Unfair refunds

[philb9053]

Hi all.

Not sure whats going on at the moment.

I have never had a dispute go to a case raised with ebay by the seller.

This week i have had 5!

Disputes are high becasause of Australia Posts incompetency.

The cases that are being raised are all just getting an automatic refund within a couple of minutes.

For example:

Before re sending an item that the customer says they never got.

Ill always ask to confirm the customers address.

I have had times when a customer has told me the address in ebay is wrong.

So i like to confirm.

I had one dispute raised.

I asked customer to confirm there address.

No reply from customer.

2 days later, case raised with ebay and automatically refunded within a few minutes.

I have also had these cases raised, customer refunded.

To have my custumer let me know the original order turned up and so did the resend!

Is there a new thing ebay are doing in regards to disputes and refunds.

But these types of issue are just not fare.

These are small items that have been sent with stamps and not tracked.

Obviously im goin to have to start sending everything as a parcel with tracking on it when resending but some of these things are 5, 10 dollar orders.

So spending 8 on a parcel with tracking or 2.2 stamps and nearly 5 for the orange tracking things is crazy.

Oh well, my own website is nearly finnished.

Thanks all and have a nice day 😃

[davewil1964]

I wouldn't be resending, just refund and hope the customer repays you when the item arrives.

Don't let eBay step in or you will attract defects which can impact on your ability to sell at all.

AP provide C5 tracked prepaid envelopes for $4.60 each in 10-packs, so that could be an option. It's still more than $2.20, but it is an improvement on parcels. They are also good for 500g.

However, if the buyer opens an INR case and tracking doesn't show delivered, eBay will still refund the buyer.

[philb9053]

Thanks for the reply.

"just refund and hope the customer repays you when the item arrives."

Haha i have never had this heppen.

I have had customers tell me that they recived items after a refund and never heard from them again.

I have also had customers tell me they got the original and the resend and also never paid and extra item or even offer to return it.

90% of my disputes are raised and never closed - they go over a month old and ebay close them for inactivivity.

Even customers that have had the decency to tell me they got the item that was originally sent and dont close the dispute.

99% of my customers are fine but for some reason the ones that open disputes, 90% are not helpfull at all.

I guess the type of person to open a dispute is a different type of person than one that sends me a msg instead.

[zanadoo_56]

I'm a buyer with a large backog of undelivered parcels - tracked and untracked.  Because of covid I am prepared to wait much longer than usual.

I would be asking the buyers of tracked parcels to take it up with Aust Post if it looks like the parcels are languishing.  Or maybe you can at least check the tracking and if you have time tackle AP yourself.  I've had parcels due from Oz, UK, US and one from China (that one is now with the Chinese company distributor in Oz and I know they can be slow). A couple of the other overseas parcels are in Oz too with no progress.

I decided to focus on two tracked parcels from Oz.  After nothing happening for weeks and weeks I lodged a customer enquiry.  More time went by and still nothing happened so I called them again.  When AP sent me a 'rate our performace' survey I let them have it - praise where it's due (the customer enquiry staff who could only do so much really) followed by polite but firm statements about the delays, and clarification asked about what the tracking updates REALLY mean.  I sent it off yesterday.  TODAY the two parcels were delivered!  And it looks like another one (from the UK) may arrive tomorrow.

I know the sellers were not at fault....and buyers should know it too, and take it up with Aust Post or whatever courier service the sellers used that may be dragging its feet.

[silver-fox-bullion]

---

@philb9053 wrote:

Hi all.

Not sure whats going on at the moment.

I have never had a dispute go to a case raised with ebay by the seller.

This week i have had 5!

Disputes are high becasause of Australia Posts incompetency.

The cases that are being raised are all just getting an automatic refund within a couple of minutes.

For example:

Before re sending an item that the customer says they never got.

Ill always ask to confirm the customers address.

I have had times when a customer has told me the address in ebay is wrong.

So i like to confirm.

I had one dispute raised.

I asked customer to confirm there address.

No reply from customer.

2 days later, case raised with ebay and automatically refunded within a few minutes.

I have also had these cases raised, customer refunded.

To have my custumer let me know the original order turned up and so did the resend!

Is there a new thing ebay are doing in regards to disputes and refunds.

But these types of issue are just not fare.

These are small items that have been sent with stamps and not tracked.

Obviously im goin to have to start sending everything as a parcel with tracking on it when resending but some of these things are 5, 10 dollar orders.

