Buyer requesting refund after 30 days

[fhwery]

I have just received a refund request today from a buyer . The item was delivered on dec 31 and hes now claiming its broken having just opened it (new tap) its just outside the 30 day window so am i within my rights refusing. Personally I always inspect items on receipt so you wonder why they didnt

[tressygirl]

There may be many legit reasons why they didn't inspect on receipt, but the end of the day if they are outside the 30 day window to claim a refund from eBay and open a case for this,  they will not be able to escalate the case,  and it will time out and close after 30 days.

Be aware, they could though still pursue a refund through their payment provider.

[fhwery]

thanks for your reply I agree there could be legit reasons however if Id spent £100 I and most others I think would have inspected on arrival

The other issue for me anyway is that the window for claims from the delivery firm elapsed after 28 days so thats a dead end

[tressygirl]

Yep,   I agree you would think one would inspect a costly item as that however, we do not know their circumstances,  a ' Covid attack' could have struck ,  and a hospital visit?  All kinds of valid reasons,  alongside I agree ,  some not so valid.

Whatever the reason,  if they are outside that timeframe to claim from eBay that case will close after 30 days,  and you will not need to refund,  hopefully they will not turn to their payment provider.

[fhwery]

buyer has now opened a returns request so presumably my best course of action for now is to regretfully deny the request giving my legitimate reasons 

[fhwery]

Buyer has now asked for refund via i presume paypal 

Im about to contest the request as I reckon I have a strong case and photos to back it up as well as pointing the buyer in the direction of the spare part he would require to help him

are there any tips in replying and how successful is contesting as a rule thanks

[john1297576]

If you lose, then paypal contacts ebay who will refund at your expense, you do not get the selling fee refunded, and ebay make a charge of I believe £14 plus VAT.

It is up to you to decide whether the expense of losing is really worth it, as on  top of refunding £100 plus postage, it will cost you selling fee of at least about £13, and Ebay fee of £16.80, so in addition to original postage it will cost you at least another £30.

[red_magpie]

I reckon I have a strong case

PayPal may take more notice of your side of the case than eBay would.

Claiming that they've only just opened it gives the buyer quite a strong case, and often happens with items bought as gifts. The reason it's important is the PP only covers the condition of items on arrival, not faults that occue in use. My money would be 60/40 on the buyer winning.

Iif they've filed a PayPal dispute whilst the eBay case is still open, your best hope is that eBay and Paypal will close both cases. It is not allowed to claim refunds from both at the same time.

[fhwery]

Thanks to both replies

to me the only just opened it theory doesnt hold water as for the damage to occur there would have been substantial box damage I have photo evidence of box prior to sending well packaged

(Im more likely to believe ive just opened it and dropped it on the floor scenario)

the ebay case was closed straight away due to 30 day expiry however i did explain to buyer that he could get replacement part from the manufacturer

bit of a damned if you do damned if you dont scenario

[fhwery]

hi Im confused now ebay closed the case presumably due to the 30 days having run out 

i wrongly thought he then opened a return case via paypal but apparently not its still via ebay  and hes opened a payment dispute could someone please explain whats going on now 

[plum993]

They may still open a case,BUT that would be for communication purposes only, between you and the buyer in the hope of a resolve.

If the buyer is out of time to make a claim on ebay,there could revert to contacting there payment provider to instigate a chargeback.

[jckl1957]

The payment dispute is a case he has opened with Paypal.  They allow buyers 180 days to open a case for a faulty item but, because payments are managed by Ebay, you will respond to Paypal via Ebay.

Look up 'payment dispute' using 'help & contact' top left of your Ebay page for details.

But, briefly:

You have 5 days to respond to the case.

You can accept the case and refund - the buyer should be asked to return the item to you.  As well as the refund to the buyer, there is a £16.80p dispute charge.  If you accept the dispute and refund, Ebay will repay this fee to you.

Or, you can challenge.  You have one chance to provide 'new evidence'.  In practice, this is virtually impossible because you don't have the disputed item and the Paypal customer is claiming it is damaged.  If you lose the case, you also lose the dispute fee.

[fhwery]

Thats the whole point i contacted paypal they said no there is  nothing logged with them at all ive given them buyers id and case number but no its ebay thats why im confused

"buyer filed a payment dispute with their payment institute directly"

[john1297576]

"buyer filed a payment dispute with their payment institute directly" It is called a chargeback.

Their payment institute is paypal, but as already explained, paypal then passes the buck to ebay, who gives you the opportunity to settle with no penalty, or argue when you will lose, ebay will refund at your expense and charge you £14 plus VAT.

[jckl1957]

You don't contact Paypal.

They are dealing with Ebay and you will have to respond to the case through Ebay.

I did suggest you read about payment disputes on the Ebay site - you can see your case using the link here:

When your buyer opens a payment dispute, we’ll contact you to let you know what the next steps are. To respond, you'll need to either accept or challenge the payment dispute within 5 calendar days - if you don’t respond, the payment institution is likely to find in your buyer's favour. You can respond through My eBay Sold - opens in new window or tab or Requests and disputes - opens in new window or tab in Seller Hub. The final outcome will be decided ...

[fhwery]

Right thankyou ,  grrr

[fhwery]

Hi has anyone got advice re app etc for compressing photos file sizes to comply with the 1.7MB total thanks

[fhwery]

Finally received decision,  unfortunately in buyers favour in this dispute

a few things

1)as buyer request was through their payment institution ie paypal how come there is no record of this at all at paypal

2) why am i told that the item didnt qualify for seller protection when it did

3) Im assuming that seller is obliged to return the item otherwise it could be classed as theft as the item is still of considerable value

[john1297576]

1. There must be a record at Paypal, but what difference does it make.

2.Who told you it does notvaualify for buyer protection? It is outside ebay protection, but within Paypal's 180 days, and the chargeback has to pass through ebay, but nothing to do eith their buyer protection.

3. If you want item back then you will have to pay return postage and sort out with buyer. If it had been an ebay case, you have to supply a return label and refund on return, when your sellinig fee would have been refunded.

It would all have been so much cheaper for you to have dealt with  through ebay, even if over 30 days. Refunds can be made with a return of selling fee for up to 90 days.

[fhwery]

1)Well i contacted paypal and there is no record at their end

2) ebay in decision notification message said it wasnt eligible for seller protection

3) on principle i disputed it as in all fairness i was in the right

[fhwery]

just as an update Ive finally found out that the buyers chargeback was through credit card not paypal so I have contacted them any theyve put a hold on the chargeback pending me sending them my communications with the buyer ref the sale

Is there a way for me to access the evidence supporting my case that was logged through ebay in the initial dispute so I can forward it to Barclaycard

thanks