I have had a rather frustrating incident with a buyer who made two separate purchases from me within days. Posted off within 24 hours, along with other sales which reached their customers without incident. I even partially refunded this buyer postage costs as the second order contained multiple items. Lo and behold, I get refund requests saying they weren't delivered. Now I know people will immediately point to tracking - I do not pay extra for tracking on low value items because it eats into whatever little profit I make from it. I do take pictures of the items at the post office, stamped (stamp has buyer's postcode on it) and with receipt (with buyer's full address) as proof of postage. eBay being eBay, won't accept that as proof of purchase however. I contacted the postal service who couldn't confirm delivery. The buyer gave me a dubious story about the delivery address being his mother's, and the postal service leaving parcels outside for passer-by to steal. Firstly, I posted magazines which are 'large letters' and go through the letterbox. Second, the postal service never leaves parcels - they leave a card ad take the parcel away to be collected or redelivered. So that raised alarms. So with no recourse I had to refund all the items, and hope I can claim money back from the postal service.
I wish I had checked his profile first before refunding, as afterwards upon checking it I see reviews left by another seller who ALSO sold him magazines, which ALSO allegedly never arrived and they ALSO had to refund him. Before I could leave follow-up comments about this on the positive ratings I left him (before the refund requests came), he has made his account private and his reviews cannot be viewed. The stench of guilt is strong.
I do believe that while eBay is great at protecting customers, it is not so great at protecting buyers from fraudulent refund requests. I see articles on here left by multiple sellers who cannot contest claims as it is almost always in favour of the customer. Proof of postage should not rest on paid tracking alone, we're supposed to be trying to make money on here and already see eBay fees eating into our profits. Tracking sometimes costs more than the value of the item itself, which makes no sense. An image of the packed and addressed item in the post office with printed receipt containing the buyer's address is adequate proof, but eBay won't accept it. Very frustrating. I was half tempted to name and shame the customer but thought better of it. I have reported them to eBay but I don't expect any action taken. The customer is always right, apparantly...
