Buyer wants to refund item but isn't returning item.

[jammybean]

Sold an expensive pair of shoes which were nearly new but worn a few times and i listed as such. But i made a mistake on the size. Listed them as a 7 when they were actually a 6. Buyer requests refund i agree as long as i receive the item.
She then wants me to pay return postage and i tell her I'm not obliged to pay it however if she posts them the following day i will cover the costs.
She then opens a case... its been nearly 3 weeks and she still hasn't returned them and the case is still open. I keep getting excuse after excuse, she's been sooo busy at work and hasn't had time to post them although i know theres a post office on the next street from her office!!! Sorry for the rant...WWYD? Can the seller escalate the case as I'm not getting any response from her.

eBay will refund her.

She probably realises this, which is why she hasn't sent it back. :(

You are obliged to pay it if you make a mistake with the listing - how is it reasonable that she pays in any way for the wrong size?

I have been on ebay for years and not once for whatever reason has someone payed my return postage. But thats besides the point. I did offer to pay it if returned it in good time and she hasn't!

If the goods were not as described then you are obliged to refund her and pay the return postage. Why should she be out of pocket for your mistake?

Ok, I'm now confused - did you actually say you would only refund postage if she posted the NEXT day?

Maybe she's taken umbrage at that - that's no excuse for waiting weeks but maybe she thought because she couldn't post the next day that you weren't going to refund postage??

The shoes come up big hence why they fit a size 7. Of course it was my mistake which I'm trying to rectify, I can only do so if she returns the item!

I said if she returned the item in good time i.e. post it asap i would pay her postage costs. But i've heard nothing from her apart from promising she would post them on Friday. She received the shoes on the 6th so she's had ample time to return them.

you are quite right - she should return them to you before you refund her the money

If they are not as described you can of course pay her return postage costs too. If she opens a case with eBay they will want proof that they have been returned before they refund her the money.

Fergoose, I wouldn't count on that.

I got a refund last week from eBay over an item I bought, and I wasn't even asked at any point by eBay to return it.

Oh and I never did bother to return it! Though I would have had the seller paid me the postage to do so, like I originally requested. .

chops - that would probably have been a no fault refund from eBay I guess? Seller kept your money, and you kept the item

Seller was at fault, not sure where the refund came from to be honest. I assumed it was the seller.

Dh thinks it was the seller.

I have had this three times this year (item not as described) and each time seller has refused to refund return postage. Each time I have opened a case and have had a full refund without having to return the items (which I have sent o the local charity shops.)

I have just had this with some maternity tops I bought off eBay. They were all listed as a size 18. Out of 8 tops, only 2 of them were. The rest were size 16 or Large and they were nowhere near big enough to fit me pre pregnancy let alone halfway through.

Seller was really good. We returned the items, she refunded my money via PayPal and I have just received a cheque in the post today for my return postage.

I'm under the view of why should i be more Than £5 out of pocket for tops that don't fit when it wasn't my fault.

as far as I am aware eBay will ask you to return and then refund from the seller, but if eBay don't tell you to return they will award a no fault refund from their money. I have never heard of a seller being forced to refund without the item being returned.