Tag Archives: return request

Dear eBay Queen: Return Requests and Cell Phones don’t mix.

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been selling for a couple of years, and have always had a “no refund” policy.  I read on an eBay message board that buyers don’t want to buy from someone that doesn’t accept returns.  At the beginning of the year I started accepting returns.  Yesterday, I received my first return request, and I’m kind of confused. I received the following message from eBay:

You can issue a full refund or offer a partial refund.  In either case the buyer keeps the item.  If there is a problem you can ask us to step in and help on (date.)

I don't understand this. In the request details it says buyer pays return shipping. What am I missing? I don't want to accept return until I know what I am agreeing to.

The buyer selected “wrong size or didn’t fit” and left the following comment:

“I received the item and it’s a really cute dress, but it is too small for me.  Thank you for sending it so quickly.  How do I return it for a refund?  The tags are still attached.”

Why can’t I just get the item back and refund her money?  Why would I want to give the buyer a refund and let them keep it?

Paula

 

Dear Paula:

I am assuming you are looking at this return request on your phone.  I had a similar thing happen to me too, when I was trying to respond to a return request on my phone.  When you look at this on a computer you’ll see a different layout.  There are a couple of options when you view this from your computer you should see:

  • Accept the return. Buyer pays for shipping wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.
  • Refund the buyer, you fully refund the buyer to close this request.  The buyer keeps the item.
  • Offer a partial refund.  You fully refund the buyer to close this request.  The buyer keeps the item.
  • Send a message.  Communicate with your buyer.
  • Ask us to step in and help. If there’s a problem, you can ask us to step in and help on  (date)

This will not give you a defect since the buyer said that it was too small. I would simply accept the return and wait for the buyer to send it back.

 

Dear eBay Queen:

I’m not sure what is going on here. I seem to be having a TON of grumpy or irrational customers. Is this just the way that the first of the year goes?  I’ve only been selling full time for 6 months or so, and I have been really happy with my sales on eBay and Amazon, but handling these grumpy customers is about all I can take.  Here is the worst one:

“What a horrible eBay person you are!  Your customer service is the worst!  It’s like I’m shopping at Dollar General!  I ordered this dress for my daughter’s school recital and it has not arrived.  The tracking shows that it went to California, and I live in Texas!  I am leaving you a negative feedback for your poor customer service!  I also will be telling everyone I know that you can’t put the proper address on a package.  How stupid can you be to send it to California?  I’ll be waiting for your excuse to see how negative my feedback will be.”

I messaged this lady back to let her know that it was sent to the address in Texas, and that it was misrouted by the post office.  She still left me a negative.

Just yesterday I had a customer open an item not received case and it was just sent 3 days before that!  Do you have any advice for me?  What am I doing wrong?

Grace

 

Dear Grace:

I’ve always thought that customers were a bit grumpier in January and February than they are the rest of the year.  The best way to handle a grumpy customer is to kill them with kindness.  No matter how unfriendly they are to you, be kind to them.  It’s hard I know, but in the end when you have to call eBay, the grumpy buyer will look bad and you will be the seller that kept your cool.

I think I would contact eBay about the negative.  You just might be able to get this removed since it was not your fault the post office sent it to the wrong place first, and there is a veiled threat of feedback in her message.

eyeglasses

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Dear eBay Queen: I was Blocked from Buying on eBay!

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Dear eBay Queen:

I am super confused, and I don’t even know what to do.  I tried to bid on an item yesterday, and I was told that I was blocked from buying from this seller. This is a seller I do business with, and has many of the items that I really like.  All of a sudden, my seller has become angry with me. I contacted eBay, and they said that he has partially blocked me because I can still send emails to him. eBay told me that he didn’t have to answer the  messages, because the messages are not tied to any eBay item. I sent him a message, and asked why I couldn’t purchase these parts that I have been purchasing from him for years.  It took him several days, but this is what he responded with:
Hi, thank you for messaging me, I appreciate your kind words about being a good seller, but they have come too late for us.  You have been a fantastic buyer, except as of late you caused some issues for me as a seller on eBay and my account can’t afford this kind of issue.  Here are a few of the examples of the problems you created.

  1. 1-10-2015 you opened a return request without contacting me first.  You selected that there was a problem with the item, and this gave me a defect.  When I messaged you about the problem, you told me that you ordered the wrong size adapter.  This isn’t an issue that is my fault, so in order to get the defect removed, I called eBay and was on hold for 2 hours then they transferred me to someone else where I was either on hold or waiting for 45 minutes.  I got this defect removed, but it would have been so nice if you would have just messaged me or called me instead of opening a return request.
  2. 1-17-2015 you left neutral feedback that said “Thanks for the fast shipping, adapter wasn’t the right size” This left a defect, and I had to call and get this removed, which was another 45 minute phone call with eBay.
  3. 1-25-2015 You contacted me via eBay’s messaging system (thank you) but complained that you thought my buy it now price was too high on the CD drive for the Dell laptop.
  4. 1-26 you purchased the above mentioned CD drive, and then before you even received it, you left me a neutral feedback. “Price was higher than competitors I like the Seller”  (defect received for neutral)

I understand you like me, but you are hurting my business, and costing me a lot of time in the process.

This happened over NOTHING as far as I can tell. We had a small argument about item details but even there the seller started the argument.  I’ve messaged him several times since I received this message, but he will not respond to anything I send him. I'm just trying to find out what the heck is happening! He won't allow me to bid on anything, won't allow me to subscribe to his newsletter, and I can't even ASK anything about the items he has listed. This seems wrong: he owes me an explanation. With this going on, how I can buy from him or even trust him? He's angry for no reason and has done all this to me. It actually hurts me.

 

Tim

Dear Tim:

I think your seller gave you a pretty good explanation in regards to what they are angry about.  eBay has made some changes to the way sellers are evaluated, and it is just not by neutral or negative feedback.  This defect system is sometimes a scary, not-so-well oiled machine to be up against as a seller.  This seller is afraid that you will create more problems for him.  It seems like you might not have understood how an eBay seller is evaluated based upon the innocent comments, or moves a buyer can make.

I don’t know if this situation is repairable between you and the seller.  If I were you I would message them again and let them know you did not understand that they were being given defects, or even being secretly evaluated by eBay in this manner. I would ask them to please give you another chance. All you can do is wait for them to decide.

mardigrawreath

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