they should not. Just don't choose "Other" as reason for cancellation

I don't have any cases that have been opened on me but I do have two transactions that I canceled because the buyers asked me to.

The first bought the wrong ornament and immediately asked me to cancel the transaction and refund her payment.  I did so using the Buyer purchased item by mistake or changed mind reason.

The second bought the item, I shipped, buyer refused the package saying she changed her mind while it was in transit.  Once I got the item back I canceled the transaction using the same option, Buyer purchased item by mistake or changed mind.  I refunded, of course.

Since I initiated both of these cancellations will they count as defects?

Oh, both buyers accepted and the cases were closed and I got my fees back.  First one was Dec. 4 and the second one was Dec. 16 of last year.As a small seller selling less than 400 items a year you are on the yearly evaluation... which means you currently have no defects.

Your pop up Dashboard tells you what months it covers... As a yearly it should be saying: 12 months: May 01, 2013 - Apr 30, 2014 and across from that your number of transactions.  It's at the very bottom of the pop up on your dashboard.