O/T Ebay buyer claiming item not received - advice please? :)

[jcdenton08]

Hi, just thought I'd ask if anyone can give me some advice?

I posted an item to a customer by Royal Mail standard postage on 14th June, the customer has emailed me today saying;

"hi, still not had item ;-( rang postal office,nothing held4me, dey say must be lost. pls can u refund me asap as bought similar from townshop now. den il leave +feedback as mst b postal fault."

He is basically saying if I don't refund he will leave a negative feedback, yet it has only been 5 working days since postage; also, the fact he has bought from elsewhere doesn't cancel the transaction agreement he entered into when he bought from me. Also, all his feedback is set to private so I can't see if this has happened previously.

I have the certificate of posting but the item was not sent tracked or recorded; any advice on how to handle this please?


PS please no dickish replies, cheers

 

[Coleby1007]

Tell him to wait til the end of the week. If it hasnt turned up then, speak to the post office and give him a refund. Thats what i would do anyway

 

[Dalos]

How much was item ?

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Hi, just thought I'd ask if anyone can give me some advice?

I posted an item to a customer by Royal Mail standard postage on 14th June, the customer has emailed me today saying;

"hi, still not had item ;-( rang postal office,nothing held4me, dey say must be lost. pls can u refund me asap as bought similar from townshop now. den il leave +feedback as mst b postal fault."

He is basically saying if I don't refund he will leave a negative feedback, yet it has only been 5 working days since postage; also, the fact he has bought from elsewhere doesn't cancel the transaction agreement he entered into when he bought from me. Also, all his feedback is set to private so I can't see if this has happened previously.

I have the certificate of posting but the item was not sent tracked or recorded; any advice on how to handle this please?


PS please no dickish replies, cheers

Did you keep your proof of postage? If so, you should be able to get a refund from the Post office.

 

[jcdenton08]

How much was item ?

£3.99 buy it now with free delivery - it was a PS3 game I practically gave away.

 

[jcdenton08]

Did you keep your proof of postage? If so, you should be able to get a refund from the Post office.

Yes, I have the certificate of posting (I keep everything); apparently Royal Mail won't speak to me about it for at least 15 days, is that right?

 

[sully]

Unfortunately, because of the way Ebay and PayPal work, incidents like this will eventually be the death of the system, as Ebay always side with the purchaser if you can't prove that they have received it.

 

[jcdenton08]

It's just something about his message, well a couple of things. The post office telling him it 'must be lost' after five working days? Him going about and buying another copy and then e-mailing first thing Monday to ask for a refund? Having private feedback? Seems a bit weird.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Yes, I have the certificate of posting (I keep everything); apparently Royal Mail won't speak to me about it for at least 15 days, is that right?

Sounds about right, it still has a chance of arriving before then. Have a look on the Post Office website, it has all the details about claiming compensation on there.

 

[clippedgull]

I think you get a book of stamps for a Certificate of Posting claim if the item is deemed to be lost.

Edit: it's up to £46.

 

[Max Paper]

I think you get a book of stamps for a Certificate of Posting claim if the item is deemed to be lost.

Edit: it's up to £46.

Is correct, you're f***ed basically. I had same issue earlier in the year. He'll get refund and you'll never know if he gets it or not. Royal mail will drag it out and then give you stamps, waste of f***ing time. LEARN from this as I did, it costs an extra 70p or something to send it recorded, factor this into future postage costs

 

[kingcole]

As a 500 item a month seller on ebay I have bad news.

Give this person a refund. If you don't they will just go thru the Paypal resolution process and they will take the money off you anyhow.

As for the neg feedback. If this happens you will be able to get this withdrawn, as what this person has done is threaten you. ie, give me my money or else. Ebay don't look kindly on that, but it don't change their buyer protection policy.

The only way you can disprove it is to get a proof of delivery (proof of postage means F all i'm afraid).

Ebay buyers know this. For me about 1 in 40 Ebay sales are reported as never arrived, compared to over 1 in 150 in my website. Go figure.......

 

[adrian29uk]

As a 500 item a month seller on ebay I have bad news.

Give this person a refund. If you don't they will just go thru the Paypal resolution process and they will take the money off you anyhow.

