eBay Refund Process

Hi All,

I'm a bit not sure about the refund process for ebay purchase. It's been a while since I go through this process.
Two weeks ago I bought something from ebay with the estimate delivery 7 Feb. The item was marked as shipped on 31 Jan with the tracking number from Fastway.
Fast forward to yesterday, there's no update at all from Fastway for that tracking number.
I contacted the seller and they offered to give me a full refund.
But I was told to close the case before they can issue the refund.

This is the thing that I'm confused as I thought the case should be left open until the refund is issued.

Below is the full reply:

"Dear customer, Thank you for your kindness, and before refund, could you please kindly close this case? Because we're not allowed to refund you by Paypal if the case is still open, once you close the case, we will refund you immediately, hope you could understand, your kindness will be much appreciated."

Is the above statement correct?

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Comments

  • +16

    NO! NO! NO! Do NOT do this!

    Because we're not allowed to refund you by Paypal if the case is still open

    That's 100% bullshit. They can close the case automatically by refunding you via the correct process.

    Make sure you have a case open in https://resolutioncentre.ebay.com.au/ and after a period of time, you can escalate to eBay staff to help if you still haven't received item nor refund. They'll usually force a refund and close the case themselves. I've been on the receiving side of both seller and buyer for this stuff. Don't agree anything outside the Resolution Centre as you're the only one that'll lose out.

  • Is the above statement correct?

    Yes and no….Ebay don't like it when sellers have bad transactions, so if the seller refunds via ebay its a mark against them and its reflected in the listing placement etc on search.

    They can refund via paypal instead, which means ebay doesn't see this.

    That said, once you close the case with ebay, I don't believe you can open another one if the seller doesn't refund you.

    If its me, just leave the case open, and when the time runs out for the seller, you can get ebay to review and rule on a refund.

    • That sounds like the statement is just straight up incorrect. So no and no.

      • That sounds like the statement is just straight up incorrect. So no and no.

        Nope, lets look at the statement quoted from the seller, first up

        Because we're not allowed to refund you by Paypal if the case is still open,

        This is correct, when a case is opened by ebay, it flags the transaction in paypal, so they can't refund.

        once you close the case, we will refund you immediately

        This is also correct, once the ebay case is closed, the transaction is released in paypal so they can refund that way. If they do, that is a different question.

        Thank you for your kindness, and before refund, could you please kindly close this case?

        They are not saying they can't refund via ebay, they are asking if they can do it a different way.

        But as I said above

        If its me, just leave the case open, and when the time runs out for the seller, you can get ebay to review and rule on a refund.

        • could you please kindly close this case? Because we're not allowed to refund you by Paypal if the case is still open

          This is incorrect - if they refund through the eBay process, that refund happens via the way that OP paid. If OP paid via PayPal, the refund would be via PayPal too.

          They can't directly refund in PayPal, but that's not the same as them being unable to refund by PayPal at all - they just can't do it the way they want to.

          • @HighAndDry:

            Because we're not allowed to refund you by Paypal if the case is still open

            As above, this is correct. Once the case is closed they can refund the transaction from paypal. While the ebay case is open the transaction is locked from paypals side.

            They can't directly refund in PayPal

            Yes you can, you go to the transaction and go refund.

            they just can't do it the way they want to.

            Things I said in my first post and why they want to do it their way, and again as I said above twice now

            If its me, just leave the case open, and when the time runs out for the seller, you can get ebay to review and rule on a refund.

            • -1

              @JimmyF: I think the issue is that they said:

              we're not allowed to refund you by Paypal if the case is still open

              This isn't correct. Because as you say,

              Once the case is closed they can refund the transaction from paypal.

              They can still refund by PayPal, just not directly in/from PayPal, when the case is open.

              If they refunded via eBay, which they can do right now, the refund still goes by way of PayPal.

              They're trying to trick OP with semantics but in this case, incorrect semantics.

              • @HighAndDry:

                This isn't correct. Because as you say,

                haha sure chop out the most import bit in the bit you quoted, being

                Once the (ebay) case is closed they can refund the transaction from paypal. While the ebay case is open the transaction is locked from paypals side.

                but sure whatever

                If they refunded via eBay, which they can do right now, the refund still goes by way of PayPal.

