Click & collect - buyer didn't collect item

[lazylou2002]

My buyer didn't collect the item sent by click & collect. The shop is returning the item to me. The 30 day guarantee states that it does not cover items not collected by the buyer; however I am expected to give them a refund. This means that through no fault of my own, I lose the sale and end up out of pocket for the postage.

Has anyone else had this issue?

[4_bathrooms · Accepted solution]

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@lazylou2002 wrote:

My buyer didn't collect the item sent by click & collect. The shop is returning the item to me. The 30 day guarantee states that it does not cover items not collected by the buyer; however I am expected to give them a refund. This means that through no fault of my own, I lose the sale and end up out of pocket for the postage.

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When a buyer doesn't collect a Click & Collect item the item is returned to the sender at eBay's cost and treated as a remorse return - see the "Returns" section in the terms. Once the return tracking shows you have the item back you have 2 days to issue a refund.

Interestingly, it seems when a buyer doesn't collect a C&C item eBay does not require the seller to refund any surcharge that was levied for enhanced delivery if enhanced delivery was chosen by the buyer. So, if your standard delivery is 2nd Class but the buyer paid extra for 1st Class you're only required to refund the price charged for the basic 2nd Class service (if it wasn't "free" delivery). 

[lazylou2002]

Thanks for that. However, this seems to contradict the eBay 30 day money back guarantee which states that the buyer is not covered if they fail to collect.

[rjwilmsi]

In general, this is called selling online.

You are a business seller (as am I) so on pretty much every item the buyer has the right to change their mind and return the item. You then lose the sale and lose the cost of the original postage. If you don't like buyers' right to remorse returns then you need to sell in person only - but then buyers who have changed their mind may invent a fault to force a return anyway.

There isn't much difference between a click and collect item that is uncollected versus an item delivered to somebody's home that they now have changed their mind about and open a return for.

Enhanced postage: it is my understanding that under UK law the buyer is only entitled to a refund of the cheapest original postage fee, in the scenario of changing their mind. So if they paid extra for upgraded postage that extra doesn't have to be refunded. However, when I had a return for such a sale, eBay's return page didn't give me the specific option to withhold the upgraded postage fee, so it wasn't clear to me how eBay expected that to be handled. I just refunded it all to avoid the hassle. I believe a lot of businesses also do that as a matter of goodwill.

[tressygirl]

If your  tracking shows delivery to the C & C point and the buyer failed to collect then you do not have to refund.

However,  if the item is returned to you, then you'll have the item and the money so one has to go,  and here you'd need to refund the buyer.

Be aware,   it is not mandatory for the store to send the unclaimed item back to you,  they also have the option to give it to Charity or even destroy it, so it's a wait and see now, if indeed it is returned to you.

@lazylou2002