Very long, complex story shortened as much as I can make it and have it still be comprehensible:

I did an online purchase & return shop. The merchant must be a fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants outfit. No return process on their website; I had to email them to request authorization. They said to just send the item back for a refund. They received it on April 18, but I never got confirmation that the item was received or a refund. I waited several days, then emailed the scheduler, who said to contact the vendor to find out the status. Over the next two or three weeks, I called and emailed the company *five* times. No response to my emails, and I was hung up on once after being on hold for half an hour and then talking only briefly to someone. I talked to someone there the week of 5/9. He was a jerk. He asked why I was returning the item (this was in my email requesting to return), who said I could return it (their email to me), and tried to tell me that I had never contacted them before that call about the return. A lie. He finally checked the tracking, saw that the item had been received, and promised the refund.

Throughout, I gave the scheduler status updates and asked for guidance as to how much I should proactively push the vendor. Seems to me that if you're evaluating customer service, the customer shouldn't nag.
She indicated that these shops needed to be wrapped up by the end of this month.

On 5/17, I got an email from the vendor stating that I had been refunded (it hadn't shown up on my credit-card account yet, though). I immediately let the scheduler know, and I was to finish the shop once I got the refund. As of yesterday, no refund had posted to my credit card. It shouldn't take this long for a refund to post back to the card.

I got an email from the scheduler yesterday asking for the status and stating that I needed to finish it yesterday. The survey has a required field asking for the date of the the refund. I had no date to enter, and I kept getting flagged to fill that field out. It looked like the survey couldn't be completed without that date.

I told the scheduler I didn't know how to finish the shop without this date. But I got back online and tried again to finish it without entering a date. Voila! It let me submit without it, even though it kept flagging me. So I finished it yesterday and emailed the scheduler to let her know it was done.

I got a very curt email from her this morning stating if I wanted to get paid for this shop, I had to finish it and enter a date. Apparently she hadn't read my email of last evening yet. Now, if I hadn't been able to finish the shop without that date, there was no guidance from her as to what to do. How can I enter a date that doesn't exist?

There's the history. However, I have another problem. The shop guidelines state that "shipping and fees" will be reimbursed up to $25." "Fees" are things like unreimbursed return shipping and/or re-stocking fees. NOT the cost of the purchased item. My return shipping was around $5. I paid almost $30 for the item. They're only reimbursing me $25, which doesn't cover the cost of the required purchase. I am out of pocket about $10. I don't think this is right. That cost is not a fee. It was the cost of a required purchase. I chose one of the least expensive items that met the MSC's minimum order instructions.

There's a fee for the shop, but I'm not taking that $9 out of my fee--it was far more work than it should have been.

Finally, my question is this: Would you take up the issue of reimbursement with the MSC, or would you continue to contact the vendor to get the refund? Technically, if I get the refund, I'm owed only the return shipping fee by the MSC. But I feel like that would get screwed up, too. I doubt I'll get any satisfaction from them--they're notoriously bad at communicating with shoppers. And after the scheduler's last couple of emails, I don't think she'd help. Not my fault the vendor is incompetent!

I hate to say this, but this shop took so much of my time--probably about two hours more than it should have, and I'm in the red right now--I'm tempted to continue to pursue the vendor for my refund. And if I get it, just leave it at that. I know that's not right, and I'm an honest person, but this has been such an ordeal, I feel like I'm owed the "annoyance factor fee."

How would you guys handle this?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2022 12:01AM by BirdyC.

Call your credit card company, explain the situation, and tell them you want to do a charge back. They can usually do them 90-120 days after the initial purchase.

It may be less work to file a dispute with your credit card at this point. Is this the type of MSC where maybe you could contact someone a little higher up at the MSC and explain the additional work you put in? I did this years ago with a shop that took much more work than anticipated and was sent a $25 check (in addition to being paid for the shop).

@dmm316 wrote:

Call your credit card company, explain the situation, and tell them you want to do a charge back. They can usually do them 90-120 days after the initial purchase.

I was thinking of doing this, and my CC company is really responsive. I have all the emails from the vendor to back me up.

But it still leaves me with the dilemma of, if I get a full refund through the CC company, what to do about what would then be an over-payment by the MSC? (Honestly, I think I deserve it for all the time I spent on this shop, but it technically isn't right.)

I think if the vendor ends up putting through the refund on their own in the next few days, without me contacting them, I'm gonna keep it. The MSC insisted that the shop be finalized yesterday (although I'd been led to believe that end of May was the drop-dead deadline), knowing that the vendor had promised a refund but that it hadn't shown up yet.

If I need to contact the vendor again or my CC company to actively chase my money and get it back, I really don't know what I'm going to do as far as the MSC is concerned. I'm afraid I'll end up out of pocket for the return shipping charge (that they'll debit me the full $25 instead of $25 less the return shipping).

This is the worst shop I've ever had in my approximately 8 or 9 years of shopping, bar none.

@nhgirl1970 wrote:

It may be less work to file a dispute with your credit card at this point. Is this the type of MSC where maybe you could contact someone a little higher up at the MSC and explain the additional work you put in? I did this years ago with a shop that took much more work than anticipated and was sent a $25 check (in addition to being paid for the shop).

Sadly, to get anyone at this MSC higher up on the chain is just about impossible. The scheduler has known all along how much extra work I put into this, but based on our last couple of communications, I doubt she would help me out. The report also indicates how much extra work I had to do on this shop.

I work for some MSCs that I would approach about some extra compensation, but this one isn't one of those!

I've done several of the purchase-return web shops since the covid shutdowns. With one exception, they all took more time, and were more trouble overall, than their guidelines and shop fees indicated or suggested.

