Wanting to return as pants don't fit.

[jvdv]

Sold a pair of hiking pants with the size indicated in the listing and also with the waist measurements. A few days later a return request from the buyer saying "The pants don't fit - On there way back to you today".

So what is the situation - if they are returned in the same condition as they were when sold I will accept them but am I obliged to pay the return postage?

Thanks.

[springyzone]

 had a look at your ads. No idea if i was looking at the exact right one but I thought it was clear, good close up photo of the size tag plus it said no returns accepted.

Personally, I thought the buyer was rude to just send back, not even consult with you about solutions first.

I don't believe it is a case of not as described at all & I don't believe you should have to refund either lot of postage charges.

To me it seems  logical that they are only entitled to a refund of item cost (at most) & I have not seen any other sites where change of mind returns have free postage supplied so i don't see why it should be expected of you.

Of course, I'm not an ebay rep, I can't vouch for what they will do but to me it would be worth questioning them if they automatically refunded her.

[curraone]

---

@jvdv wrote:

Sold a pair of hiking pants with the size indicated in the listing and also with the waist measurements. A few days later a return request from the buyer saying "The pants don't fit - On there way back to you today".

So what is the situation - if they are returned in the same condition as they were when sold I will accept them but am I obliged to pay the return postage?

Thanks.

---

Just to be clear - was it a formal return request using the ebay request form -  or just a message?

[jvdv]

It was a formal request using the ebay request form.

[brerrabbit585]

That should come under change of mind, as digital*ghost said, which means you shouldn't have to accept them. Why don't you ring ebay and ask where you stand? You might get lucky and they close the request in your favour, leaving the buyer out of pocket and without the goods, same as ebay does to sellers. They may make up new rules, of course, seeing the buyer has already sent them, even without permission. If the buyer hasn't uploaded any tracking they'd have no proof they sent them. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

[digital*ghost]

I'm guessing the request was automatically approved, which will happen in all cases where:

The seller has their return policy set to 'Returns accepted - buyer pays return postage'

It's within 30 days of the ETA or arrival date (or 60 days if the seller's policy allows it)

The buyer selects a change of mind reason for the return request (doesn't fit, changed mind, found a better price etc).

There are no exceptions to that now, AFAIK.

@jvdv If a seller has their return policy as 'Returns not accepted', it only applies to change of mind returns (in other words, the return policy is there to indicate what options you will provide to buyers in addition to their basic consumer rights, such as the right to refund if an item has a major fault. Having no returns doesn't affect whether buyers can open requests for not as described, though some sellers have mentioned it can increase the rate of buyers doing that if they don't have a change of mind return option). 

Buyers can actually still send through a change of mind return request when the seller has 'no returns', though, but they get the option to decline it outright. 

[brerrabbit585]

Yes, but the OP doesn't accept returns for change of mind, so surely it couldn't be automatically approved by ebay. Where does a seller stand if someone sends a COM return request but doesn't wait to see if the seller will accept it?

Surely ebay can't make the seller accept just because the buyer sent it anyway? That'd be violating the seller's rights to not accept change of mind returns. If the buyer sent it without waiting for approval then surely that's their problem, not the seller's. By sending it first and then asking, that's basically blackmailing the selling into refunding. If they can get away with it then any buyer can get away with returning anything just because they don't like it, even if the seller doesn't accept returns for change of mind.

If they opened an INAD return request then contacting ebay would mean the OP could point out to ebay that it was actually a change of mind return because of the message the buyer sent.

[digital*ghost]

---

@brerrabbit585 wrote:
Yes, but the OP doesn't accept returns for change of mind, 

---

Sorry, I missed that and was replying under the presumption that COM returns were accepted.

INAD requests can now also be automatically approved by eBay unfortunately. I really don't want to go into too much detail about that here, though (just wary of writing a "how to", IYKWIM). 

Curious now what the reason selected for the return is - 'doesn't fit', or an INAD request? Because there's no returns accepted, if the buyer selects 'doesn't fit' and just returns without approval, they don't have a leg to stand on, and the seller should be able to just decline the request. If the item arrives back in as sent condition, I would just issue a refund minus all outgoing costs (not just postage, but eBay / PayPal fees etc).

In fact, even if they did open an INAD request, they still don't actually have a leg to stand on, because their message clearly indicates it's a COM return, which is not covered by eBay's MBG. So if the OP contacts eBay by phone and directs them to see the message the buyer sent when opening the request, they may be able to get the case closed in their favour, or receive confirmation that they can treat it like a COM return. 

[brerrabbit585]

I must admit I thought for a while I may have missed something. There's been other threads where the sellers DO accept returns and it's easy to mix them up.

Your comments have confirmed exactly what I thought should happen. Note I said "should"!!

@ jvdv, it may be worth you not picking up the parcel from the PO or answering the door if they deliver it, until you can talk to ebay, so it doesn't show as delivered, though if it's safe dropped that wouldn't help.

[gutterpunkz05]

---

@jvdv wrote:
It was a formal request using the ebay request form.

---

I am  lost,  IF it was a formal return request, the buyer does not get to tell you that the item is on its way back,

Or is this the new Norm under ebayplus.

Had a strange Cancellation last night, so anything is possible.