Ebay - buyer claims never got item, tracking says otherwise

[cbrsurfr]

I did 52 separate sales transactions on Ebay in the last 3 months and finally have one that has gone wrong.

Sold a VW Promotional figure (got from buying a GTI in 2008) for $60 shipped. Buyer lives in an apartment. Sent Priority Mail with default $50 insurance. Cost me ~$11.50 to ship since it was over 2 lbs and it was double boxed inside a much larger box.

2 or 3 days after the package shows as delivered the buyer contacts me and says he never got it but that the tracking shows it was delivered in/on his mailbox. He says that's not possible as his mailbox is small and is in a bank of boxes. Told him to check with neighbors/mail carrier and his local PO. After a couple weeks of him sending updates and bugging his local PO he claims they've admitted the package was misdelivered. So they told him to file a claim - but he can't do that as he is the sender. So I filed a claim and it was of course immediately denied as it shows as delivered. So I appealed - citing the case number from the buyer's PO and that has now been denied as well with no reasoning.

I feel bad for the buyer as I doubt it's worth wasting all this time over $60, so I don't think he is scamming me. He's looking for his money back but then I'm SOL (no item, out fees/shipping) and I've done nothing wrong. So not sure what to do here. I'll probably get a negative no matter what I do.

 

[Elixer]

Should have sent it requiring a signature.
That said, do you have the initial paperwork for the case number in question? Is it actually a legitimate case number?
Seems to me that if you have that in writing, and you bring it to the post office itself, and talk to them there, they should straighten this out.

 

[goobee]

Basic Post Office tracking is worthless, they just indicate the package was delivered. You have to use returned receipt required or run the risk as what happened here.

 

[JEDIYoda]

As Elixer said -- Signature required guarantees that it gets delivered and not left on a door step!

 

[agent00f]

I did 52 separate sales transactions on Ebay in the last 3 months and finally have one that has gone wrong.

Sold a VW Promotional figure (got from buying a GTI in 2008) for $60 shipped. Buyer lives in an apartment. Sent Priority Mail with default $50 insurance. Cost me ~$11.50 to ship since it was over 2 lbs and it was double boxed inside a much larger box.

2 or 3 days after the package shows as delivered the buyer contacts me and says he never got it but that the tracking shows it was delivered in/on his mailbox. He says that's not possible as his mailbox is small and is in a bank of boxes. Told him to check with neighbors/mail carrier and his local PO. After a couple weeks of him sending updates and bugging his local PO he claims they've admitted the package was misdelivered. So they told him to file a claim - but he can't do that as he is the sender. So I filed a claim and it was of course immediately denied as it shows as delivered. So I appealed - citing the case number from the buyer's PO and that has now been denied as well with no reasoning.

I feel bad for the buyer as I doubt it's worth wasting all this time over $60, so I don't think he is scamming me. He's looking for his money back but then I'm SOL (no item, out fees/shipping) and I've done nothing wrong. So not sure what to do here. I'll probably get a negative no matter what I do.

If he's a reasonable person he shouldn't be giving negatives when you've clearly done nothing wrong. If he files with ebay/paypal he will lose because tracking show you've done due diligence. If he decides to be a dick you can appeal the neg and get it overturned:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-removal.html


Also, nobody is going to use signature on a $60 item.

 

[Craig234]

Wait, if they admit it was misdelivered, doesn't that mean compensation? Can't they say who they misdelivered it to and have him go to them and demand it or sue them?

 

[JEDIYoda]

If he's a reasonable person he shouldn't be giving negatives when you've clearly done nothing wrong. If he files with ebay/paypal he will lose because tracking show you've done due diligence. If he decides to be a dick you can appeal the neg and get it overturned:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-removal.html


Also, nobody is going to use signature on a $60 item.

--- Not true!

 

[agent00f]

--- Not true!

You can of course choose to pay for it, but ebay doesn't require it for anything below a fairly high value (used to be ~1k).

 

[cbrunny]

Wait, if they admit it was misdelivered, doesn't that mean compensation?

this would be my expectation. if he paid by credit card could have him just call the cc company and cancel the charges too.

 

[Bubblehappy]

I'd take the negative feedback. You have proof of delivery, and you can ask eBay to remove the negative feedback.

 

[Zee]

you run this risk when you use nonverifiable shipping. packages get stolen to apartments all the time since they just leave the box in the lobby (they dont go in and put it at the doorstep of the unit)

someone will eat the loss and it wont be the buyer. USPS is crap. so its probably you in this case.

do what the above guy says, take the negative and try to dispute it if you want to not lose out of pocket

 

[pmv]

Just this week I had a package delivered that said, on the tracking info, "package was handed to resident". I read this while accessing the web while not at home, on the day it claimed it had been handed to me. Rushed back to find it on the landing outside (where generally anything left will disappear within a day).

Surely, legally, you have a claim with the post office? If it's their tracking that says its been delivered, that's just them vouching for themselves.

