kaibacorp, what eBay chat will tell you is not always correct. eBay chat is outsourced - Customer Service reps fairly low on the CS tower of Babel who reply from scripts. You will get a better standard of eBay CS assistance from the reps available on the Have Us Call You option, but better still is the standard of assistance (in the form of information) from the experienced eBay members who post on the boards.
But... give eBay chat staff a chance; ask them, for instance, how to stop Pitney Bowes from charging an illegal import fee on items.
eBay have set up automatic crediting (not refunding) of final value fees for cancelled transactions, but there are instances when there have been glitches. There are also particular instances when it's not automatic. (I won't go into those details, but there are threads on the selling boards which illustrate this.)
Additionally...
Having funds credited is not the same as having funds refunded. Imagine what it would be like if you were told that you would be credited your payment for an item for which you've just requested cancellation. Let's set the scene... It's an expensive item, about $300, and a few seconds after you hit the buy button, you realise that there's GST on top of that, and furthermore, a lightbulb flashes on in your mind and you also realise that it's the wrong colour, the wrong size, the wrong something.
You immediately request a cancellation. It's granted. "Great!" you think. You go on looking through the listings for an item that doesn't have GST added to it, and is the right colour/size/whatever. Finally you have found it - the perfect item for your needs. Secure in the knowledge that you've been refunded, you purchase the item All seems well.
But five days later, the rates are due. By paying by that date, you'll also get a significant discount. You make the payment (knowing you have sufficient funds because you'll have been refunded). Alas! The payment does NOT go through! Befuddled, you pull up your account details. No record of a refund. The clock's ticking; if you want that substantial discount for your rates, you have to get your payment in before end of business that day. You ring eBay. You're put on hold. You're transferred. Your call is dropped. You ring again. You get the runaround. One person is telling you that you should have received it and you should check your PayPal account balance. Another one says check your card. You have; this is frustrating you. You say again and again that you haven't got your refund. It's getting you no answers. Finally, after 2 hours on the phone (a not unusual length of time to be kicked around by eBay CS on the phone), you get an answer - but by this time it's 6 pm and too late. Even if it weren't too late, it doesn't matter, becasue... ta-da... you haven't been given a refund, but eBay now gives buyers who change their minds post-sale a CREDIT, not a REFUND.
The helpful CS rep tells you cheerily that you can use this credit for your next eBay purchase - but what good is that to you if you decide you never want to buy anything from eBay ever again? What good is that to you if you need to pay a bill now? The credit is non-transferrable...
Now... do you see how sellers, especially hobby sellers or occasional sellers, can be grossly inconvenienced by buyer cancellations? They still have to pay the final value fees for the cancelled sale (if I understand correctly that the credit goes into the next billing cycle; someone will correct me if I'm wrong).
Please note that contrary to the above one-act drama, buyers do actually receive refunds.