As for the neg feedback. If this happens you will be able to get this withdrawn, as what this person has done is threaten you. ie, give me my money or else. Ebay don't look kindly on that, but it don't change their buyer protection policy.

The only way you can disprove it is to get a proof of delivery (proof of postage means F all i'm afraid).

Ebay buyers know this. For me about 1 in 40 Ebay sales are reported as never arrived, compared to over 1 in 150 in my website. Go figure.......

Yep agree with you here. Ain't worth the hassle. To get any sort of compensation from Royal you need to send at least via Recorded delivery, but Royal Mail told me they can't even guarantee delivery on that either.
The safest way if customers are prepared to pay is via Special Delivery. It has to be signed for.

The

 

[jcdenton08]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll refund him now and put in the claim with Royal Mail when I'm allowed. From now on I'm sending *everything* recorded delivery, no matter how small. Honestly, you'd expect better from an Asian man near Kilburn High Road

Apparently there is a buyer abuse report form you can fill in, where eBay review the person's account for suspicious activity. Is it worth doing?

 

[jcdenton08]

While I have eBay experts present, how do you recommend I handle the leaving of feedback, once they have left mine or on dispatch?

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Agree with you that his message does sound quite suspicious and it is pretty rubbish that Ebay will completely side with him. As to the prviate feedback, what's that all about?! Never heard of that before, seems pointless to me?

 

[Superphil]

As a 500 item a month seller on ebay I have bad news.

Give this person a refund. If you don't they will just go thru the Paypal resolution process and they will take the money off you anyhow.

As for the neg feedback. If this happens you will be able to get this withdrawn, as what this person has done is threaten you. ie, give me my money or else. Ebay don't look kindly on that, but it don't change their buyer protection policy.

The only way you can disprove it is to get a proof of delivery (proof of postage means F all i'm afraid).

Ebay buyers know this. For me about 1 in 40 Ebay sales are reported as never arrived, compared to over 1 in 150 in my website. Go figure.......

Exactly this, I always send things 'signed for', no ifs, no buts.

While I have eBay experts present, how do you recommend I handle the leaving of feedback, once they have left mine or on dispatch?

If he leaves negative feedback, just contact eBay through the channels on the site, tell them everything, and they will recind the feedback. You can also add a comment to any negative feedback he leaves, which allows you to explain. You can't leave him negative, so just leave nothing at all.

Happens to me occasionally, I've managed to get rid of negative (unwarrented) feedback a couple of times.


May I also say, that as a 40-50 items a month eBayer, I have never felt that eBay sides with the buyer, not the seller. I have always been dealt with properly and fairly when I've had an issue as a seller, to my 100% satisfaction.

 

[kingcole]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll refund him now and put in the claim with Royal Mail when I'm allowed. From now on I'm sending *everything* recorded delivery, no matter how small. Honestly, you'd expect better from an Asian man near Kilburn High Road

Apparently there is a buyer abuse report form you can fill in, where eBay review the person's account for suspicious activity. Is it worth doing?

Yes it is worth doing. If he is a serial non receipter, he will be found out. On the Power seller forum, we are not allowed to name or shame such people, but we do discuss our experiences, and if a good seller has received an unreasonable neg, then it is common for dozens of powersellers to add the offender to their blocked buyer list.

so in the end the buyer loses out.

You will be able to claim off royal mail evenutally, but you have to question the time spent filling out forms.

 

[Curryisgreat]

The suspicious thing for me is the fact that the purchaser claims to have been told by Royal Mail that the item is lost. Royal Mail will not admit to an item being lost, or allow you to claim, until 15 days have passed.

 

[kingcole]

While I have eBay experts present, how do you recommend I handle the leaving of feedback, once they have left mine or on dispatch?

I leave as soon as I dispatch. The idea of leaving feedback only once you have received defeats the object of it somewhat.

In the old days, us sellers could leave neg feeback for buyers, we cant now, so the feedback in this direction is really pointless.

So, my theory is, as you can't say anything bad, you may as well say something good as soon as you can. hopefully they will also think you are good. Works for me, not had a neg (upheld) in 8 years, although in that time have had 3 removed for basically threats, like the OP said.