Our First Return Request

[clarry100]

We have just received our first formal return request under these confounded new rules.

The buyer says that her baby came out wearing premmie size and as a result the newborn size she bought prior to the birth does not fit and will be no good for use in a photo shoot.

Of course, if we get them back in original condition we are happy to refund her original cost, but not inclined to also pay for the return postage as there is nothing actually wrong with the item per se. If the item was faulty by our doing then we would pay return postage.

Now that the buyer has made a formal request rather than sending us a message first is she obliged to use trackable postage for the return?

Otherwise she could just say she sent it and we will never receive it back. In this situation I would prefer use of trackable means. That way both of us are covered.

Any thoughts on this please?

[fishontap12]

Ebay do not care it's all about the buyer experience and stuff the sellers,the 2 buyers that scammed me both left me positive feedback and one said he never received his parcel 3 weeks after he left the positive feedback.This new policy will kill off smaller sellers becuase ebay know we cannot take those losses,............

[clarry100]

Thanks DG. That makes a whole lot of sense.

We are more than happy to accept the return, even under change of mind, but in this case would want the buyer to cover the return postage. And of course we will issue the refund only when we have the item back in our hands in the same condition it was sent out in.

I just wish the buyer could have seen fit to make contact with us directly first instead of clicking the big blue button and formalising it. We have accepted informal returns like this before just thru messaging and never had a problem. Albeit not very often for us.

So I guess I will just respond that we will issue a refund upon return of the item and then send a message to the buyer explaining what they should do. I think its best if she registers the return package to give us both some peace of mind, on the off chance Aust Post do lose it. And we know it does happen.

[cq_tech]

FGS Clarry, this really is beyond a bloody joke. Why not sImply tell your buyer that the baby will grow into the items, reject their return request, then block them. Dunno about you but I've had it with eBay and all of their ridiculous bullsh*t and it's beyond time that somebody took a stand before the situation gets any further out of hand than it already is.

[digital*ghost]

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@cq_tech wrote:

FGS Clarry, this really is beyond a bloody joke. Why not sImply tell your buyer that the baby will grow into the items, reject their return request, then block them. Dunno about you but I've had it with eBay and all of their ridiculous bullsh*t and it's beyond time that somebody took a stand before the situation gets any further out of hand than it already is.

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If a seller accepts change of mind returns (which clarry does), then they must honour it. In these circumstances, it actually doesn't matter what the reason for the return is, as long as the buyer meets the conditions (eg within the timeframe set out, items are in original condition / packaging etc).

[character_parties_aus]

How much money do eBay make when the return post label is printed?

[digital*ghost]

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@character_parties_aus wrote:

How much money do eBay make when the return post label is printed?

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Probably not as much as Australia Post, but the buyer does not have to use an eBay label, so I don't see why that's an issue here.

Honestly, I get that people are ticked off, worried and confused about eBay's return process, there's a lot that concerns me, too.

But all of that is irrelevant - if we stop letting eBay cloud the issue for just a second, the issue is really quite simple. Buyer bought item from a store that accepts returns for any reason (as per the return policy), buyer request to return the item, seller accepts return, issues refund.

I don't like the big "return this item" button in My eBay any more than other sellers, and I don't like the "found it cheaper elsewhere" reason that's provided (more to do with reasons of encouragement and the image of entitlement when the seller doesn't accept change of mind returns than any other reason), but at the end of the day, if you accept change of mind reasons, it doesn't matter why the buyer changed their mind, only that they did.

[bakeandfry]

Just wait till next year when mobile users get the "return item", i think with more and more people using mobile technology, a lot more sellers are going to get hit with returns, and more than likely no other reason because the buyer doesnt have a clue what it does and ebay wont bother explaining it to them.

[tall_bearded01]

The eBay Guarantee clearly states only return of items which are not as described are covered under the Guarantee.  The policy also clearly states that return for other reasons, such as return vide the sellers returns policy remain an issue between the buyer and seller. That is eBay willnot get involve.

I would get a hold of eBay and tell them that this is clearly not a return for the purposes the Guarantee, and as such they ought to bud out,

If they don’t, bud out that is, and you want to push it further then lodge a complaint which you can lodge with both Consumer Affairs and the ACCC.

[harley_babes_hoard]

I was just looking at this page http://pages2.ebay.com.au/eBay_Money_Back_Guarantee

and it just says price + original postage. don't think they know themselves

[fmurphy2005]

 I have had my first return request under the rules also and spoke in detail with two eBay customer service people on the phone about it today.

After making the effort to try and contact the buyer twice and getting no response over the past couple of weeks, eBay ruled in the buyer's favour (the buyer said what they got was the wrong size but I only sell one single size of posters and it's always clearly stated on my listings).

(Obviously this was unfairly favouring the buyer, but that's another story for another post...)

Both eBay officers said that in most cases the buyers don't send it back and these new return requests for refunds simply time out a lot and don't get refunded.

Let's hope it stays that way because some buyers aren't very smart it seems!