MBG return request.... item not received

[miss-decorum]

I have a buyer who asked to return her item thru the MBG just under 4 weeks ago. I accepted the return request & messaged her offering to refund her return postage as I couldn’t send her a prepaid label. So far I have received nothing back, there is no tracking showing in the return detail and she never responded to any of my messages. Now eBay have sent me an email as follows-

Hi ********,
***** indicated that they posted their return. The item should now be delivered and once you've received it please issue the buyer with a refund by 23 Dec, 2015.
When the refund is complete, you'll automatically receive a credit for the final value fee and other applicable fees.
To see more information about this return you can go to the return details.
Issue refund
If the item hasn't arrived yet, the buyer may not be returning it. If you like, you can contact the buyer. If you can't reach a resolution, you can ask us to step in.

This is is my first MBG return request and am not sure now how to respond… All suggestions & help greatly appreciated 

[black*poppy]

I'm really surprised that ebay have advised that "<<buyer>> has indicated that they posted their return"... just to check 100% - is there anything to suggest that they have, even if they haven't provided a tracking number (ie does it say "in transit" in the case details or anything)?

If not then don't do anything, the return will time out eventually.  Once you ask ebay to step in, you seriously risk ebay just refunding the buyer.  Don't even ring to ask, ebay have been known to escalate and refund just from a seller asking a question.  Nothing will happen if the buyer doesn't escalate, which is unlikely if they haven't posted it back.  Move away from the keyboard.

[*tippy*toes*]

DO NOT ask eBay to step in and help because they will automatically vlose in the buyers favour, they will get a full refund AND keep the item. I would be calling eBay and telling them that at this point the buyer still hasn't returned the item.

[black*poppy]

NOOOO don't ring!  

That is asking ebay to step in!  

The conversation goes like this:

"I would like this return cancelled please because the buyer hasn't sent in back inthe appropriate timeframe'

"So you would like us to step in and close it for you?"

"Yes Please"

"Well I will have to send an email to the department that deals with this and they will be able to close it for you."

2 days later you receive an email

"Thank you for asking ebay to help.  We have reviewed the case and found in favour of the buyer.  A full refund of $x has been issued.  The case is now closed.  Thank you for choosing ebay!"

[*tippy*toes*]

I stand corrected!  I didn't realise that calling was the same as asking them to step in. I shall store it in the memory banks.

[miss-decorum]

Hi black*poppy there is absolutely nothing in the case details to indicate the item has been posted !! I'm at work otherwise I'd post a screenshot of the case details

It just says at the top of the page  -

The item should have been delivered, underneath is a green tick in a circle to indicate return started & then the following message...

Be sure to check the item carefully when it arrives and refund the buyer by 23 Dec, 2015.

If you prefer, you can refund the buyer now.

If there's a problem, you can ask us to step in and help on 23 Dec, 2015.

Weird....

I'm just a bit worried if I ignore the case eBay will close in the buyers favour 

[black*poppy]

Nothing will happen unless the buyer escalates the case.... Which they can't because they haven't returned it. Don't do anything. It's just an eBay automated email, badly worded as usual.

[miss-decorum]

Thanks for your advice black*poppy... will store the info in my memory banks 🙂

[designers*n*more]

MGB is a croc of carp. IF you ask eBay to step in and help, they will automatically close the dispute in favour of the buyer, regardless of whether the item was returned to the seller.

i had a buyer who requested to return an item - waited 25 days, sent 2 prepaid return postage labels, said she didn't receive one so I had to do another one then cancel the original label.  I contacted eBay via "ask eBay to step in" and asked how long do I need to wait for a buyer to return the item. eBay IMMEDIATELY closed the dispute, without contacting the buyer, without discussing anything with me, so the buyer got a refund and got to keep the item!

Yep, that sure is fair on sellers!

i recently emailed eBay asking why a dispute is closed immediately if a buyer or seller asks them to step in. This is the croc of BS I received: 

"When a buyer escalate the request into a case by asking eBay to step in and help, we always go back on the listing on how the item was listed by the seller. If it was valid item not as described case we will ask the seller to facilitate a return. There are different ways on how to facilitate return, you can check below:

-Offering a pre-paid postage label (e.g. your own courier, shipping service, Australia Post or via https://www.clickandsend.com.au), OR
-Asking the buyer to pay for the return cost (agreeing on the cost in advance) and refunding the return postage cost to the buyer when you receive the item back OR
-Working with the Buyer to pick-up the item if both parties agreeOR
-Allowing the item to be returned to one of the your stores as long as you specify clearly to the Buyer the closest store and they agree to return the item to the store OR
-Confirmation from the buyer (via M2M) they are registered forPayPal Free Return Shipping program and will return the item through this process OR
-Offering a reasonable alternative solution to the buyer as long as your communication is specific about the steps the buyer has to undertake and the buyer agrees to undertake these steps.

If the communication is visible then at least we would know that there was an agreement done between the seller and the buyer. With our new return process if the seller failed to facilitate return, we will still ask the buyer to send the item back and we will be covering the return postage cost.

We want to make sure that the item will be returned back to the seller before issuing any refund as eBay doesn't see or handle items, so it's difficult for us to determine the exact condition of the item when it was sent or received. For this reason, we've concluded that the best course of action is for the buyer to send the item back to you for a full refund. We believe this is the fairest outcome--the customer will receive a refund and you'll be able to relist the item after you receive it.

No, eBay won't be covering the return postage cost - they then charge the seller!

Nom they do not make sure the item has been returned to the seller, if you ask them to step in and help, they refund the buyer without having to return the item!

[*tippy*toes*]

I think it's really sad these days that you see a message from a buyer come into your email inbox and suddenly you start vibrating. First thought, oh no, what's wrong? I'd say 99% of messages I get from buyers are to say they received it and are really happy with it and to thank me for a lovely item and posting it so quickly. Still, I have a panic attack every time a new one appears because it could be something bad.

I was expecting something bad a few weeks ago. I received a message from a buyer saying they didn't think the item they received was the one in the photo and they didn't think it was genuine as it was not like anything else in their collection. I assured them that it was the one in the photo (I only had one, so I knew it hadn't been mixed up) and that I had originally bought it from a reputable dealer several years ago. While I didn't have a COA, I was 99.9% certain that it was genuine.

I then went on to say that if he wasn't happy, I'd be more than happy if he wanted to return it and of course all postage costs would be covered. I said there was no need to open a dispute if he wanted to return it, just reply to the message and I would send my address. I sat back and waited, and waited, and waited, expecting a return to be opened, but I never heard back from him. I thought I'd still end up getting bad feedback and/or trashed stars, but so far, nothing. I won't rest until the transaction falls off my sold item list!

So far I've not had a dispute opened against me. The few issues that I've had have all been resolved via normal messaging. One buyer was happy with a partial refund, another 2 were happy to return it for a full refund and the other 2 that didn't arrive got a full refund after waiting a bit more time. All except for one didn't leave feedback.

One of the non arrivals left positive feedback praising me for how I handled the non arrival, but then gave me a 1 star for item description. EBay removed that star plus the defect after I pointed out to them that it was impossible for the buyer to say whether it was as described or not as they never received it.

EBay has no right to refund the buyer and let them keep the item. It's not theirs to give away. I suggest to anyone who has that happen to take them to task over it. Of course if it's something dangerous or something that is illegal to post, that's different, but if it's something like a phone or a piece of clothing, what right do they have? NONE. I would also be contacting the buyer to say that they either return the item, or you will be reporting them for theft as they have kept something that doesn't belong to them.