Dispute Timeframe

[bombhead_1973]

I sold some earphones on 30th November last year and posted them out a day later (marked as dispatched). Now after over 2 months later the buyer has opened a dispute stating that he hasn't received them. Seeing as a long period of time has passed, I no longer have the tracking details for the parcel so I'm unable to trace the parcel. Will ebay force me to refund the buyer after all this time ?

[ruby*tuesday]

Your Buyer is out of time with Ebay. Is 30 days. They can Claim through PayPal though they offer 180 days Buyer Protection. 

Best to enter Tracking into Dispatch when you Post. Is Always there then for EBay to check if a Buyer claims Item Not Received.

[bombhead_1973]

This was the only time that I didn't enter the tracking information as I went to the Post Office. I normally use an online courier so have proof (that I can't lose or throw away) of postage. After 2 months I presumed it was delivered successfully and threw my receipts away.

[rusticrye]

Buyers have 30 days from the last delivery estimate on the order in which to open a case that they can escalate to Ebay.  After that timeframe, cases can only be used for communication with the seller. 

However, buyers have 180 days from purchase date in which to open a case in PayPal, and a similar timeframe with most card providers.

Your postage receipts should be kept for 13 months.  Unauthorised Account Use claims can be made for up to a year, as many people only receive their bank and card statements annually. If you don't have a proof of postage receipt to upload to a UAU claim, the only thing accepted for such a claim, you will lose your money and be charged a hefty admin fee into the bargain.

@bombhead_1973 

[*knight-rider*]

I`m assuming they`ve opened it in paypal, because their out of time on Ebay to do it.

if you can`t prove delivery via a tracking number, then they will win i`m afraid, so you may as well deal with it now, rather than later 🙂

Postage receipts/tracking details should be kept for at least a year, because that`s how long customers can do chargebacks. Anything i ever sold/sell, i would print off the paypal payment and then staple the receipt to it and put them aside. Always a good idea to add tracking to the sale as well when you mark as dispatched, this stops this happening in the first place.

[bombhead_1973]

This was the only time that I didn't enter the tracking information as I went to the Post Office. I normally use an online courier so have proof (that I can't lose or throw away) of postage. After 2 months I presumed it was delivered successfully and threw my receipts away. They have opened the dispute in eBay so far but we'll see what happens.
Once bitten...and all that