If you read online about Paypal and eBay refunds, you'll find a lot of rumbling discontent about the length of time they take to process and how when the date they fall due arrives the money still doesn't come in.
Recently I bought a flowery dress on eBay (I shouldn't have. I never keep them. But I did). The seller was right on the case and posted it off directly, and the parsley (that's what you call the postie who brings parcels, right?) dropped off the package at my house in no time at all. All good except that it contained a set of rather garish lycra sportswear for men. So I sent it back and asked for a refund (relief: I knew I'd never wear that dress, probably not even once). Made me smile though; I'd love to have seen the face of that body-building man when he opened the package containing his flowery knee-length dress.
The seller refunded me right away, and I got a message from eBay saying she'd refunded by e-cheque. Having never heard of this, I mentioned it to her just out of interest, and she was as surprised as I was — she'd never heard of e-cheques either, just pressed the refund button.
As you and I might guess, an e-cheque travels as fast as the offspring of a snail and a sloth. They thought the refund would take about ten days to reach me, so I waited patiently until their appointed day drew near. It still didn't arrive. I messaged Paypal and politely asked them to expedite this payment, and it appeared right away in my account.
Then this last week I bought a pair of jeans, again on eBay. I paid the money for them and all seemed okay. Then the seller messaged me to say eBay had blocked her email address so the sale couldn't be processed and she had therefore refunded my money (right away, at the moment of aborted sale). The only thing she could do, as the item had already been sold, was re-list it. She said if I would put in an offer again, we could re-do the transaction. Unfortunately, my funds being chronically dinky, I had to explain to her that even though the jeans cost only £10.50, until the refund came into my account I would not be in a position to put in an offer until her refund came back into my account. This happened on July 6th. My Paypal account estimates the refund will come back into my Paypal account on July 16th. They haven't even bothered with running some line about e-cheques this time; just slow. That means I have to wait patiently until next Tuesday and then message them again if it doesn't turn up, asking them to put the money into my account. I think that's a bit steep given that the transaction could not even be processed. Meanwhile the woman has lost her sale and had to go to all the bother of re-listing and changing the email address.
Perhaps I am cynical, but it does occur to me that if a bank can slow down the refund process to a significant degree, given the number of people who use eBay and Paypal, that must tot up to one heck of a lot of money making interest for the banking institution.
I am not impressed.
5 comments:
this seems to be the way of refunds. I double paid my cell phone one month, the providers website was being silly and it appeared it had not taken my payment, so I did it again and it was accepted, then checked my bank account and had paid twice. I called, even though they get the payment pulled from my account within minutes of processing, the refund back to me would take 10 days! This has happened in other situations too. And I know the company I work for really has a red tape process for customers and it takes almost 2 weeks, even though their auto-payments to us are immediate.
I think Greed, is the reason for the delays in refunds.
Bean
Hello Pen, "eBay Clare" here in South Wales, on this beautiful Friday morning.
Your "Hmm" post has struck a loud chord - dis-chord? - with me today! On 6 July I accepted a return from a buyer for an unwanted item, this despite having stopped offering "no questions asked" refunds almost exactly a year ago, which I had offered from the onset of my activity as a private seller in around 2009. I took the decision reluctantly, as a consequence of a return which I agreed and actioned immediately, only to find that the buyer had issued mendacious feedback, even before she had issued a formal automated return request without contacting me. Incidentally, the reason she gave eBay for the return was that the item was "Not as Described", with the added remarks that it was "too big"and "not as good as described" (Huh?). My description of the garment was meticulous and detailed with 12 photographs, described as "generous for label size", full measurements provided as always, plus my standard advice to compare the garment measurements against a similar garment which fits. Incidentally, this resulted in my previously 100% feedback score being reduced to 99%, where it has remained to date, because I've been listing/selling far fewer items during the past year than previously. So ONE example of negative feedback, and that's the result for a whole year; and my polite, reasoned request for it to be reversed, which I based solely upon eBay's own criteria for both returns and feedback protocol, was completely ignored.
Incidentally, I relisted the item at the original price and received instant and glowing feedback from the new buyer.
Fast forward to this recent - amicable - return, and this time it's Paypal I'm annoyed with, because my buyer has not yet received her refund money despite my having issued it on 6 July, the item as listed in my Paypal Activity list having stated on that day (and to date) that it has been paid.
However, my Paypal "Summary" list (a different list from "Activity", but also a summary - WHY?) still shows the word "Pending" in green, but with the words "Refunded" next to it! Go figure, as our American friends would say.
My bank acount has a direct debit set up in favour of Paypal, so that, inter alia, my having insufficient funds in my Paypal account does not delay unexpected refunds - or that's the theory! It took 4 days, until 10th July, for the direct debit request from Paypal to my bank to take effect. Why the delay? Online payments are usually instantaneous - why not this one? And Paypal has still not passed the money on to my buyer.
So, thanks to your post, I have now politely requested Paypal to release the refund money and (fat chance!) provide a few words of explanation and clarification of the reason/s for the delay - as if I didn't know.
In view of your own success in getting your own recent logjam removed with speed, I am hoping that my new optimism is not misplaced!
I check in here frequently Pen, and apologise for my long silence; but I laugh and cry with you and appreciate your posts a great deal.
Love and warm wishes,
Clare xx
Hi Bean — Yes, I think the refunds must surely be able to be processed quicker; these days an electronic bank transfer is instant, likewise a refund in a high street shop. Skulduggery, I say.
Hi Clare — lovely to hear from you! As your comment was absolutely on topic I posted it here, but if you meant it just for a private message, comment again "Please delete my eBay message" and I will (or email me). Lovely to hear from you, and I hope all is well in Wales.
For other readers, here's proof that good things do come of eBay — Clare and I have never met in person, we came across each other when I was buying something she was selling on eBay. Somehow as we messaged each other about the transaction we got chatting, and have remained friends ever since. I also have a very dear friend I met by giving away stuff on Freegle just as he had a home to furnish. So despite the blood-out-of-a-stone financial tactics of Paypal, there is humanity and happiness in it all!
Hi there Pen, I'm well thank you and hope you are.
No, no need to delete, I didn't even consider it! I just selected the "anonymous" option because I couldn't remember what my old Blogger monica/e-mail was...
Lovely of you to refer to me as a good friend, I am am grateful and humbled. I don't deserve it though, considering my long periods of silence!
But regarding eBay: one of my long-term favourite business sellers, on whose informative listings I modelled my own from the start, and who was generously forthcoming with advice to this novice small-time seller, seems to have ceased listing on eBay altogether, although her home page is still live. I can only assume that she got fed-up with negative trolling, malicious feedback and more, about which she had shared her thoughts on eBay seller forums. Such a shame - I miss her and other buyers must too. I haven't tried seeking her out on other platforms, but will drop her an e-mail one of these days and enquire what she's up to.
By the way, I heartily agree with both Bean and you: Greed with a capital "G" and Skulduggery with a capital "S"!
XXX
That's very interesting, Clare — about the other seller on eBay. Recently Tonia, another online friend, has pulled out of social media. just a short while ago she deleted her Instagram account. Some while ago now, I deleted my Facebook account. I am sensing a weariness about the relentlessness of online forums and marketplaces, at the same time as a questing after simplicity of life and small dwellings. A yearning for quiet. Now this could be just the company I keep and not at all true of the main body of the herd, but I do wonder.
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