A few weeks ago I sold a large vintage ceramic jug and bowl set as a 'buy it now'. It was going from Norfolk to the buyer in Devon. Evri was selected as the preferred courier because of the weight and size of it and Simple Delivery had kicked in.
I packed the item up really well, double boxing both the bowl and the jug and placed it into the Evri network. A couple of days later, I received a message from the buyer saying that the bowl had arrived completely smashed although by some miracle, the jug remained intact. The buyer attached a photo of the bowl, still in its inner box in many pieces. It hadn't just been accidentally dropped, it looked like it had been kicked across the warehouse! The message from eBay indicated that a return request had been set up. Given the photo evidence I deemed it unnecessary and pointless to request the buyer to send the item back and refunded the buyer in full, believing I could just submit the photo to Evri and claim a refund off them.
How wrong I was!
I contacted Evri customer services and they told me that even though they were the courier, as Simple Delivery had been used, I had to contact eBay customer services, via their chatbot. I received a message saying that as I had refunded the buyer , the case was closed and that I shouldn't have refunded at that point.
Now, I have been selling on eBay for many years and have consistently held the 'Above Standard' seller rating and 100% positive feedback. I think it may have been because in the past when things have gone wrong, I have acted responsibly and always taken care of my buyers, replacing or refunding where necessary whilst acting as a good ambassador for the platform. In the past, a swift resolution to a buyer dispute by way of a refund has meant I've avoided feedback spats and related unpleasantness. If the matter was down to a failed delivery or damage in transit, I've then capitalized on my goodwill with the buyer to obtain photographic evidence, or a statement in order to recoup my losses through the negligent carrier.
Now it seems that eBay have got into bed with the carriers and despite everything a responsible seller has been encouraged to do in the past has been swept under the carpet. I've even had an email from Evri saying that they were responsible but I have to chase eBay, who won't do anything because I did the right thing and issued a refund, much as I have always done in the past.
The loss isn't great to me. £14 including shipping cost. What really grinds my gears is that with this new Simple Delivery concept, management of carriers has now been taken away from sellers and it's all to easy to enter into the loop of endless buck passing.
I'm curious to know if anyone else has fallen into this rabbit hole.
