E-Bay return/refund....need opinions!

17 years ago

I purchased some custom painted wall letters spelling Camryn's name from someone on E-Bay. I worked with the lady on the design and sent her a piece from my crib bedding so she could match the colors. It took her almost 12 weeks to get them to me (she quotes 7-10 weeks), but that's not the issue. Anyway, when I finally got them, I didn't like them. The actual design was fine but the colors were WAY off. So off that they didnt look good in her room at all. I didnt expect an exact match but the pink especially was a completely different shade of pink. And they'd been smashed a bit during shipping (she packed them horribly).

I emailed her to tell her that I got them but that they were slightly damaged and that I was disappointed in the colors. I never said I would leave her negative feedback, nor did I ask for anything from her. My email was just to let her know how I was feeling. She responded and apologized and to my surprise, offered to refund all my money if I'd send them back. I wasn't expecting that at all, but I took her up on her offer. I sent them back to her via Priority Mail and the tracking confirmed that she received them on Dec. 29th. I have not received a credit through Paypal yet.

I emailed her last night and told her that I'd mailed them and that I saw she received them and asked if she could confirm that, as well as let me know when she'd be crediting my account.

I know it's a busy time with the holidays and all so I wasn't expecting an instant response or credit from her. I'm just curious, how long would you give her to respond and take care of this refund before you took further action (whatever that action may be...) I'm not at that point, I'm just curious how much time I should give her. The refund amount, if it makes any difference, is around $76.00

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Comments (10)

socks
17 years ago
I'd give her at least a week. She has offered to refund you and received the letters, so you want to go easy on her for now to get what you want (your money). If you hear nothing from her, be sure to let her know in an e-mail that you will be taking "further action" on a certain date because you have heard nothing.

Just my 2 cents. I've never had this experience, but that's what I'd do.

Susan
debo_2006
17 years ago
Like you, I'd expect a credit immediately. The holidays are over now so that can't be used as an excuse. Besides, if she sells stuff on Ebay, she's probably on Ebay all the time.

But, give her the benefit of doubt of any holiday excuse and wait until mid-day tomorrow for the credit. If you don't get it, email her one last time and let her know that 6+ days have passed with no credit and your next attempt will be to escalate the issue if the funds are not credited immediately. After all, you did your part! Don't fret, you can always take it up with Ebay and/or PayPal (if you paid that way) or your CC company after trying to resolve it w/ the seller to no avail.

I had to do this with an item that wasn't as stated. No refund by the customer even though he said he would. It took several weeks to file a claim through PayPal, but I eventually won.

Just document everything and keep any email correspondence. If you have to fight it, Ebay and PayPal may ask for copies.

Good luck.
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summer_tx
17 years ago
Steph, after today, I would think most people should be getting their Holiday plans and trips wrapped up. I think by the end of tomorrow, you have every right to question her about taking care of her end of the bargain. I think you have been very patient even through the extended time it took you to get the letters which were two weeks later than expected. If she has a good feedback record, hopefully she'll do the right thing and get you credited and complete the agreed upon transaction. Good luck.
Tally
17 years ago
Since she was the one who volunteered the refund, I expect she'll honor the committment.

Perhaps she's waiting for another sale to fund her Paypal account so she can refund you.

I don't know, but I'd give her another week. Also keep all e-mails in case you need to file a dispute with Paypal.

Whenever I have a discussion with a seller regarding Ebay merchandise, I always send the e-mails through Ebay, not through my personal e-mail, even if I'm responding to e-mails sent directly to my personal address. That way Ebay has the audit trail.
maddielee
17 years ago
I agree with those who posted to give her some more time. She may be traveling, or taking a vacation from her business to spend time with her family.

Do you ever shop at etsy.com for custom items? I've never been disappointed in the quality of things I have ordered.
FlamingO in AR
17 years ago
I agree with giving her a couple of more days, Steph. I'm thrilled that she's offering the refund at all, because I know that custom things are hard to do for one person and then to resell (if possible) to another person. But since she offered, I'd give her a bit more time before escalating the issue.

I think since you used PayPal, you have lots of coverage as far as your money goes.

(I have to say that considering she had a fabric sample in hand, she really botched the job by not matching colors better. If you're offering custom work, you should be good at something like that.)
carla35
17 years ago
I wouldn't even count this past week as a working week. She could easily be on vacation and I doubt she expected you to return personalized material so quickly via priority mail. (Why did you pay extra for priority -that may actually be holding up your credit - she may have been planning on issuing you shipping credit too but when you sent it back a priority she may not know how much or what amount is fair to credit you). Was the "priority" shipping charge substantial?

Sellers send out stuff priority because buyers are waiting for it; but for returns that aren't seasonal, and especially those that are personalized, using priority is probably just a waste. I believe all that priority does is speed up the shipping time for an extra cost.

Anyway, I'd give it until Tues or Wed and then follow up if she doesn't respond by then. You may want to note that you expect to pay the shipping charges especailly considering the product really wasn't really incorrect or grossly misrepresented per se.
stephmc72
Original Author
17 years ago
I sent it priority because I wanted the elivery confirmation on it - you can't have that on regular non-priority mail. It was only around $7.00 to send it back to her. I doubt that's whats holding things up. And if she wanted to refund me my shipping cost, she could easily add it on to the cost of my refund because the shipping label states how much the shipping cost.

I will give her more time; I was planning on it anyway. I was not expecting an immediate credit. I was just curious exactly how much time to give her.
caflowerluver
17 years ago
Sometimes you have to get nasty with sellers on ebay. I hate to do so, but a lot of times they will just ignore you until you do.

I just went through a really bad time with a seller. I sent 3-4 emails and got no reply so I went to Paypal and put in an official dispute. When I didn't get a reponse from that I gave him negative feedback. I had warned him in one of the emails that I was going to do so if I didn't hear back from him.

I even waited 10 days before doing so. Funny he emailed me back right away after I left the negative feedback and offered a refund if I would remove the negative feedback. I didn't know you could do that, but told him I would once I received the refund. Why do people have to be this way?
Clare
Lindsey_CA
17 years ago
"I sent it priority because I wanted the elivery confirmation on it - you can't have that on regular non-priority mail."

We send our tax returns by first class mail, with delivery receipt requested, and it's only something like a buck or so more to add the return receipt for delivery confirmation. No Priority Mail is required at all.

Everything sent by UPS has delivery confirmation, as well as tracking along the way, and it's generally less expensive than the Post Office shipping. Everything sent by UPS is also automatically insured at no extra charge.

And I'm still waiting for a package from Amazon.com that they shipped via the US Postal Service. They have a delivery confirmation number which I can check online, but it doesn't show any progress between the time it's received at the Post Office and the time it's delivered. My particular package has been in Richmond, CA, since December 28. No Priority Mail involved in that one!

E-Bay return/refund....need opinions!

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socks

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E-Bay return/refund....need opinions!

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