30 day money back guarantee

[suelel1968]

Hi, has anybody ever had MBG used by eBay on their seller account?

I have had many items not delivereds and refunded them all without eBay involvent. Got my money back from courier by myself. I have had a few unhappy customers, all refunded and told to keep the item without ebay involvement.

As a buyer i have had a few issues, but i can't think of more than a couple of occasions where ebay have stepped in and then they would presumably have recovered the money from the sellers (big sellers) 

I know it is an important feature, but what loyalty is shown tonsellers for years of not ever needing to use it and doing the right thing without prompting. 

[pegr-834437]

Isnt MBG for buyers so sellers wouldnt use it, I'd used eBays seller protection when buyers have tried to return either a used or a totally different item.

With SD if a parcel goes missing eBay cover it, but before that surely it was always the seller who had to open a case with the courier as its the seller who has the contract with the courier to deliver the parcel not eBay?

[dch2112011]

Like all insurance policies the hope is you never need to use them - but on the day you need to claim you are glad you have got them.

The cost of the MBG is taken from all sales on the platform and the MBG can be used by all members if the need requires.

Imagine if members who have not had the need to claim were opted out and given a 0.5% discount on services - and those that did claim had their fees increased - would that be fair ? 

What would happen when an opted out member had a claim to make and had no protection - I think the complaint level would be off the scale mind you would make the forum entertaining if nothing else

The most cost effective and fairest system is that every member contributes and every member can benefit if needed 

[suelel1968]

Hi @dch2112011 I think I perhaps haven't explained it well. As I said It is good that it is there, but who has actually had it used "against" them if you like. Ebay have never intervened on my behalf, but yes, on many posts on the buyers board you read about some terrible sellers. I wasn't suggesting getting rid or opting out or reductions or anything like that, but it surely must add up to some sort of level of trust in the seller mustn't it?

CS always say "I can see you have been with us for XX years, so thank you for your loyalty".  Doesn't that translate into trust at all? So a seller wants to use stamps, well he has been here for 20 years and we have never used our insurance policy on him, fair play, let him use stamps! 

I just wondered if anyone had been on the receiving end of ebays stick and had had it used to refund one of their buyers and what happened next. Perhaps you get struck off or something but I doubt it.

[dch2112011]

I think the better you treat customers and the larger the volume you sell - ie you tick the boxes the kinder you are treated by ebay, certainly the less cases against you plays a part in how your account is viewed by ebay. 

I don't think there is a written reward system for not using the MBG but a seller who has no cases opened against them and increases sales is offered more protection simply because it is in ebay's interest to have satisfied buyers using the platform and therefore ebay will encourage sellers with exemplary customer satisfaction but this does not extend to a seller working outside of the policies although policies can be interpreted by ebay

[technthread]

Healthy account metrics count for a lot when you need eBay’s help.

I recently had an unbelievable INAD case opened by a buyer, eBay looked at it and decided to refund on my behalf without the item even coming back to me. The CS agent said because I have a clean account coupled with the INAD case appearing to be very spurious they would step in and take the problem out of my hands.

I would only contact them very rarely expecting help like that, hopefully I don’t need to do it again but it is reassuring. It is crucial to get an Irish agent by phone and also important they can see that the seller isn’t ringing up regularly causing them issues. 

[suelel1968]

Hi @technthread ,  That is indeed very true. The buyer was spurious (great word i will now use a lot!) in this case, but have you any experience of the MBG being used for a buyer that ebay considered to be in the right and as a seller you just refused to refund. I suppose I am curious how this can ever actually happen and Ebay swallow the cost? Ebay have access to our bank accounts don't they? I refuse to refund, eBay do it for me and either take the money out of my bank or from the next sale. 

Or am I missing the point, the MBG is not Ebay putting it's hand in it's pocket, but Ebay guaranteeing to put it's hand in our pockets?

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, It isn't. It just maybe isn't what I thought it was.

Which makes me wonder why it is only 30 days long. It seems something breaks after a few uses and going to eBay is not going to help you is it? Going through your bank for up to 6 months must be costly all round. What happens after that I wonder. I have had similar with Amazon, who always refund within a year, or warranty period, but only as a goodwill gesture. The actual sellers can just ignore you. No idea if Amazon bill the sellers  for their goodwill gestures. But I know who i would prefer to buy an expensive item from.

[technthread]

Ha yeah the word was very fitting.

I have never let a case time out and refused to refund. The case closed without seller resolution account defect is so damaging to the seller account, I wouldn’t want to let that happen. By the time that was due I’d have exhausted all attempts to speak to eBay to appeal the case. If they weren’t willing to help me by that point I’d go with damage limitation and refund myself as eBay would take the funds from me anyway whether it’s from available balance or the bank, they will get the funds. eBay won’t take the hit on that unless an appeal was successful after the case closed but that’s getting into rarer territory I would imagine, thankfully I’ve never had that happen. I guess it is case by case but I’d hate to appeal on the back of a closed without seller resolution defect and expect that to do me any favours. Maybe someone else might know otherwise in rarer cases.

If it is an INR and I can’t prove delivery I refund myself, never trouble eBay with it or get an even worse account defect for a lost cause.

As a rule, I’d never expect eBay to cover a refund at all and I assume that they won’t do in future. I may very well have used my 1 life there and it wouldn’t happen again. 

The refund after the eBay MBG deadline would be affected by whether the seller was private or business and different factors I wouldn’t know where to start. I know it can be messy. I have had 1 issue where a buyer came back months later with an issue, thankfully I was just able to send a replacement and avoided a chargeback that was being threatened at first. 

I may be waffling a bit. It is difficult to keep this succinct, I’d just treat buyer MBG and seller protections as totally different things and not get them too mixed up. 

[vinylscot]

I have had two cases which spring to mind, where eBay did back me up through the MBG.

Both were extremely "spurious" return cases, which a five year old could have seen were bogus. One included photos which had obviously been doctored by someone who had never used photoshop, and the other one was daft enough to let slip in a message that he was only going to return some of the items which made up the lot.

In both cases, the automated processes initially approved the refund requests, but when I first appealed, I got the standard "buyer's opinion" nonsense response. When I took it further, quoting the MBG, both were reversed. They may have been reversed anyway, but I did quote parts of the MBG in my communications to eBay, so maybe it helped.

[papso22]

Personally if a buyer comes on the  boards with a problem with a purchase I recommend that they open a case using the money back guarantee.   It pretty much guarantees a favourable outcome for the buyer.

I am aware that the seller might be a 'good one', or the buyer might be in the wrong, but on the boards you really have to believe the opening poster unless there is a good reason to do otherwise.

Ebay's money back guarantee is a service provided in addition to any statutory rights a buyer has, but it also extends those rights to purchases from private sellers, which makes it even better for buyers.

It is not a warranty,  hence the limit to 30 days.

You can see many examples of it being used, and abused, on other threads.

[suelel1968]

Hi @papso22 yes, it was reading some of those threads that got me thinking really. It's a good thing, but it is also very clever marketing. Ebay are not on the hook for the vast majority of cases/costs, they simply facilitate a refund if a buyer doesn't do it themselves which most of us do. 

It sounds great in principle, but I would only buy a TV for instance via eBay, if the business had a website of their own. I wouldn't think twice buying online from Currys or amazon.