Can buyer rejects his parcel and claim full refund?

[tank.metal.upgrades]

Recently, a French buyer ordered 3 items from me, and paid $316 (including postage $105)

After the parcel arrived in France, he told me that his birday already passed and he refused to accept the parcel

Then he left 3 negative feedback for me. and opened a paypal case for full refund.

Because the parcel is refused and being returned, paypal concluded that the buyer should get a full refund.

Paypal also said that, unless I prove the parcel is delivered to the buyer, I cannot appeal this decision.

I feel this is totally unfair. The buyer has never said anything about his birday or any requirement on arrival  time when he placed the order.  How is he entitled to cancel this order and take full refund after the parcel arrived in France? Why it becomes my responsibility to pay the $105 postage by myself while I have done nothing wrong? Does paypal policy really allow a buyer to scam sellers like this ???

Many thanks for any comments

[247newdeals]

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@henglongtankparts wrote:

Recently, a French buyer ordered 3 items from me, and paid $316 (including postage $105)

After the parcel arrived in France, he told me that his birday already passed and he refused to accept the parcel

Then he left 3 negative feedback for me. and opened a paypal case for full refund.

Because the parcel is refused and being returned, paypal concluded that the buyer should get a full refund.

Paypal also said that, unless I prove the parcel is delivered to the buyer, I cannot appeal this decision.

I feel this is totally unfair. The buyer has never said anything about his birday or any requirement on arrival  time when he placed the order.  How is he entitled to cancel this order and take full refund after the parcel arrived in France? Why it becomes my responsibility to pay the $105 postage by myself while I have done nothing wrong? Does paypal policy really allow a buyer to scam sellers like this ???

Many thanks for any comments

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Quick answer is yes they can but it is wrong they can do it so easily.

One thing I noticed in the feedback you put they need to pay custom duties is that the reason or part of the reason why as well as a possiblebirthday. Also how long did it take to get to them? The one that I can see was purchased on the 1st March so it could of been up to a month which could of been much longer than a buyer would expect to wait. 

[twyngwyn]

After the parcel arrived in France, he told me that his birday already passed and he refused to accept the parcel

Do you have a copy of that message to show to Paypal?

[tank.metal.upgrades]

Many thanks for your reply

He order on 1 Mar and I posted the next day. It arrived in paris on 8 Mar. 

Then on 22 Mar, I received a message from this buyer, saying he did not want this parcel anymore and opened a case with paypal. Paypal quickly decided that he should get a full refund since he refused the parcel

If this becomes a rule, I will have to stop selling overseas, because it is so easy for anyone to place an order and then refuse to accept the parcel, and force me to pay all the expansive postage. 

[tank.metal.upgrades]

That is what he told paypal when he opened the case...

Thanks

[digital*ghost]

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@henglongtankparts wrote:

I feel this is totally unfair.

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So do I, and I think it shouldn't be allowed... 😞

-But- when you sell to an international customer who later opens a PayPal dispute, the buyer's protection policy takes precedence over the seller's, meaning PayPal will uphold and enforce whatever protections apply in the buyer's country. 

France is in the EU, which has some unique protections for buyers (it's meant to only apply to EU sellers, but because the buyer is in France, it applies via PP no matter where they buy from because it's part of their protection policy). Part of the Distance Selling Regulations gives buyers the right to cancel or reject most online purchases (exceptions apply to custom made items, perishable goods and the like), but it can be for any reason what so ever, and get a full refund of their original payment, including postage. There are a few conditions, but they are nowhere near strict enough (except for the conditions on sellers). 

I agree that it's worth phoning PayPal and appealing, but hopefully the package makes its way back to you so that at very worst, you'll only be out the postage costs (I'd be cancelling the transaction on ebay - buyer changed mind - to get a credit of the final value fees). 

[247newdeals]

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@henglongtankparts wrote:

Many thanks for your reply

He order on 1 Mar and I posted the next day. It arrived in paris on 8 Mar. 

Then on 22 Mar, I received a message from this buyer, saying he did not want this parcel anymore and opened a case with paypal. Paypal quickly decided that he should get a full refund since he refused the parcel

If this becomes a rule, I will have to stop selling overseas, because it is so easy for anyone to place an order and then refuse to accept the parcel, and force me to pay all the expansive postage. 

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I was expecting you to say it arrived within 14 days which would be reasonable but 6 days no one can complain about. I do not have any advice, that would help, sadly. Just this is why a lot of us want sell internationally.

I hope someone has a way you can recoup at least some if not all of the postage costs it does really suck.

I have no clue about the items you sell but they look pretty specialised so I would of thought there would be an overseas market for them so one thing you could possibly do is add a higher handling fee, on international postage, say 5-10% so if this happens again the cost have been already covered.

I want currently sell overseas but when I use to I charged fairly high postage and people where happy to pay it all ways surprised me sometime the postage was more than the items the purchased.  

[davidc4430]

i hope you add this buyer to you banned bidder list.

[rocket2retro]

It also shows what an absolute joke the so-called eBay Seller Protection is.They might as well get rid of it in my view.  I've sold 20,000 items & haven't been protected by this even once (but of course I've been on the money-losing end of Buyer Protection numerous times).

[thecatspjs · Accepted solution]

Regardless of the buyers country, regardless of the protections paypal affords to that buyer, regardless if the item was delivered to the buyer or not, you still have seller protection if you have proof of post from Australia.to that buyers address if the goods were eligible for Paypal seller protection..

It is paypal that should be out of pocket, not you.   The buyer over seller precedence argument is a furphy. 

Paypal have to honour their user agreements with both buyer and seller..

Paypal au is governed by the laws of the Australia.  Paypal offers you seller protection under certain conditions,

Have a look at the email received for the original buyer payment if the transaction was eligible for protection it should include a line stating  "This item is eligible for Seller Protection".

If the item was advised as eligible for seller protection, I would ring paypal.  I would request very nicely to speak to a supervisor and then  very nicely request a review of the case.

Ask them to note on the case that you are seeking, under their seller protection conditions,not be out of pocket as you meet their eligibility requirements for seller protection.    . 

As it stands at a minimum you will be out of pocket for post if the goods are returned to you as sent.  Specify the $$$ you are seeking to ensure you are not out of pocket for these post costs. 

If paypal do not respond favourably, then open a case with the Financial Ombudsman Service, you can do this online. 

I suggest you keep and refer to where necessary all correspondence from the buyer and from paypal in this case.

I suggest you also keep brief notes of your conversations with Paypal, including name of reps and time and duration of calls. 

Now if the case was opened as an eBay dispute, it would be a different scenario as their terms and conditions are very different when it comes to international selling, however if it was opened as a paypal case and the funds were received into an Australian account, you should have Australian paypal seller protection.