Hi Kat.

Regarding seller protections, there doesn't seem to be any covering cases resolved without seller resolution.

I understand the usual rule that we must resolve cases within 4 working days but when the buyer opens a case due to Royal Mail delay, we are sending the buyer information about the delays and asking them to let us know if they still don't have it by a certain date. In most cases we receive no reply and since we know that most buyers don't bother to close cases or even tell us when they receive the item, we wait for a response but then the buyer simply comes back 4 days later and, without contacting us, asks ebay to step in, resulting in a loss of fees and a defect on our account.

This seems massively unfair, can we appeal this kind of defect during periods of industrial action?

If not, are we expected to refund every delay case, even though the item may since have arrived?

Doing so would be crazy because we've had upwards of 100 such cases over the last few months that simply closed on their own because the buyer received the item.

If we cannot appeal these defects, could you simply extend the time we have to resolve cases to allow for the strike days and subsequent delays?

What about extending the number of days before a buyer can claim for delay?

We had a case last week where a buyer ordered last Weds evening before the 2 strike days, was given an EDD of 3-4 days, opened a refund case on the Sunday and due to strikes this week probably won't see the item for another week at least.

We need some protection against having to issue refunds so soon after delivery, 6 or 7 days just isn't enough right now. The delivery date for RM post is always estimated, but many buyers treat it as a guarantee, even now and the system is allowing them to act as if it is.