "smart" as I had already offered a full refund if he returned the item. In the end paypal deducted all of these post costs from the buyers account, so I would not reccomend this method.

Re: returning items by post

thecatspjs — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 11:19:43 GMT

Paypal deducted return post costs you paid from a buyers account ?

I don't believe it, sorry.

A discretionary payment perhaps ... even that sounds like a random thing for paypal to do.

An $8 fee on top of a further post charge to return ... interesting also ... way outside of the terms and conditions of regular services.

Re: returning items by post

chameleon54 — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 11:42:34 GMT

I suspect the reason Paypal made the deduction was because the buyer was being a little bit unreasonable. I had to first open a non payment dispute as he informed me he simply wasnt going to pay. He then opened an item not as described case as soon as he recieved the item. I offered to refund his payment and initial post cost if he paid the return post ( I was getting a bit tired of the nasty emails so didnt offer to pay return postage ) . He decided to be smart and post it return to sender with the added costs to me. I phoned paypal and explained the situation. They obviously had access to his records ( may have been some history ?? ) and made the decision. All true, hand on heart.

Re: returning items by post

thecatspjs — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 12:05:44 GMT

"Return to sender" of an opened parcel does not have any additional post charges, other than the actual post charge.

How could the buyer even demonstrate to paypal they had returned a parcel from them addressed to you?

Re: returning items by post

chameleon54 — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 12:40:57 GMT

Exterior of parcel had been opened and resealed, interior packing appeared to have been un-opened. Looked to me like he took it home started to unwrap it and did the "not as described" before completing the unwrapping of clearish bubble wrap. ( probably checked out what it was ) May have simply taped it back up and mailed it in a post box. Thats my best guess but dont really know. As for no tracking, he couldnt prove anything. This guy was not the brightest spark in the fire, but I try to be honest, even with * bleep* customers like this guy, so did all of the right things and refunded in full. Contacted paypal and had the postage costs refunded. Was it a discretionary payment ? Maybe ? The guy on the phone said the buyer was responsible for return post cost and he would look at taking the funds from his account. Took a few days, and where the money came from ( buyers account or papal discretionary ) I,m not privy too. Cant really tell you any more than this sorry.