eBay's INR policy

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

eBay's INR is so biased in favour of the buyer it is not funny.

In our case a buyer opened and INR case on the day eBay advised by which delivery would take place.  I should also add the item did not cost-wise justify sending by a tracking method.

eBay sent us the INR case details and gave us xxx days to resolve the case.

We immediately emailed the buyer to confirm the order was sent the same day as received but due to AusPost delays delivery could take longer than expected.

We heard nothing back and then emailed the buyer every day to see if they had received the item, but the buyer never answered any message.

On the last day of the claim determination period we sent a message to eBay to apprise them of the claim status and what action we had taken to resolve the issue with the buyer.

eBay response was to simply close the case in the buyers favour as we did not provide tracking details.

Guess this is why eBay has a blocked buyer facility?

[repentatleisure1952]

Without tracking confirming delivery what would you expect eBay to do?

[chameleon54]

I thought I was being set up for a similar fate recently. I sent an expensive item to Tasmania and it didnt arrive on time. It was sent with tracking, but I had uploaded an incorrect tracking number and could not find the correct one. The buyer was getting more and more stroppy as he really needed it. I thought he was trying it on, but three weeks after sending, he sent a polite message to say it had arrived. 

There are a few idiots out there, but I suspect most item not recieved cases are genuine.

[11dustyattic]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

I thought I was being set up for a similar fate recently. I sent an expensive item to Tasmania and it didnt arrive on time. It was sent with tracking, but I had uploaded an incorrect tracking number and could not find the correct one. The buyer was getting more and more stroppy as he really needed it. I thought he was trying it on, but three weeks after sending, he sent a polite message to say it had arrived. 

There are a few idiots out there, but I suspect most item not recieved cases are genuine.

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You're probably right, although the complete lack of response is IMO classic scammer. Any genuine buyer would respond in some way, even if they weren't happy. Problem here is without a tracking number, it's all over

[south.coffee]

Totally agree.  The scammers will know straight away when they receive their parcel whether it had tracking or not and open a Non Delivery Case and simply ignore any correpsondence from the seller.  They then just sit back and wait for the eBay refund and "thank you for the free item".... again.

Happened to us recently and we know the buyer makes a habit of it.  We called him out after a bit of detective work and HE ADMITTED TO IT IN AN eBAY MESSAGE !!  Scammed us $40 as I simply made a mistake and sent the item by standard postage ??

[11dustyattic]

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@south.coffee wrote:

Totally agree.  The scammers will know straight away when they receive their parcel whether it had tracking or not and open a Non Delivery Case and simply ignore any correpsondence from the seller.  They then just sit back and wait for the eBay refund and "thank you for the free item".... again.

Happened to us recently and we know the buyer makes a habit of it.  We called him out after a bit of detective work and HE ADMITTED TO IT IN AN eBAY MESSAGE !!  Scammed us $40 as I simply made a mistake and sent the item by standard postage ??

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Damn that sucks!

[justkidzbiz]

I would contact eBay and request a call back and ask them to have a look at the messages from that buyer. If he has admitted receiving the item eBay should then refund.

[supermussolinibros]

totally bad time to be selling on ebay during covid-19 as scams are through the roof-your buyers has got the item and is laughing at you.

[digital*ghost]

eBay cases will time out after 30 days. I personally don't like letting them get to the point where the buyer has the opportunity to escalate, so will take action within the first 5 days whether the buyer is responsive or not, but I know sellers who never heard back from the buyer and let the case remain open without escalating themselves, and it ultimately just closed in their favour around 30 days later.

I don't know how clear eBay makes it these days to buyers that they're opening a refund request when they click "I didn't receive it", but I suspect a lot of the time the buyer sends that through, maybe or maybe not sees the sellers response (usually asking them to wait a bit longer), then the item arrives and they neither know or care to close or respond to a case. 

Some may be gaming the system, but many are just ignorant of and / or just don't care about what is happening on the seller's side in such situations, and are satisfied enough that their item arrived. I suspect sometimes emails go to the spam folder, as well. (Plus, far too many use throwaway or rarely used email addresses for online shopping - an absolute PITA when you actually need to communicate with someone). 

[omahkulo]

Dont worry, I feel your pain, but as already mentioned, without tracking, there is nothing ebay can do to confirm it has been delivered.

Most items I sell are untracked, and getting a INR is a risk I take and something I have to deal with, as most of my competitors also sell untracked, so to compete i need to do the same.

I agree, some buyers do exploit this, knowing the item is not tracked and therefore you cant confirm it has been delivered. But also i would like to think most a genuine, and AusPost does loose items, we have even had tracked items lost.

But at this time especially, the INR period should be extended, so buyers cannot file them almost immediately after the item is posted.

And because of this reason, just today I have increased all my postage prices to include tracking, it will still be late, but at least I have proof of tracking now, it will loose me many customers, but i'd rather that than a headache.

Everyone stay safe and take care out there.