So spending 8 on a parcel with tracking or 2.2 stamps and nearly 5 for the orange tracking things is crazy.

Oh well, my own website is nearly finnished.

Thanks all and have a nice day 😃

---

READ THE SPRING SELLER UPDATE if a package it NON TRACKED and 3 days late EBAY are going to refund NO QUESTIONS asked.     WHERE tracked items are a different story.    Save yourself more headaches and if you offer free postage start charging 2.50 - 3    and go to the track envoples that AUSPOST sell

[silver-fox-bullion]

Also by going tracked IF EBAY refund buyers raise a PAY PAL case under seller protection they only need proof item was sent where ebay need proof of item arriving...    You protections are greater under pay pal than ebay....  and they will over turn the ebay refund... where sending untracked you lose that pay pal second line of protection against both rouge buyers and ebay...

[semi-conductors]

Hi,

All of us are facing these issues with Australia Post, and I am really concerned it has only just started. Ebay do not seem to be honoring the "Temporary" changes to tracking requirements or even communicating with sellers about these policy changes, that they announced ....announcement below:

New Tracking Changes Will Come Into Effect Soon

by au_news_team  2 weeks ago - last edited 2 weeks ago

This year, COVID-19 has changed the way both sellers and carriers fulfil and deliver eBay orders, so it’s never been more important to ensure your orders are tracked.

As announced in the recent Spring Seller Update, the below changes will apply from October 1 until at least January 2021. These temporary changes are applicable to all transactions on ebay.com.au: 

• Sellers who use a postage tracked service AND upload valid tracking
  • For items valued up to $15,  we’ll automatically resolve the request on your behalf and refund the buyer. We’ll absorb the cost of the refund and you won’t receive a defect, provided that the order:
  • Was sent using an eBay-integrated carrier
  • Has at least one valid tracking event (i.e. an acceptance scan) 
  • For items valued over $15, you should still respond to the request and ensure that the tracking number for the order is correct. However, if we're asked to step in and help, we’ll automatically resolve the claim. If we determine the buyer should receive a refund, we'll absorb the cost and you won’t receive a defect, provided that the order:
    • Was sent using an eBay-integrated carrier
    • Has at least one valid tracking event (e.g. an acceptance scan)
    • Was sent within your stated handling time 
• Sellers who use an untracked postage service or do not upload valid tracking 
  • If a buyer opens an ‘Item not received’ request, we will resolve the request and refund them after 3 business days, unless the request is closed. We will do this without requiring the buyer to ask eBay to step in and help.

We’ve also updated our list of eBay-integrated carriers. Hong Kong Post, UBI and La Poste are no longer available for overseas sellers sending items to Australia. USPS is also no longer available for Australian-based sellers sending an item overseas.

I hope you have better luck getting some "customer service" from ebay than I have.

[semi-conductors]

This year, COVID-19 has changed the way both sellers and carriers fulfil and deliver eBay orders, so it’s never been more important to ensure your orders are tracked.

As announced in the recent Spring Seller Update, the below changes will apply from October 1 until at least January 2021. These temporary changes are applicable to all transactions on ebay.com.au: 

• Sellers who use a postage tracked service AND upload valid tracking
  • For items valued up to $15,  we’ll automatically resolve the request on your behalf and refund the buyer. We’ll absorb the cost of the refund and you won’t receive a defect, provided that the order:
  • Was sent using an eBay-integrated carrier
  • Has at least one valid tracking event (i.e. an acceptance scan) 
  • For items valued over $15, you should still respond to the request and ensure that the tracking number for the order is correct. However, if we're asked to step in and help, we’ll automatically resolve the claim. If we determine the buyer should receive a refund, we'll absorb the cost and you won’t receive a defect, provided that the order:
    • Was sent using an eBay-integrated carrier
    • Has at least one valid tracking event (e.g. an acceptance scan)
    • Was sent within your stated handling time 
• Sellers who use an untracked postage service or do not upload valid tracking 
  • If a buyer opens an ‘Item not received’ request, we will resolve the request and refund them after 3 business days, unless the request is closed. We will do this without requiring the buyer to ask eBay to step in and help.

We’ve also updated our list of eBay-integrated carriers. Hong Kong Post, UBI and La Poste are no longer available for overseas sellers sending items to Australia. USPS is also no longer available for Australian-based sellers sending an item overseas.