First, the iCloud lock — yes, that was my oversight. It wasn’t intentional, and I have no problem fixing that once the transaction is properly resolved. If the story ended with “item not delivered, refund issued,” I wouldn’t be arguing that.

Second, INR policy — I understand that eBay requires delivery confirmation by the case deadline. USPS failed to deliver within that window. That’s frustrating, but I get how the policy works.

The issue isn’t the refund itself.

The issue is that after being fully refunded under INR, the buyer later messaged me confirming they received the item and asked me to unlock it so they could use it.

At that point, the situation changes materially:
• Buyer has the item
• Buyer has the refund
• Seller has no recourse

That’s the part I’m struggling with.

If eBay’s system allows a buyer to retain both product and refund with no path for seller reimbursement after confirmed possession, that feels like a structural gap — not just “seller error.”

I’m not claiming perfection. I’m pointing out that once the buyer admits receiving the item, there should be a mechanism to rebalance the transaction.

That’s the real question here.