If you have gotten along well with this MS company over the years you can give them another chance-- but no more web return shops!

As for getting your $ back: Your relationship with your cc company seems good, so I'd do a chargeback. I would not worry about being refunded too much unless it actually happens. At that point, who knows? The MS company may allow you to keep any excess.

Yeah, these have taken a bit more time than expected--but I'm finding that most of the web shops do, with a few exceptions.

This one took far longer than any I have done before. And definitely no more of these!

I think I'll at least call my CC company and ask if they can see an incoming refund that hasn't posted as pending yet. If they don't, I'll do a chargeback.

Get the refund. Keep it. The MSC is probably finished with you regarding this shop.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Get the refund. Keep it. The MSC is probably finished with you regarding this shop.

And I am more than finished with them, too!

Well, this is interesting. I found this even stronger statement about the $25 reimbursement being for fees, not to cover the cost of the purchase if not refunded: "The $25 reimbursement is to reimburse any shipping expenses you are out."

So, they're indeed cheating me out of the expense I am out of pocket on this shop. If I get the refund, I'm keeping it all and not going to fret about it.

If you have the shipping receipt with a tracking # and can go online to take a screenshot to verify the date the package was received back, I'd include all this in the information you send to your bank. The bank will then chase the merchant and you don't have to deal with them anymore. If I understand your last post correctly, it sounds like you will receive the shop pay and return shipping fees from the MSC and then the credit for the merchandise from the bank, or the merchant should they get their act together.

@Zek wrote:

If you have the shipping receipt with a tracking # and can go online to take a screenshot to verify the date the package was received back,

I have all of that, as it was required for the shop, so it will be easy for me to provide my CC company with that if I need to.

@Zek wrote:

If I understand your last post correctly, it sounds like you will receive the shop pay and return shipping fees from the MSC and then the credit for the merchandise from the bank, or the merchant should they get their act together.

That's what should happen, but isn't slated to. To try to sort it out now with the MSC, with me pointing out that they're going to be under-paying me, is a task too time-consuming and likely to be fruitless and frustrating. They're reimbursing me for less than what I am owed. Trying to convince them that they owe me the full amount of the order plus return shipping will fall on deaf ears. Sadly.

Thanks to everybody for your replies. I'll wait a few more days and if I don't get the refund from the merchant, I'll do a chargeback with my CC company. Such a PITA!

I wouldn't wait. I would go ahead with a chargeback request ASAP.

I don't do shops that require a purchase and return unless it is local. To much hassle for the money. I am trying to make money..not spend money. I hope it works out for you

I've always had a bad feeling about these online purchase-return shops, and have thus stayed away from them. I am sorry for what you are going through on this, and I wish I had an answer. But I want to know stuff like this about some of these shops and companies both. I appreciate you sharing. I hope it works out for you.

Great you have all the shipping information. Right, no sense in having the conversation with the MSC at this point. Sorry you had to go thru a painful experience, but thanks for sharing on the forum. This is information that other shoppers should know and the type of shops to beware of.

@BirdyC wrote:

@Zek wrote:

If you have the shipping receipt with a tracking # and can go online to take a screenshot to verify the date the package was received back,

I have all of that, as it was required for the shop, so it will be easy for me to provide my CC company with that if I need to.

@Zek wrote:

If I understand your last post correctly, it sounds like you will receive the shop pay and return shipping fees from the MSC and then the credit for the merchandise from the bank, or the merchant should they get their act together.

That's what should happen, but isn't slated to. To try to sort it out now with the MSC, with me pointing out that they're going to be under-paying me, is a task too time-consuming and likely to be fruitless and frustrating. They're reimbursing me for less than what I am owed. Trying to convince them that they owe me the full amount of the order plus return shipping will fall on deaf ears. Sadly.

This is the fourth purchase and return shop I've done, and I really haven't had issues remotely like this. There was a short delay in confirming my return and processing my refund by the first company I did in this round, but not too bad, and I got all the $$ back I was entitled to.

I think the problem is that some of these companies are really small outfits and don't have automated return processes and/or enough staff in place to deal with anything other than purchase-and-ship transactions. The fee on this batch was higher than on the first two I did earlier this year, so I'm thinking maybe the MSC has realized how much work they are. I hope so. But I'm staying away from them--unless the fee goes up more.

One can supply tracking information as proof of return.

Submit the shop as no refund received. One can supply an e-mail to the merchant stating that despite their assurances that a refund would be forthcommng none has been received as proof of no refund received.

As to costs beyond $25, I had had no problem askjng for and receiving more than $25.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2022 04:53PM by Rousseau.

This is exactly why I do not do purchase and return online shops, its always an issue.

@Rousseau wrote:

One can supply tracking information as proof of return.

I sent the tracking info to both the merchant and the MSC (in my report).

@Rousseau wrote:

Submit the shop as no refund received. One can supply an e-mail to the merchant stating that despite their assurances that a refund would be forthcommng none has been received as proof of no refund received..

I did both. The last email I sent the merchant stated that despite their previous email saying that they had made a refund, it had not yet shown up on my CC.

@Rousseau wrote:

As to costs beyond $25, I had had no problem askjng for and receiving more than $25.

Normally I wouldn't, either. But due to all of the mess-ups by the merchant (this wasn't the only one) and the complex and sometimes unfriendly communications with the scheduler, I was concerned that trying to sort out the fact that they owed me more than $25 would be a nightmare in and of itself. This MSC is infamous for not having clear guidelines and for not understanding what you are saying when you point that out to them.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2022 09:26AM by BirdyC.

At this point, you need to file a claim with your bank or credit card company for a charge back.