Return case escalated to customer services & now on hold. Parcel posted this morning.

[treetopsminicottages]

Hello, could someone give me some advice as this is the first time I have met this.

Basically, I received a broken item (very poorly packed) last saturday. Seller issued a returns label next day and I took the parcel to post office this morning Tuesday.

This afternoon Iget messages from ebay to say the seller is escalating the case.

Can anyone explain what will happen? Am I  in danger of loosing the case? I did not realise a seller can escalate before getting the parcel back. Are they trying it on as the seller said they will claim from RM so wonder if this is a delaying tactic?

Now all I can see is:Your case is on hold. eBay Customer Service has placed the case on hold until 6 Dec 2024 to allow time to provide additional documentation.eBay Customer Service has placed the case on hold until 6 Dec 2024 to allow time to provide additional documentation.

You provided tracking that shows the item is currently on its way to the seller.

Any advice welcome thanks

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

From what iv'e read when a seller escalates a case it often backfires on them and Ebay auto find for the buyer.As the item is in transit it's anybody's guess

[treetopsminicottages]

Thank you. I am confused as to why the case could be escalated before the returned item actually being delivered to the seller. If the case goes against me I wonder if I can appeal or turn to my  payment provider for a chargeback? 

If ebay allows this what is to stop all sellers faced with a return just escalating the case rather than go through the automated returns system?

[sml192]

A return request can be escalated at any time, by either party, once the return is accepted by the seller:

Ask eBay to step in If the seller hasn't responded or hasn't issued a refund by the refund deadline, or if the buyer and seller can't reach a resolution, either party can ask us to step in and help.

Earliest: Once the seller has accepted the return, or 3 business days after the request date

No idea why the seller has chosen to do so or what they hope to achieve.  If eBay find in your favour as they should then by escalating the seller will end up with a defect on their account and won't get their eBay fees credited back to them if applicable, so very strange. Is it an experienced seller or a new seller that is maybe not familiar with how things work?

Provided the tracking shows as 'Delivered' or 'Delivery attempted' by the date that eBay has specified (6th December) then eBay should find in your favour.  If it does go against you for some reason then you will have the right to appeal or you can turn to your payment provider instead if necessary.

[treetopsminicottages]

Thank you for that piece of information.  I really have no idea as why the seller contacted CS before getting the return parcel back unless they hoped eBay would find in their favour, maybe with some sob story! 

They claim to have 20 years experience as a private seller/buyer but judging by the poor packaging & instructions ordering me to return to them initially at my own expense, they  are unfamiliar with the present MBG/returns procedure it would seem.

[treetopsminicottages]

Just a quick follow-up question now the seller has received my return back (on Thursday) do I have to wait until the 6th December for the case to be reviewed by eBay?

It is confirmed as received on the order details but looking at the case details it states the case is still on hold as I orginally posted and not updated to reflect the delivery.

[sml192]

Once the seller has received the return they have 2 business days in which to issue a refund.  You can ask ebay to step in and help any time after that. 

[treetopsminicottages]

The return that I opened last weekend had been escalated, by the seller, to a case with eBay so there is no way they can refund through the initial case which eBay  immediately closed.  A new case was opened by eBay CS then put on hold on the 26th with this message:

Your case is on hold. eBay Customer Service has placed the case on hold until 6 Dec 2024 to allow time to provide additional documentation.  

You provided tracking that shows the item is currently on its way to the seller.

This has not been updated to show the item has been delivered to the seller on the 28th and there is no way to add any message/photo to the case either.

[treetopsminicottages]

Just to add to my initial question the returns case, now closed by eBay CS, and the escalated case, opened by CS, have different numbers.

[rainbowtrax]

You may find that you have to sit it out until 6th - as you say, that's down to ebay now - but you have returned the item, tracking shows delivery so you have nothing to worry about. Whatever the seller has alleged you've done, ebay will ignore that and rule in your favour anyway.

Even when a buyer has done something to invalidate the MBG (which you haven't), ebay still give them the benefit of the doubt even if they admit in the case notes that they're at fault. It's virtually impossible for a seller to win a case, whatever ebay's policies state. Ebay just ignore them. So in this case, where you've done nothing wrong, they're never going to take the seller's side.