Item not received case opened , but was delivered late, with case still open

[tay-139181]

Hi all

I sold an item on Uk ebay on the 24th of september.

4 hours later , it was packed and labelled with an ebay supplied 1pm special delivery next day ( Buyer selected) and left at the late night post office. This is where it stayed on the tracking for a  fulll week !

I visited the shop and they didn't have it.

The buyer at this point opened an 'item not delivered' case for the full amount , my money is on hold.

The item then started moving through royal mail tracking, and was finally collected from their sorting office  on  the third of october and the buyer confirms this.

I have 4 options on the INR, 

1 update tracking

2 Refund the buyer

3 Send the buyer a message

4 Ask ebay to step in and 'help' 

I have sent several messages asking the buyer to reduce the amount to postage only ( I had a part refund for this from royal mail) , but he has not responded. 

The tracking is updated and showing as delivered, my money is still on hold.

I have NEVER found ebay to be helpful as a seller and always side with buyers, no matter what...So I don't really want to do that. So...

If I hit option 2, will I be able to control the amount I refund? I only want to send £12.75, not the £212.75 requested

Any advice or help will really be appreciated right now. 

[**peaseblossom**]

I definitely wouldn't select refund buyer.   I would probably leave it alone but you could send the buyer another message just confirming delivery.   The tracking should prevent the case going any further and it should expire eventually.   Then your money will be released.   You can sort out the partial refund later if the buyer gets in touch.

[tay-139181]

I think i will just wait and hope it times out, I think the guy is hoping to get his money back, as well as the item. 

People act like i'm a huge shop, i'm just a guy selling odd bits we don't use anymore. Thank you Peaseblossom

[**peaseblossom**]

I think that's the right thing to do.   Hopefully you won't hear from the buyer again and your money will come through.

[john1297576]

Buyer could close the case himself if he wanted to, but if still open he could escalate to ebay, who usually refund.

You did load the tracking when marking as dispatched I hope, as I saw recently ebay saying if loaded after a case has been opened it is too late.

[tay-139181]

Hi

Yes, I put the tracking on straightaway.  Annoyingly, it shows as 'sender preparing item' for a week , rather than its 'somewhere' within royal mail. 

The parcel arrived intact, with the label still readable and scannable. 

I have asked him to reduce the amount, or close the case, whatever works and I can then simply do a part refund to cover postage. 

After him making me wait 9 additional days so far , with all my payment on hold, I don't honestly think he deserves any postage refund, but I will anyway..

[tay-139181]

Just to round this off, I had a message after a week of waiting for a reply, demanding a postage refund, hints at feedback were given... 

I answered that ALL the item money was on hold  and I only had that option, then he cancelled the case.

I have now refunded the postage, stuck in my throat a little, but its over. Thanks to all that helped