Item refunded without my consent

[exemplary3001]

Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

I sold an item on the 12th March 2025, it was sent through the global shipping program and arrived at the hub on the 16th of March, 3 weeks later there was still no update on tracking and the buyer messaged me to provide any update if I had one.

Unable to get any information other than that it had arrived at the hub, we both presumed the item was lost so I advised the buyer to raise a claim and he would be able to get a refund, and I’ll be covered under eBay protection as I had fulfilled my end of the sale and the item made it to the shipping hub. I received an email asking me to resolve the dispute by the 8th of April, when trying multiple times to find the option for eBay to step in, I was unsuccessful. I eventually clicked a ‘resolve now’ button thinking this might take me to the next step where I can escalate the issue, but instead it automatically refunded the buyer without me having to confirm if I was even happy to proceed with a refund.

Now customer support is telling me the case is closed and there’s nothing I can do, not only has my item been lost but I’ve also been made to issue a refund without my consent, when eBay is supposed to handle my parcel once it reaches the shipping hub. 

Has anyone had a similar issue?

[dantwocats]

once a item gets to the global shipping program they are responsible for it , and they should pay for the loss , customer support should sort this out ? not good ,

[exemplary3001]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

And yes, that's what I thought also, however I have multiple responses from eBay saying they are taking 0 responsibility for thos case and that they will not change the decision. Very disappointed to say the least.

[themattieminx]

The same happened to me about 2 years ago. It reached the hub so like you, I advised the buyer to raise and then escalate a claim as eBay would pay out. The exact opposite happened and I was deemed responsible.  I telephoned them and seem to remember I ended up speaking with someone in the buyer's home country who ended up overturning the decision and eBay then paid out. I pointed out the tracking clearly showed it had been delivered and the photo showed multiple parcels being delivered in one cage by Royal Mail. I think you have to get a rep from the buyer's home country to overturn it but this may not be the case anymore.

[exemplary3001]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I also managed to speak to someone in Germany but they also deemed myself at fault for refunding the buyer, what's annoying is i never even confirmed I wanted to refund, I was looking to find the option to ask eBay to step in but couldn't find it, so clicked a 'resolve now' button thinking it might take me to the next step with more options etc. and it just auto refunded the buyer and said case resolved. So they are blaming me for this, if I knew it was going to automatically end the case I wouldn't have pressed anything. 

[papso22]

And that's the problem.  The item was actually refunded with your consent because of the button you pushed, albeit without understanding the consequences. 

That means you are now asking ebay to overturn your decision,  not make a decision in your favour, which is a very different thing and doesn't fit any ebay scripts.  It's not going to happen I am afraid.

[exemplary3001]

eBay had no option for me to seek advice from them through the email they sent me telling me I had 5 days to resolve the dispute, if they are going to take money from my account, it should specify that I am approving a refund. A 'resolve now' should not be to resolve in the buyer's favor, where is the 'resolve now' in my favor? I get what you're trying to input, however eBay was extremely misleading.

[papso22]

I agree, ebay is an extremely poor communicator.