I have refunded a Buyer but I sent the refund through PayPal instead of through Refund Request.

[jansmusic2005]

I have refunded a Buyer for an Order lost by Australia Post, but I sent the refund through PayPal instead of through Refund Request. I have messaged the Buyer and included the PayPal Receipt but they are not responding. Now eBay is messaging me to resolve this Refund Request but there is no way I can resolve it from my end, or contact eBay, and the Buyer isn’t responding. eBay has frozen my funds until this is resolved. Can anybody tell me where to go from here. 

[twyngwyn]

Try uploading the PayPal payment to the case??

[lezned-toycollector]

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@jansmusic2005 wrote:

I have refunded a Buyer for an Order lost by Australia Post, but I sent the refund through PayPal instead of through Refund Request. I have messaged the Buyer and included the PayPal Receipt but they are not responding. Now eBay is messaging me to resolve this Refund Request but there is no way I can resolve it from my end, or contact eBay, and the Buyer isn’t responding. eBay has frozen my funds until this is resolved. Can anybody tell me where to go from here. 

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You'd probably have more success if you tried contacting eBay during their operating hours - just saying 

[gutterpunkz05]

Just out of curiosity, where did you obtain the buyers email address?, so as to complete the refund via paypal.  

The buyers original payment is purely between the buyer and there selected payment method and ebay.

The contact email address you are subsequently able to access, via the ebay order, is an alias address which is provided and can only be accessed via ebay

[pnc75]

These days you don't need an email address; you can also use their phone number, and ebay displays the phone numbers on the invoice in most cases. 

I don't agree with the practice, but that's how it is apparently. 

[jansmusic2005]

Hi, Thank you for your reply. I had a problem finding eBay Australia contact details but just tonight I’ve found a link in the ‘Help’ section right at the bottom of the eBay Home page. I’ll try that link now. Thanks.

[jansmusic2005]

Hi, Thank you for your reply. On the actual Refund Request page on eBay there are only three drop-down options, but nowhere to upload a copy of the PayPal payment Receipt. I have already sent the Buyer a digital copy of the Receipt through eBay Messages, but in six days the Buyer hasn’t responded or closed the Refund Request. I have also messaged the Buyer once since then, politely asking the Buyer to please close the Refund Request now that the Refund has been paid since I cannot close it at my end. EBay has frozen my Account until this matter is resolved.  Just tonight I have found a ‘Help’ section at the bottom of the eBay Australia Home Page which looks like it might be able to help me sort this out. Thanks. 

[jansmusic2005]

Hi, I don’t have the Buyer’s email address and eBay doesn’t allow Buyers and Seller to communicate outside of eBay anyway. The Buyer’s phone number is always printed by eBay on the original Order Details in the Seller Hub. I usually only use this phone number to print on the AusPost Padded Mailer to facilitate the delivery and never to phone the Buyer personally. 
I had previously had to send this same Buyer a refund for excess Shipping they had paid as I used Combined Shipping for this sale, and I made that Refund via PayPal just using the given Phone number, and the correct name came up, so for the refund because of AusPost losing the parcel, I again used that same phone number.

Thank you for your reply. Kind Regards.

[jansmusic2005]

Yes, that’s correct. I always use the Buyer's given phone number to refund any amount via PayPal because of excess shipping paid when I use Combined Shipping. I also use the Buyer’s phone number to print on the Australia Post padded mailer to facilitate delivery. In this present case I automatically refunded the Buyer via PayPal before I realised I should have refunded through the Refund Request. Now it’s been six days and the Buyer hasn’t responded to close the Refund Request and eBay has frozen my Account until the matter is finalised. Just tonight I have found a ‘Help’ section at the bottom of the eBay Australia Home Page which looks like it might be able to help me sort this out. Thank you for your reply. Regards.

[lezned-toycollector]

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@jansmusic2005 wrote: I had previously had to send this same Buyer a refund for excess Shipping they had paid as I used Combined Shipping for this sale, and I made that Refund via PayPal just using the given Phone number, and the correct name came up, so for the refund because of AusPost losing the parcel, I again used that same phone number.

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Why would you do that? Why wouldn't you want your fees refunded? Why on Earth wouldn't you use the eBay system to send a postage discount? Sorry, but that really makes no sense at all to me.

Personally, I'd prefer to recoup the fees charged on the refunded amount, and also to be covered by the seller protection - rather than refunding outside of eBay and voiding said protection as you have done.

Keep in mind that if you now allow eBay to step in without issuing a full refund through eBay yourself, they will find in the buyer's favour and then slug you with a "dispute fee" as well.

FYI... the "Help" hyperlink appears at the top and/or bottom of every page - including this one.