Yet another...Simple Delivery shipping label refund problem!

[jimthing]

Sold an item today, had to immediately refund buyer as they said their address was wrong (re-listed item and they bought it again after updating to their correct address). The listing has me as seller covering shipping cost. 

But when the refund was done on the original order by Ebay (after I clicked Cancel Order > reason: Buyer used wrong address), all but NOT the 2.70 SD shipping cost has been automatically refunded by Ebay? 

Why is this?... under the SD system if no label is purchased and used, it's supposed to automatically refund the seller the shipping. So why has this not happened??

(contacted Ebay chat+phone... they were clueless, as per usual!) 

[papso22]

Unless you can show where it says otherwise,  sellers have to request refunds for unused Simple delivery labels.  It's not automatic. 

[jimthing]

I did NOT click "Get Label" (as I usually do when an order comes in) – I went straight to the order page and selected Cancel Order. So no label should have been created and I have no tracking# accordingly. 

[department28]

If the buyer pays for the post, they would get an automatic refund, but if the seller offers freepost, they have to fill in a form to request a refund for an unused label.

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

[department28]

But you would have been charged for the label, even if you didn't download it, I presume?

[jimthing]

That can't be the system here as it would be completely stupid! 

So before a seller can ever cancel an order (literally within 1-minute of an order coming in!) Ebay are now automatically charging for labels that never need to be created in the first place as the seller is cancelling the order straight away – but only if the seller offers free postage as part of the price rather than the buyer paying for the label!? 

Can such a stupid system possibly be true?

What incentive is there in a seller canceling orders for buyers, if we are going to be waiting AN AGE for the postage on the original order (which we didn't ask for!) to be rightfully refunded by Ebay?? 

The seller may as well ship the item to the wrong address, it shows as delivered, then move on with their lives without any mucking-around!

And not automatically refunded either, but by using the same form I had to use when I had to pay the shipping myself (outside of SD, on an order that was slightly over Ebay's allowed weight after boxing it up!) – I had to 

wait well over the  14-days they state on the form to be refunded AND call Ebay 3 times to get it refunded after 40 DAYS!

If so, then this SD system is becoming a complete joke with Ebay WRONGFULLY holding sellers funds on shipping costs for shipments that never happen! 

[sml192]

If an order is cancelled then the buyer will automatically receive a refund of the full amount paid.  The refund of the item cost is taken from you and the BPF and postage are refunded by eBay as you never receive those payments.

[department28]

'What incentive is there in a seller canceling orders for buyers, if we are going to be waiting AN AGE for the postage on the original order (which we didn't ask for!) to be rightfully refunded by Ebay??'

You would think If an order has to be cancelled because of an address problem (or any issue from the buyer's side) the postage ought to be automatically refunded back to the seller.

Unfortunately, eBay is not differentiating between a label that is cancelled for a 'legitimate' reason, and a label cancelled just because a seller wants to avoid using Simple Delivery... so, any seller requiring a postage refund for any reason, has to fill in that ludicrous, long-winded form.

It would be interesting to know how much money eBay has retained from Simple Delivery labels that have not been used and were never refunded, for one reason or another...

[jimthing]

Yes this is VERY VERY WRONG! 

I've just phoned Ebay four times now and told different answers by each CS agent I speak to: 

1. Refund will appear automatically overnight OR within 24h OR within 48h OR within 72h. 

or

2. Seller still has to fill out the form and wait 14-days to get your own money back for the shipping label you never ordered (due to cancelling the order). 

...I'll wait until midnight and see if the 2.94 shipping fee magically appears in my selling account or not.  Then report back. But I bet you it's not there in a couple of hours. 

[department28]

'...I'll wait until midnight and see if the 2.94 shipping fee magically appears in my selling account or not.  Then report back. But I bet you it's not there in a couple of hours.'

Probably more chance of turning into a pumpkin at midnight... 🎃 

but you never know - miracles can happen..!

[brentf8]

If label isn't used you will eventually get a refund.

[jimthing]

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@brentf8 wrote:

If label isn't used you will eventually get a refund.

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Erm see the previous posts... where this is unclear HOW the refund happens. 

[sml192]

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@department28 wrote:

You would think If an order has to be cancelled because of an address problem (or any issue from the buyer's side) the postage ought to be automatically refunded back to the seller.

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If an order is cancelled, for a reason outside the sellers control, then there shouldn't be any need for the postage to be refunded back to the seller as they never receive that amount, even if 'Seller pays postage' is selected.  The seller should only need to refund the amount they would have actually received (item cost less postage) not the full cost of the item.  The postage should be refunded to the buyer by eBay.

[gjalp]

If I understand correctly, as it was seller pays, despite the order being cancelled, ebay charged the seller for the label anyway. It is this charge that needs to be refunded.

[jimthing]

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@gjalp wrote:

If I understand correctly, as it was seller pays, despite the order being cancelled, ebay charged the seller for the label anyway. It is this charge that needs to be refunded.

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Correct (ignore @sml192 they don't understand anything we're talking about here). 

[sml192]

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@gjalp wrote:

If I understand correctly, as it was seller pays, despite the order being cancelled, ebay charged the seller for the label anyway. It is this charge that needs to be refunded.

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Yes, but to me it makes no sense eBay refunding the postage amount to the seller, which they never received in the first place, so that the seller can then refund the buyer.  Surely it would be far simpler for eBay to just refund the buyer directly for the postage?

[jimthing]

(again please don't respond with irrelevant text when you don't understand the issue. 🙄)

[jimthing]

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@jimthing wrote:

Yes this is VERY VERY WRONG! 

I've just phoned Ebay four times now and told different answers by each CS agent I speak to: 

1. Refund will appear automatically overnight OR within 24h OR within 48h OR within 72h. 

or

2. Seller still has to fill out the form and wait 14-days to get your own money back for the shipping label you never ordered (due to cancelling the order). 

...I'll wait until midnight and see if the 2.94 shipping fee magically appears in my selling account or not.  Then report back. But I bet you it's not there in a couple of hours. 

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NOT.  Low and behold the shipping refund has not appeared overnight. Quelle surprise. 

F**cking Ebay! They have to make every seller's life a complete pain in the backside on everything, don't they. 

[department28]

'If I understand correctly, as it was seller pays, despite the order being cancelled, ebay charged the seller for the label anyway. It is this charge that needs to be refunded.'

Yes - even though the seller never actually receives the postage money (seller pays postage/freepost) they are still paying for it. This refunding palaver is one of the worst things about Simple Delivery.

I can't help thinking months, or even years will roll by, and we'll still be discussing these problems... 😂

[sml192]

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@jimthing wrote:

(again please don't respond with irrelevant text when you don't understand the issue. 🙄)

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On the contrary, I  understand the issue perfectly.  What I don't understand is the idiotic overly complicated way that eBay seems to be going about this! 

Buyer pays £x amount.

Ebay then deducts £y amount to cover the BPF and the cost of the postage label and pays the balance £z to the seller.

If an order is then cancelled It should just be a simple matter of reversing,or cancelling, the payout to the seller and then refunding that amount to the buyer together with the amounts deducted.