ebay refunding $405 for an item still in transit

[retro-boho-and-co]

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me! This is completely crazy!!

I sold an item (in Australia) listed with air mail delivery but with sea mail as a delivery option in the description.

Buyer (in USA) chose sea mail delivery. This takes 8-12 weeks. Item lodged March 17.

Item is due for delivery May 18-June 18. Buyer was informed of this. Buyer questioned where  the item was in early April and I again explained estimated arrival date is May 18-June 18 and that sea mail takes between 2 to 3 months.

In mid April buyer opened a dispute item was not received. I again explained the item is not due until mid May at the earliest. Buyer indicated they were happy to wait until June 18.

However, buyer did not close the case. I escalated the case to have it closed. Instead, ebay closed it with a refund to the buyer as the item had not been received. This is despite me saying it was not scheduled to arrive yet. Tracking shows the item was lodged on 17 March and on 20th March was loaded at the dock.

Ebay has said - there is no update in tracking (there are no updates in tracking while the itme is in the boat), item has not been received, my appeal was rejected and they will not reopen the case.

So $405 was refunded to the buyer, who will recieve the item in the next week to month.

Ebay has said to ask Australia Post to return the item (this isn't possible) or to email the buyer and request payment. I have emailed buyer with no response.

Surely this is not the only way to resolve this, I can't believe that despite multiple phone calls and emails stating delivery schedule and  date, that ebay has refunded the buyer.

Please help! I was selling things to pay for my kids birthday and I don't want to cancel it. It's incredibly stressful dealing with ebay help as they seem unable to actually use common sense and it appears once a case is closed there in no method to re-open it.

I would not mind if it was less  than $100. This is $405!

[retro-boho-and-co]

Sea mail can only be used for items sent from Australia above a certain weight, around 2 or 2.5kg. If you enter a lower weight for the item sea mail may not an option. Then  economy air is the available option. The only problem with the ebay sea mail option is delivery time listed is less than actual delivery time indicated from Australia Post (I think it says 60 days and not 90 days). The other problem yes is that it doesn't tally with the time frame allowed to lodge disputes.

So ebay should remove sea mail as a delivery option or co-ordinate their processes to accomodate it. In this case, the mistake was mine in allowing both options instead of choosing one on behalf of the buyer.

Solution in any case for sellers is not to offer sea mail despite it being in the menu, which restricts options for buyers - something ebay should be encouraging really, more range and flexibility especially considering the cost to post heavy items internationally

[gutterpunkz05]

---

@retro-boho-and-co wrote:

Sea mail can only be used for items sent from Australia above a certain weight, around 2 or 2.5kg. If you enter a lower weight for the item sea mail may not an option. Then  economy air is the available option. The only problem with the ebay sea mail option is delivery time listed is less than actual delivery time indicated from Australia Post (I think it says 60 days and not 90 days). The other problem yes is that it doesn't tally with the time frame allowed to lodge disputes.

So ebay should remove sea mail as a delivery option or co-ordinate their processes to accomodate it. In this case, the mistake was mine in allowing both options instead of choosing one on behalf of the buyer.

Solution in any case for sellers is not to offer sea mail despite it being in the menu, which restricts options for buyers - something ebay should be encouraging really, more range and flexibility especially considering the cost to post heavy items internationally

---

Warning/Warning/Warning   Never use economy air, unless you want this situation to repeat itself.  Economy air mail does not include tracking.

[lyndal1838]

You can use any shipping method that you like.....neither ebay nor paypal care in the slightest.  BUT they do not offer any protection for the buyer or the seller if they use a method that is not approved.

You may run into problems with the Ombudsman's service if they realise that you used a non approved shipping method.  They cannot force ebay or paypal to go against their policies.

[whiznumber6]

So sad that you appear to have been the victim of an unscrupulous buyer. 

I had an acquaintance in a similar situation a year or so back - item purchased and sent, buyer coming the "I haven't got it yet" and getting a refund while the item was still in transit. My acquaintance obviously had the buyer's name and address, did a quick Google search, and found the buyer had accounts on several social media platforms. Contact was made, and the matter was resolved. Might be worth looking into...

[retro-boho-and-co]

Where does it state that sea mail is a non approved shipping method?

Why is this available on the drop down menu as a shipping method?

[retro-boho-and-co]

Financial Ombudsman have said they will review the case once I submit the form

The person I talked to completely understood the situation, and said this definitely comes within their scope

I will wait for tracking to be updated and send the form in

There is NO POLICY on ebay that shipping option must only be AIR MAIL, that is complete garbage and I have not violated a policy anywhere by using a "non sanctioned" shipping method. I have done nothing wrong in this process except offer all available options to the buyer

SEA MAIL IS an option in the drop down menu for postage, there is no such policy that it can't be used and I can't believe people are quite happy to make up policies for ebay and try to tell people they exist when they clearly don't. Why even offer info if its complete garbage???

[lyndal1838]

Don't shoot the messenger......I have already said that neither ebay nor paypal care what delivery method you use but if you want seller protection you must use an approved method.

Have you read and understood the ebay and paypal User Agreements?

[retro-boho-and-co]

SEA MAIL IS APPROVED or why would it exist on the ebay system?

If sea mail was not approved, why would this have never been mentioned in multiple emails and phone calls???

[retro-boho-and-co]

Why would this shipping option appear in the drop down menu when you select shipping if it wasn't approved?

[retro-boho-and-co]

You think in the 3-4hrs plus this has been discussed with ebay customer service EVERY SINGLE one of them, including 2 or 3 supervisors would have not noticed that sea mail was a non approved shipping method?

You get a gold star, straight to ebay management.