Getting refunds through eBay and Paypal

16 May 2012 18 Comments

By now, you have most probably read a few articles about online shopping from Mauritius. However, you should know that no one is safe from arnaques as we call it or small incidents such as

A purchase which never reached the destination or
A damaged parcel
An item which does not fit the initial description when purchased

As I said somewhere, eBay is one of the safest and probably the most secure shopping mall on the net. In the event of any problem, you can lodge a complaint in the eBay resolution centre and if ever, the buyer and seller do not come to an agreement, eBay reimburses you the amount while it deals with the seller directly. But let’s hope that you do not reach this point.

The refund

Assume that you have received an item which was not exactly the same advertised. In that case, you should contact the seller through eBay (important!) and report this problem.

You should know that ratings account a lot for the reputation, trust and worthiness of sellers. So, if a buyer leaves a negative or an unfavorable rating after the purchase, this becomes an annoying fact in his eBay profile.

After acknowledging that there was a mistake somewhere, he will then do the necessary to send you an amount for the refund.

The agreed amount will first be sent to your Paypal account and the credit card linked will then be credited.
Your credit card statement should display this transaction.

So, important point to note is that although that Paypal does not allow us to receive money on our Mauritian account, refunds do work. Also, I find it the right time to tell my readers that you should always carry out your transactions through eBay. If ever something goes wrong with your purchase, you run the risk of losing the chance to get your item or your money back. Never pay your transactions through Paypal directly.

Finally, do keep in mind that the refund process (especially the paypal-credit card transactions) might take some hours or a few days to appear.

Anyone got a personal experience to share? Questions are the most welcomed too.

Happy shopping!

http://www.facebook.com/winshaye Winshaye Ransoo

I did refund to clients in Mauritius using PayPal on my website and has been refunded myself in the past when shopping online.
I don’t know whether the money was transferred to their credit card, but I assume that those refunded can use the credits for other purchases.
Tek

what to do i if return for dead pixel
or if anyone has encountered this prob and had to do a return
what’s the ebay policy on dead pixels?
http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin Awootar

After how long did you notice dead pixels? On which device exactly?
http://www.facebook.com/winshaye Winshaye Ransoo

What should work is that when you get you item for the first day,
Take a picture of the item besides the package that contained it.
Also take pictures of the item not working.
There may be also several way to show the seller that the item is not working.
For e.g making a clear video record and explaining at the same time. You can upload it on YouTube, then give your supplier the link.
Many suppliers do consider it as a valid approach to check for defective items.
http://profiles.google.com/reena.dkl Reena Devi Kissoon-Leste

I got refunded 3 times I think…Once the original parcel came one day before the refund. When I asked the seller how he’d like me to settle for the 2nd one, he simply told me to keep them both Lucky me!!! Then just last month I got replacements for another parcel. But you have to make sure the seller replies within 40-45 days, if not you are not refunded.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003212888543 Niu Ming Zhao Zzammil

if im using a sbm smile card, it is a non reloadable card, then the refund goes into my paypal account or in the credit card? because i can’t re add funds on my card.
TL

In my case, one seller did a partial refund to my paypal account which was then credited to my bank account. A second seller sent me another item free of charge (free shiping too)
Vashish

i used a mastercard to pay for an item and if i paid via paypal guest, where will my refund go?
http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin Awootar

Since they have your card number, I guess that the refund will go there directly.
Pingback: [Guest post] Have any of your parcels been lost on the way to your house? | Yashvin, pages of my life
http://twitter.com/khalids19 Khalid Salim

I can confirm that i have received my refund in a sbm smile card after 2 days of full refund, so sbm smile cards work with refunds too dont worry;)
Jn

Hi Yashvin, I have a question regarding returns…I received a package today (a gift from a friend — she bought the item directly from ebay for me) but the item was damaged (not sure when that happened). I would like my friend to get refunded but I’m not sure how to send the item back to the seller who is in the UK (never really used the parcel postage here in Mauritius, but I get the feeling it might be a huge hazzle — as is nearly everything here in our country) do you have any info that might be helpful?
http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin Awootar

Hello.

If I’m not mistaken, the problem with damaged packages is that you will need to send back the item at your own cost. This however needs to be confirmed. Ask your friend to contact the seller and ask the procedures when the parcel is damaged. Will the seller reimburse back the shipping cost to you? If yes, will it be worth to send the item back because most often, the cost of sending a parcel from Mauritius is quite high (depending on what you are sending).

If you are really keen to send it back, you can go to the nearest post office and ask them the cost of sending your parcel. Might be good to bring your parcel with you so that they can weight it. You might be using EMS post to send it back.

A small story from me: I once purchased a saree from india for my sister. It costed Rs2000. When the saree arrived here, it was the wrong one. I mailed the seller who asked me to see how much it costs to send it back and he will mail me another one. When I checked with the post office, the cost of shipping it back was about Rs1000.

When I announced this to the seller, he told me to keep the saree and he reimbursed me the full amount. Hope that you will be that lucky!

Keep me informed
Cheers
Y.A
Jn

Thanks for your quick reply!

The item in question is a necklace/pendant (costing approx. $25.96 which is Rs. 804.76) and I am not sure how it happened (was in a rush) but one of the swarovski crystals on the pendant came off shortly after I took the item out of its pouch.

I notified my friend, however I will have to wait until I hear back from her (hopefully she’ll get back to me later today).

The seller on the other hand has an excellent ebay rating (99.7% Positive Feedback) and states that they “will refund the return postage only if the fault was ours.” and that “The item must be returned to us, in it’s original condition & packaging, within 7 days of you receiving it.”

I am only worried that it will cause a lot of trouble or procedures that will be time-consuming or that it will be blamed on me and that I’ll end up with a broken item. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. Thank you for your advice!
Jn

Good news! My friend managed to get a full refund without having to send the item back thanks for all your help!
http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin Awootar

Hehe! Felicitations

Don’t forget to share the post among your friends!
Kooldeep Ramsaha

ive been refund for some items i’ve bought on ebay but the money doesnt appear on my credit cards, but it appear on my paypal…help…
http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin Awootar

It doesn’t appear immediately on your credit card (either through ATM statement or internet banking access).
It might take a couple of days to see it (from personal experience with SBM).

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