buyer abused a return, ebay promised to refund the return label fee. almost 3 months on, no sign of

[cosmeticsandmisc]

As it's only £3.25 i havent really looked for the return label refund before. However today ive had a buyer curse me, spend over an hour arguing with me in messages all because he thinks the 6 RIGHT ARROW keycap on a keyboard 'should be labelled as 6 GREATER THAN SYMBOL (see the corsair k60 keyboard, just because that keycap and the arrow ones look like the 'greater/less than' symbols) and even worse because he needed a right arrow keycap and his keyboard is a k63.  what should have been easy to understand, was impossible because the guy is heavy into debating and arguing for the sake of it and absolutely categorically refusing to accept that '6 right arrow' is not the same as a standard 'right arrow' moreso because his is a tkl keyboard that doesnt have the numerical keys.

he's cursed me, called me stupid, a liar. Hence my position now, other than reporting him to ebay, is to absolutely obsessively persue the refund for the return label cost that im going to be charged for this return. it isnt an expensive item.

so ive asked ebay and they've yet again given me a vague response. ive looked at the previous time a customer abused a return, when i was promised the return label fee would be returned to me..but no sign of it.

how exactly do i find it? if it's even there. i can't be going through page after page inspecting every translaction over the past 3 months. 

[suelel1968 · Accepted solution]

Hi @cosmeticsandmisc I feel your annoyance loud and clear! Ebay refunded my return label when i got really cross about one, but I usually just tell the customer to keep the item and then block them. I totally get it, but it is just not worth the stress and migraines.

This is a screen shot of the transaction that ebay sent. Just make sure you filter on adjustments.

[4_bathrooms]

When return tracking indicates the item has been received back there will be a "Report a problem" link. You need to click this then select "Item is as described" or something very similar. You may or may not get the cost of the return label back but your buyer will receive a report against their account.

You will need to be clearer in your report than you have been on here, though. If your buyer has a TKL keyboard I'm not sure where any discussion about a 6 key from a numeric keypad came into it? Did the image on your listing match the item that was sent to the buyer; i.e. did your listing illustrate a right button with an arrow and is that exactly what you sent your buyer?

Symbols like → ► > are variously used on the arrow/cursor keys and the keypad. The only important thing is that what your image depicted is what you sent.

[cosmeticsandmisc]

he purchased a 6 right arrow keycap. He opened an item not as described return and messaged me with a pic of his own keyboard and said 'the right arrow key' (ie his keyboard is actually a k63 which is a TKL model and doesnt even have the numerical keys on the far right), it was only the standard right arrow key.

his greivance is really staged so he can confuse any ebay agent looking in..but where he messed up is he didnt realise his own keyboard is a k63 anyway and is visibly different.

matters are made worse because the arrow keycaps on his, look like actual arrows and not like the greater/less than symbols, whereas on the standard k60, the right/left arrows look like greater/less than symbols on the same keyboard. for some reason he decided to make a massive issue out of this as if it's my fault because in his head, 'that is NOT a 6 RIGHT ARROW keycap, but a 6 > (greater than) keycap.

 
naturally i reported him as an abusive buyer, spoke to an agent etc and it's obv the normal routine of report, accept refund, refund..except the return label fee itself, i want my money back. im not covering this guy on my end when it's already costing me £1.55(plus the padded envelope).

even if these are small numbers, to get treated with abuse, dissed, trolled like 'you're stupid' 'you're an arrogant p**** '(literally) . he doesnt realise the numerical keys, like the 2, 4, 6, 8 ones are actual direction/arrow keys and even if on some keyboards they look like the < > symbols, it doesnt mean they serve that specific function. in his opinion by telling him this, im dishonest, trying to pul the wool over his eyes etc.

most people would say 'refund, block, forget about it, not worth the hassle'. i wish i had tbh. but normally in these situations (which have happened before) people will say 'oh i understand, ive closed the case'. it isnt just my time, he was willing to debate/argue, keep attaching random images of google search results to show me what a 'greater than' symbol looks like LOL...for £3.

however the reason im posting this here is because ive only just found out that previous promised return label fee refunds for return fraud cases were never returned. Cases  that were accepted ie where ebay refunded the customer out of their own pocket and sided with me as i had evidence.

