Damaged parcel was not delivered

[1laloba]

On 29 Nov I received an order and on 30 Nov I sent by Hermes, carefully packed and kept the receipt. Last night (11 Dec) my buyer asked where her order was. On checking the tracking,  I learned the order had reached the Hermes national hub and on 7 Dec was listed as damaged beyond repair. Neither I nor my buyer were informed. I told my buyer about this and asked her to request a  refund through Ebay so I could immediately refund her but also obtain a refund myself. She resisted saying I should just refund her via Paypal. I explained that I was keen to resolve it and refund her but needed her to raise the issue with Ebay who seemed unaware that any action was needed on my part. I spent a long time going round in circles with the robots in their live chat, And also did the same with Hermes and Paypal. I have exchanged several emails with my buyer trying to reassure her of my best intentions who says she can't raise it with ebay.

I am keen to help my buyer but worried that if I simply refund through Paypal without Ebay prompting nme, I wont get my money back. We are both victims and my buyer is increasingly angry with me. 

Any advice please folks. Thanks

[red_magpie]

You need to point out to your buyer that refunds for any reason MUST be made through eBay's resolution centre.

EBay processes the buyer's refund, and gives the seller a credit for their final value fee.

If a seller tries to refund the buyer direct through PayPal, they lose their fees for the sale and eBay is will penalise them with a defect on their account for making a seller-initiated cancellation. Explain this to your buyer.

Nobody makes her buy through eBay. If she does, she has to accept their rules, as sellers have to.

[1laloba]

Thank you for your helpful advice it is very reassuring