I don't see how that is legally worth anything, or anyone could set up a company and just keep all the packages and say they were delivered.

(Though in this country, with Royal Mail, tracked items always have to be signed for - if they don't get a signature, they have to accept it hasn't been delivered - not sure I see the point of tracking if there's no signature required, isn't it then rather meaningless?)

 

[cbrsurfr]

My local PO says they can't do anything. They have zero involvement in the claims process. I think I'll try getting ahold of a real person in the claims department if that's even possible.

The local case number is legit as it shows in the tracking history, but of course I can't see any notes or details on it. For all I know the guys local PO could have told him to file a claim just to get him out of the building.

 

[Ns1]

the way it should work is buyer should file a claim with paypal, you submit your paperwork to paypal, paypal should reimburse buyer under buyer protection rules, and paypal should eat the cost due to seller protection rules.


lots of "should" there.

 

[amdhunter]

Was it the "Fast" figurine that was given out with Fahrenheit editions? I never got mine from VW and I bugged them a LOT about it.

 

[Elixer]

Also, nobody is going to use signature on a $60 item.

Why not? It is pretty cheap to get, and would have saved the OP some headaches.

As for the OP, what needs to be done is the person that didn't get the package, needs the insurance # from you, and all that, then they can make a claim. I asked the mail carrier when I ran into them today.

 

[agent00f]

Why not? It is pretty cheap to get, and would have saved the OP some headaches.

As for the OP, what needs to be done is the person that didn't get the package, needs the insurance # from you, and all that, then they can make a claim. I asked the mail carrier when I ran into them today.

You're paying extra for something that's only a hassle to the buyer, when 99%+ of tracked packages are correctly delivered. In any case it makes zero difference here since ebay considers the package delivered.

the way it should work is buyer should file a claim with paypal, you submit your paperwork to paypal, paypal should reimburse buyer under buyer protection rules, and paypal should eat the cost due to seller protection rules.


lots of "should" there.

Ebay isn't going to reimburse shit if the tracking shows delivered. It's not paypal's problem, esp since after they parted ways.

 

[JEDIYoda]

You can of course choose to pay for it, but ebay doesn't require it for anything below a fairly high value (used to be ~1k).

You missed the point - which is even though ebay does not require -- you at least have the satisfaction the item was in fact delivered to the proper person and Not just dropped on a random door step!

 

[agent00f]

You missed the point - which is even though ebay does not require -- you at least have the satisfaction the item was in fact delivered to the proper person and Not just dropped on a random door step!

Sig is a hassle for people who aren't home all day. As a buyer I'd prefer w/o.

 

[pmv]

My local PO says they can't do anything. They have zero involvement in the claims process. I think I'll try getting ahold of a real person in the claims department if that's even possible.

The local case number is legit as it shows in the tracking history, but of course I can't see any notes or details on it. For all I know the guys local PO could have told him to file a claim just to get him out of the building.

I only have experience in my country, but here, if you post something, you get proof of postage, then if it doesn't arrive you put in a claim with the carrier (Royal Mail in this case) and, up to a certain value only, they eventually - after a long delay - compensate you, if they can't prove, with a signature, that it was delivered. They might, if they can be bothered, require the intended recipient to formally state that it didn't arrive.

Logically, you as the sender had the contract with the carrier, so it surely makes sense that you, not the buyer, have to make the claim and get the compensation from them. The buyer on the other hand had a contract with you and you have to refund them.

The problem, I suppose, is that the PO's tracking claims it was delivered, so it might be difficult to get them to accept it wasn't (legally I bet they should as they have no independent proof of delivery, but who's going to bother suing them?)

 

[JEDIYoda]

Sig is a hassle for people who aren't home all day. As a buyer I'd prefer w/o.

you at least have the satisfaction the item was in fact delivered to the proper person and Not just dropped on a random door step!

 

[cbrsurfr]

Resolved itself - clock ran out for the buyer. I think he actually got it but was trying to scam me since the tracking was worded funny. Oh well he can no longer leave me bad feedback and paypal/ebay won't do anything since it's been over 60 days.

 

[Harrod]

I got scammed about a month ago, I sold an LGA2011 motherboard, with proof that it was working and also stated that the board would not work with the 2011-3 chips. Not only did ebay refund them the money, but they have refused to send the part back to me. I'm pretty much done with selling on ebay. From now on, I will just donate it and get a tax write off instead.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Bought an item off ebay ($60 range), USPS tracking stated it was delivered, nothing was dropped off though. I checked the surrounding streets matching my house number, checked nearby streets with similar-ish names, submitted a claim to USPS (which was worthless, about 2 months later i got an automated reply saying they didn't find anything amiss) and a claim to ebay, providing the IC3 complaint form they requested on their webpage. A day or few later, got my money returned. Dunno if they bled money from the seller or not, but I didn't get a nastygram from them or anything. Ended up ordering through Amazon who UPS'd it or fedex'd it or whatever.