A "return to sender"

[YesterYearsGoodies]

Looked for an answer in usps.com and came up with way too much information that may or may not apply. So does someone here have experience with a buyer like this?

Sent items the same day they were ordered, using USPS media mail and delivery confirmation. Tracking shows item delivered 4 days later. A month later buyer is claiming she wrote "return to sender" on package and returned "immediately". Wants a refund - says "much overdue" - and that she'll report me to as many places she can think of if she doesn't get it. (Nice good faith, eh?)

I responded that this was the first I'd heard she was dissatisfied, that I had already given her a discount and communicated with her about it, and that she'd get the remainder of what she paid for the items when I received them. She fired an email back that she had no proof that she returned it but that "I want my refund."

My FAQ clearly states that I'll refund the purchase price if the item is returned within 7 days.

My question is, will USPS actually return the package to me if she put it, unopened, in her mailbox after initially "accepting" it by not catching the mailman and saying she didn't want it? It's been a month - can I expect it to come back anytime soon?

[cosmicray]

Since you purchased Delivery Confirmation, what does tracking say ?

Media Mail is slower than Priority or First Class. No idea if the combined of both directions would be this slow tho. You may also want to check with your post office and see if they have a package held for you (possibly with return postage due). I see no indication in the DMM that Media Mail qualifies for free return postage (nor can I find out how it is treated if Refused).

Although the customer is calling this 'Return To Sender', it is more properly 'Refused'. RTS is normally used when there was a defect in the address preventing delivery.

edit: ok, I see the tracking shows delivered. If she 'Refused' the package (unopened) and the destination post office did the correct thing (doesn't always happen) you should see tracking showing the package on a return to you. If you did not get it back, and it shows delivered, and tracking shows nothing to substantiate that she actually sent it back ... I'll let you come to the likely conclusion.

[MaggietheCatsMeows]

As I understand it, Refused is when the postman tries to hand you the package and you say I don't want it and it never goes inside your house.
If it was of a size to fit in a mail slot or normally left in a mail box at the end of the lane or you weren't home and the postman left it at your door then you would have to take it unopened to the PO and say you were refusing it.

In any case it would be scanned and trackable on its return.

sounds to me like you have an inexperienced crook for a buyer who doesn't understand about tracking and thinks she will get the item for nothing.

[cosmicray]

I looked thru the DMM last night, in an attempt to see what the handling instructions are for Refused media mail. I could not find those instructions. My suggestion is call your post office and ask them what happens in this situation.

[SammysSupplies]

I found this from someone claiming to be a postmaster;

Yes - Media mail will be returned to sender

I work at the post office, on the window and I am a Postmaster. Often when I am processing a media mail package for a customer it will give me the option of changing it to "Bound Printed Matter" for the customer and saving them money. It explains to me on my screen that if they stay with Media Mail that undeliverable mail will be returned and if they change to Bound Printed Matter that undeliverable mail will be disposed of. I don't usually even offer my customer the BPM rate at this point because the difference in rates is usually about 10 cents. So, I can say with certainty that if you ship via media mail that your package if undeliverable will be returned to you. BUT, you will be charged postage for it to be returned to you. If it is forwarded, the receiver will pay postage to forward the mail. If you ship First Class mail, your package will be forwarded or returned for free. It also will be delivered much faster than media mail.

[cosmicray]

@SammysSupplies

Yes, that is more or less what I was reading, concerning the free return for Express/Priority/First Class. If the Media Mail package has been returned, it may be sitting at the post office with postage due.

[MoonwishesStore]

Returns always take way longer to receive than it did to get there in the first place. Of the items returned to me for wrong addresses, etc. we are talking 1-2 months.

I don't get why this customer thought the 'easiest' thing to get her money back was to refuse the shipment since if you are smart, you don't refund shipping when they refuse something, so she will lose that plus any restocking fee you might charge, etc. She thought this would be a great way to not have to pay return shipping to you.

I would just tell her flat out that unless you get the package back you will not be refunding her anything. She was responsible for taking care of the package to be sure it was safely sent back to you. Do you give refunds even if they don't contact you? You should require contact from them before they ship the package back, with DC. I wouldn't worry about her bad mouthing you where ever. If she negs you here, if you have all correspondence that you can show ecrater, they will most likely delete the negative and where else can she post about you? How many places would she be able to post about you that your customers would see it? The internet is a real big place and she may think she has some great power, but she will just end up looking foolish as most reasonable people know that you just can't write RTS on a package with no tracking and expect it to get where they think it will go and as fast as it got there and get a refund besides. This is the kind of case any refund would be less my hipping fee/costs, my PP/GCO fee, and a restocking fee of about 20% to pay for time for mess with all this. This is because none of this is your fault. If it were your fault, of course you bend over backwards to refund them and everything right, but that doesn't seem to the case here.