[4_bathrooms]

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@cosmeticsandmisc wrote:

he purchased a 6 right arrow keycap. He opened an item not as described return and messaged me with a pic of his own keyboard and said 'the right arrow key' (ie his keyboard is actually a k63 which is a TKL model and doesnt even have the numerical keys on the far right), it was only the standard right arrow key.

his greivance is really staged so he can confuse any ebay agent looking in..but where he messed up is he didnt realise his own keyboard is a k63 anyway and is visibly different.

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An eBay customer service agent isn't going to know what a TKL keyboard is; much less have any clue about different models. 

If I'm understanding things correctly your image depicted a K60 keyboard - which is full-size and has < > indications on the cursor keys and keypad - whilst your buyer has a K63 which is a TKL keyboard with ◄ ► indications on the cursor keys. For whatever reason your buyer purchased a K60 number pad 6 key despite their K63 keyboard having no such key and different "direction" indications anyway. If that is what happened I have no idea what your buyer is talking about and I doubt they do either.

There is no automatic refund if the label is used; that only happens if the label isn't used and the case isn't decided against you. @suelel1968 refunded their buyer which closed the case and was able to get a refund for the label because it wasn't used. The only way you're likely to be refunded for the label is if you use the "Report a problem" link in the case; this will appear when the label's tracking indicates the item has been returned. It isn't a given that eBay will refund the cost of the label - it depends what the person reviewing the case decides - but the buyer will have a report filed against their account. 

[suelel1968]

@4_bathrooms @cosmeticsandmisc

I did get a refund for the value of the return label which was used. It was a case that annoyed me because the buyer was lying.  I asked ebay what i could do to defend myself against someone abusing the system. They told me to report the buyer for abuse of the not as described policy and that they would refund the postage - and thet did.

Normally i would just let them keep the item but in this case he was a liar.

[cosmeticsandmisc]

you understood the issue so well concernnig the keycap. 

Over the years, i have had various cases of 'return fraud' where the ebay agent has sided with me. On each occasion ive been told the return label cost will also be returned. Yet after looking into my transaction history/activity and 'adjustments', nothing over the past year. I kind of always knew this, but didnt have the energy to go persuing it with an ebay agent. 

i did that yesterday about the last case i had where ebay sided with me and refunded the customer out of their own pocket (guy returned some used, different item back to me, abused the returns process). it was told,  back in early September that return label would be refunded for that. So after persuing that yesterday i was told 'you won't see it until January', it takes 2 billing cycles. I have no idea what that means. if a billing cycle is 2 months, why would a case from septembe take till january just to return the money for a return label fee?

[cosmeticsandmisc]

thanks. how was the return label fee returned? did the agent process it or was it done automatically?

[suelel1968]

@cosmeticsandmisc i never got notification of it, but it came the same month. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@suelel1968 wrote:

@4_bathrooms @cosmeticsandmisc

I did get a refund for the value of the return label which was used. It was a case that annoyed me because the buyer was lying.  I asked ebay what i could do to defend myself against someone abusing the system. They told me to report the buyer for abuse of the not as described policy and that they would refund the postage - and thet did.

Normally i would just let them keep the item but in this case he was a liar.

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Apologies for my mistake and thank you for clarifying. Reporting the buyer for abusing the MBG was key although it's generally 50/50 whether an eBay-purchased return label gets refunded or not. There are two ways of filing such a report; one is by using the "Report a problem" link in the case whilst the other is the normal reporting method found here. There is a difference between the two methods - the "Report a problem" link found in the case actually closes the original INAD case and effectively opens a new case against the buyer - I've personally found this to be the best route for reporting MBG abuse. 

[cosmeticsandmisc]

Yeh, im being lied to by these agents. She told me it takes 2 business cycles and that i'll see it in January. By that point the transaction info won't even be available. 

[cosmeticsandmisc]

I don't see the 'report a problem' option anywhere. report a buyer option only. agents have told me before they cannot change the return reason once it's opened.

[4_bathrooms]

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@cosmeticsandmisc wrote:

I don't see the 'report a problem' option anywhere. report a buyer option only. 

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The link that states "Report a problem" will only appear once the return tracking indicates the item has been delivered back to you; has this happened yet?

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@cosmeticsandmisc wrote:

agents have told me before they cannot change the return reason once it's opened.

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That is correct. The "Report a problem" link does not change the reason the case was opened. Clicking that link and filing a report stops the automated return process and opens a new case against the buyer.