                Correct they can refund that way OR if the ebay case is closed they can refund from paypal directly.

                The later saves a mark on the ebay seller account, as I pointed out in my FIRST post.

                They're trying to trick OP with semantics

                As I said in the FIRST post, its a yes/no to the statement being correct, and again from the first post on this

                If its me, just leave the case open, and when the time runs out for the seller, you can get ebay to review and rule on a refund.

                So not sure why you keep dribbling on, clearly you don't sell on ebay and understand the processes at all. GO back and read my first post, its very clear of the reasons why the seller is asking this and I was very clear that they shouldn't close the case.

                • -1

                  @JimmyF:

                  Correct they can refund that way OR if the ebay case is closed they can refund from paypal directly.

                  Right, this is quoting you, they can't "refund from PayPal directly".

                  But they told OP that they can't "refund you by PayPal" - this is what's incorrect.

                  They can absolutely refund OP by PayPal.

                  • @HighAndDry:

                    But they told OP that they can't "refund you by PayPal" - this is what's incorrect.

                    You're a little slow or just out for a troll by repeating the same dribble over and over

                    Once the (ebay) case is closed they can refund the transaction from paypal. While the ebay case is open the transaction is locked from paypals side for refunds.

                    • -1

                      @JimmyF: Refunding in eBay still results in a refund to OP by PayPal, it's just not the seller directly refunding from PayPal.

                      But either way, OP gets the refund by PayPal. The seller is trying to pull a quick one.

                      • @HighAndDry: is actually correct here. The refund is initiated through eBay Resolution Centre which triggers an automatic PayPal refund. The seller is incorrect and trying to deceive/game the system, it's very common for overseas sellers to pull this trick.

                        I get your comment JimmyF on closing case and refunding from PayPal directly but why would they do it that way? That puts too much trust in an unknown party with no further responsibility once case is closed.

                        • @Hybroid:

                          I get your comment JimmyF on closing case and refunding from PayPal directly but why would they do it that way?

                          I covered why in my first post

                          Ebay don't like it when sellers have bad transactions (aka refunds), so if the seller refunds via ebay its a mark against them and its reflected in the listing placement etc on searches. They can refund via paypal instead, which means ebay doesn't see this.

                          As a 'seller' they are trying to protect their ebay account rating (that ebay gives you, not the rating number next to your account) and their search placement spot. I get why they are asking to do what they are doing.

                          That puts too much trust in an unknown party with no further responsibility once case is closed.

                          Agreed, and as I said in the first post, I personally would leave the ebay case open, the risk is why too high once you close it and not many appeal processes once closed.

  • Where is the order coming from? Fastway are having major issues at the moment especially in to Brisbane. I had a parcel sit with them from the 20th of January until the 9th of February. They claimed there was a "delivery issue" on Friday the 7th of February. It had been "onboard with driver for delivery today" since the 28th of January.
    Throw fastway a message on facebook and open a ticket on fastway's site ask them what happened. As that got action for me even though there was no sign of any for nearly 3 weeks.

    Keep the ebay case open for as long as you want/can specially if you would prefer the item instead of the refund. :)

    • Fastway is a major issue. I've literally had their delivery drivers text me to tell me they're not going to attempt delivery because they can't find parking, when my building has its own off street loading bay.

  • Its a TRAP!?!?!?

    dont fall for it.

  • Tell them that unfortunately your cat says that you are not allowed to close a case until the refund is received. As soon as refund is received you will close the case. Just being very helpful you would accept direct refund into your PayPal account.

  • Refuse to close the case. And just for trying to f with you, tell them you're pretty sure they're mistaken but you can check with eBay directly if they're not sure.

  • +2
    1. Fastway are notoriously slow and crap. Item is still probably sitting at a depot or in a truck.
    2. Do not close the case. This is a common trick. If you close it you CANNOT reopen it if they don't refund or stall until the end of time.
  • thanks for the feedback.
    I have asked the seller to keep the case open.

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