Simple Delivery Unused Postage Label Refund - eBay not paying out

[patrcl-8083]

Simple Delivery for light, low value items is a nightmare. I sell something for a few pounds, eBay automatically charge me £2.72 for the label even though the item would only cost me £1.55. So I pay the £1.55 and complete a refund request for the £2.72 postage label.

I sent in a request on 2nd October. I'm still waiting for the money. Just spoken to THREE different eBay agents - none of them have any clue what's going on. I was even fobbed off with the assertion that "It's standard Royal Mail waiting time." No, it's not! Royal Mail refund A MAXIMUM of 14 calendar days from the date the postage label expires. So, in practice I get my money back well within three weeks. This is now being escalated, which can take another five working days apparently.

Not a clue. They have my money and are not refunding it. Anyone else had this?

[department28]

What postage service did you use instead of Simple Delivery? I don't think eBay refund for unused Simple Delivery labels unless you have used a tracked service & uploaded a tracking number.

[papso22]

There are many posts where people are having trouble getting refunds for unused labels.

My feeling is that ebay will soon stop offering refunds for unused labels given that sellers are actually avoiding mandatory simple delivery by using them in this way.

[patrcl-8083]

I used standard 2nd class Large Letter. I sold an item for £3.99, so I'm not going to bother sending it tracked. If it doesn't turn up, I'll just refund the buyer. 

Royal Mail just refund you if you don't use the label. You could deliver the item personally at no cost at all and they wouldn't question it.

Are eBay legally entitled to keep a customer's money? It would be really interesting to know!

[patrcl-8083]

I meant to add that for two of the refunds for which I have applied, the customer has left positive feedback. So they definitely received the item and were happy with it.

[papso22]

---

@patrcl-8083 wrote:

I used standard 2nd class Large Letter. I sold an item for £3.99, so I'm not going to bother sending it tracked. If it doesn't turn up, I'll just refund the buyer. 

Royal Mail just refund you if you don't use the label. You could deliver the item personally at no cost at all and they wouldn't question it.

Are eBay legally entitled to keep a customer's money? It would be really interesting to know!

---

You haven't met the conditions for a refund.

[patrcl-8083]

Could you give me a link to where it states what the conditions are in order to get a refund? So simply not using a label is not enough?

[department28]

You have to comply with everything on the list to qualify for a refund for an unused Simple Delivery label.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/claims/simple-delivery/refund/seller

To process your refund, we'll verify the following:-

The label was paid for by you (you offered free shipping to the buyer).
The refund request is created within 14 days from the item's sale.
The label wasn't used within 14 days of the item's sale.
The package was delivered using a different tracking number.

If your request meets all these conditions, you'll receive a refund for the shipping cost. Please note, it may take up to 14 days for the refund to be processed.

Oh, and one more thing, as Gladys Pugh used to say... if the buyer has paid for the postage, they will automatically receive a refund for the unused Simple Delivery label... 🤖

[honeymonster007]

If nothing else their going to have to do some creative accounting when the time comes

[gjalp]

You are unlikely to get a refund due to not using a tracked method. Personally I’d switch all items to buyer pays. Having looked at your items, if a buyer wants your item, they will be ok about paying postage.

[style_wise]

And just to clarify... eBay charge £2.72 for a RM Tracked 48 LL service that you would have to pay £2.95 for, so it is cheaper not more expensive!

Some of your LL items look heavier than 100g. Do you know that when you send 250g LL 2nd Class that the Post Office gives you a free Tracking Number? It is on your receipt as a Reference Number. It works in the eBay system as well as RM system, so you could use it to request a refund for unused SD postage.

[patrcl-8083]

The £2.95 (£2.75 eBay) charge applies to any Large Letter Tracked items up to 1kg. Those sales for which I am trying to get a refund were less than 100g in weight and sold for just a few pounds. Sending these Untracked costs £1.55 - a saving of a significant amount of £1.20 when an item sold for £3.99. Up to 250g is £1.80 and up to 500g £2.20. Any heavier than that, yes you might as well use the Tracked option. In my experience, the vast majority of items get through OK. Even if 1 in 10 get lost and have to be refunded, I would still save money.

It's eBay's insistence on using Tracking for low cost, light items which is the problem.

I do weigh my items before I list them, so I know exactly what the cost would be.

[patrcl-8083]

I just wonder how eBay can justify keeping a customer's money when they have been forced to pay for a service that they didn't use? But eBay seem to do what they like and get away with it.

Royal Mail for all their shortcomings do at least refund you for an unused postage labels fairly promptly. They don't question why you didn't use it or how you ended up sending the item.

[4_bathrooms]

---

@style_wise wrote:

Some of your LL items look heavier than 100g. Do you know that when you send 250g LL 2nd Class that the Post Office gives you a free Tracking Number? It is on your receipt as a Reference Number. It works in the eBay system as well as RM system, so you could use it to request a refund for unused SD postage.

---

I wasn't aware there was a weight limit for obtaining a delivery confirmation where 2nd Class LL was concerned. Do you have a link confirming this?

The Post Office only states that 2nd Class Small Parcel and Medium Parcel have such a confirmation. Royal Mail have removed all mention of it where LL is concerned but as I understand it 2nd Class LL with a 2D address label was being treated as a parcel. However, I have a feeling that may have stopped when RM and Parcelforce decided they would share a "single parcel network" and 2nd Class letter (L & LL) deliveries became subject to the now "downgraded" USO service.