@dontmissthese wrote:Why not 'Contact Seller'. This would make sense as the fastest resolution would be achieved
by communicating with the seller ( THEN to open a case if that fails ).On the surface it would appear that putting a ding in your service metrics is eBay's goal.
The returns process is technically contacting the seller.
I'm not saying I particularly like big blue "return item" buttons being the most prominently displayed option for a buyer, and I know it's really difficult to see it this way because my auto-react is still on the 
As sellers, I know that's probably hard to see and / or difficult to believe, but it puts guidelines, limitations and restictions in place for the buyer's eligibility for a return / refund, just as much as it imposes similar things on the seller's side, and gives buyers an official channel to return items where they remain covered by the MBG if something goes wrong, eg the seller gets the item back, and doesn't provide a refund.
Spoiler
InB4 any one asks "do you work for ebay?": No
As a side note, I have "return this item" on single item purchases, and "view order details" on multiple item orders (return this item" is a smaller white button next to individual items - I haven't left feedback for any of them).
I've actually found the opposite - buyers who are complaining about an item being not as described tend to avoid the request system (perhaps they find it too impersonal and want to yell at me directly - seems to be the case ), while buyers that are returning for COM reasons tend to use the return system and select the correct reasons. I've actually only had one buyer use SNAD request in recent memory, and after I responded to them, provided some info and even sent through a postage label, it looks like they've come to understand the items were exactly as described and opted not to return after all).
To be fair, I'm generally pretty average in all respects so tend to assume most sellers experience similar, but I am prepared to accept my experiences are anomalies. I also need to acknowledge I'm not exactly a low volume seller (not high volume either), so this can also make my perspective a little different to some others - if I get the odd abuse of the system, it's been worked into my costs already, and the one-off isn't going to hurt my seller performance.
I however maintain that a buyer is only going to click on "Return this item" if they have a problem, so by and large it being there isn't inviting problems (if it were, i would have seen a significant increase in return requests when they started to do it, as would have every other seller, and I've seen no evidence to suggest this). If a buyer has a problem, and they understand the system well enough to know what to choose to avoid paying return postage, they're going to use that system regardless of whether they can click a blue button or access it through a dropdown menu, IMHO.
