Buyer now wanting a refund - shall I say yes?

[paolosgirl]

I knew something like this would happen with this buyer - bit of a long story, but she now says the item hasn't arrived after I sent it last Thursday 1st class and have proof of postage. She has now asked for a refund, but the Royal Mail won't recognise something as lost until 15 working days after posting.

It's only £7.50, but I really don't see why she shouldn't wait the 15 days as I won't be able to make a claim until after then - plus I'm damned sure that she won't return the item when/if it turns up.

What would you do?

[Lilyloo]

Tell her to wait for the 15 days and then if she can pop to her local sorting office to check if its there.
If she still saying its missing then you can refund and claim it back from rm but you will need all her details to make the claim so get these first.

[Geepers]

Refund her and always pay for recorded delivery. Will people never learn that unless it is signed for you will have to refund?

[paolosgirl]

What details will I need to get from her?

[paolosgirl]

Geepers - I'm not disputing that I may need to refund her - I'm not 'people'! I'm asking if I should refund her before the 15 working days. It's only been 6 working days, including the day I actually posted it.

[Lilyloo]

You need basics name , address and telephone number and email i think. Get a form from the po to make claim its all on there.

[Geepers]

Chances are she is pulling a fast one so for the sake of your feedback you should just refund her and learn to send everything recorded.

[sixlostmonkeys]

sending recorded is not a fool proof way of avoiding lost items or receiving bad feedback. It does however give a tracking number you can pass on to paypal should a dispute occur.
This is not what paulosgirl is asking about though Geepers.

I'd respond to the buyer along the lines of - Sorry to hear you have not received your item yet. Could you please ask your neighbours if they have received it in error and also contact your local sorting office as often the postman doesn't leave a card. If you would then kindly let me know the outcome of these queries. Also, could you tell me the address of your local sorting office so that, if need be, I can contact them also.
It is still early days with regard to the Royal Mail considering this item as lost. They state 15 working days. In the meantime, between us we can attempt to trace it. I shall let you know should the online tracking show as 'delivered'.
Of course, if it proves to be lost in the post then I shall claim from the Royal Mail and obviously issue a full refund.
Thank you for you assistance in this matter.

The bit about the online tracking is worth including because if they are trying to pull a fast one they can slip up and reply saying it didn't have recorded delivery etc.

usually a message like this makes an item appear

[paolosgirl]

Thanks sixlost - what a great letter! Off to send her a reply now, so I'll see how it goes.

[Bucharest]

Make her wait. You did what you said on the tin, why should you now bend over backwards?

[sixlostmonkeys]

"why should you now bend over backwards? "

? because she has a customer who is experiencing a problem. As a seller if she helps out and is nice she may end up with a happy customer, good feedback, another sale........ and well, the world will just be a nicer place

[Bucharest]

Yes, but what I mean is, why should she get the refund now, when in all likelihood, the item will show.

I'm currently awaiting 3 items, all of which were posted more than 10 days ago. I wouldn't dream of asking for a refund yet...we all know the vagaries of the PO...

[sixlostmonkeys]

sure, some buyers can be impatient, but a little friendly customer service can go a long way. It's not bending over backwards, it's fulfilling your responsibilities as a seller (who has to ensure an item reaches it's destination)

[tootiredtothink]

Is this the same one who wanted item for the weekend but you didn't post until money had cleared in your bank?

If so I suspect foul play purely because you probably pissed her off (not having a go at you btw).

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do except always send recorded delivery.

sixlostmonkeys advice is fab - a great note which I may well steal if I ever go back to ebay.

[paolosgirl]

This is the very same buyer! I suspected the same thing too Tootired. It's so frustrating - I've got 100% feedback and always take my sellers responsibilities very seriously, so am taking this a bit personally atm. If I were to give her the benefit of the doubt I'd think it was more likely to be a result of the snow disruption and a mail backlog.

[paolosgirl]

Just had another email from her asking for her refund asap. It appears that she wants the item for the weekend, believes that she isn't going to get it in time so now wants me to refund. I've told her that I will refund but want to adhere to the RM guidelines which state that an item is classed as missing after 15 working days. Surely its not up to her to decide when something is missing is it?

Lesson learned - only ever send things recorded delivery from now on

[Lilyloo]

Paolo i would just reiterate what you have already said and leave it at that. Tell her you will contact her after the 15 days.

Sadly you get some buyers like this and even had you sent it recorded she probably would have found fault with it. It is frustrating , i got my 1 neg feedback out of 165 positive from a buyer like this.

Just chalk it down to experience thankfully most buyers are pretty reasonable.

[paolosgirl]

I emailed her to say that I would contact her after 15 days and again confirmed that I would refund her, or suggested that she may wish to try and resolve it through Paypal - which she has done! She opened a call and then escalated it straightaway to a claim.

You're right about some buyers. I'll put it down to experience and send EVERYTHING via recorded delivery in future.