Parcel probably gone missing - do I refund buyer immediately?

[BreadIsBetterToasted]

I sent an item via CollectPlus standard delivery which was supposed to take 2 working days to arrive but ended up mysteriously taking a week, with buyer and me both chasing it. Eventually according to online tracking it arrived on Saturday.

However, today I received a message from the buyer stating that CollectPlus had emailed to say the parcel had been left in a conservatory, which is not possible as he lives in a block of flats, and has asked for a refund.

I contacted CollectPlus and they said they will conduct an interview with the driver to find out what happened, and if the parcel is missing I can start a claim with them (this will take 1-2 working days).

My main question is whether I am supposed to refund the buyer straight away, or first wait for the verdict from CollectPlus?

Looking through eBay forums etc it seems that lots of people have had similar problems with CollectPlus before, but I suppose there is always a small chance the buyer may be lying or could have not found the parcel yet, which is why I am hesitant to send a refund straight away.

If you upload the tracking details to eBay, and they show the item as delivered you will win any case and won't have to refund.

It's up to you how you proceed though. Did you purchase adequate insurance for the item?

I'd definitely wait and see what CP say before deciding if you will refund or not. As explained you don't have to.

I'd upload the tracking details against the sales record, if you haven't already.

In similar circumstances we refunded and then started a claim (Hermes in our case). Luckily, in our case parcel eventually turned up had been delivered to wrong address and then hidden to keep safe! and the buyer then repaid me. We are a business and want to avoid negative feedback but I think in this case it paid us to do the refund straight away. i suspect we would have won the claim as like your case Hermes claimed it had been delivered to a way that was impossible to do so.

CollectPlus now seem to be admitting the parcel is lost and I have started a claim with them.

Could anyone tell me the best way to go about refunding the buyer? I was able to list the product for free but would it be possible to get the final value fees back from eBay?

I found a help page on eBay that says "If a buyer opens a case and you refund them within 8 days, we will refund your final value fee for the transaction" .

Therefore, should I ask the buyer to open a case, or will this be a black mark against me as a seller?

I want to refund him ASAP, but what is the best way to go about it?

I just go to PayPal and do the refund. PayPal / eBay sort out the refund of the final value fee. Don't bother opening a case.

If you don't get the buyer to open a case you won't get your eBay fees back.
There is no penalty for having a case opened against you (unless you fail to resolve it), so no need to fret.

Ask buyer to open a case and you will be able to refun them in one click, and you will get your eBay and PayPal fees back. It's the simplest method by far.

I've used Collectplus a couple of times, no problems so far, I always pay a £1 extra to make sure a signature is collected though.