Ebay - Items You Have Sent Not Reaching The Buyer

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 20 Mar 2002 Karma :

where do you stand?

i have had to make 2 refunds to people recently for items that I have sent that have mysteriously not turned up according to the buyer, i did this in good faith trusting in the persons honesty

but whats to stop anyone recieving an item then claiming it hasnt turned up? is it acceptable to say that the buyer agreed to standard first class postage and as such, the seller takes no responsibility for items that may or may not turn up

if this is the case, then as far as the buyer is concered the seller could have never even sent the item, and will probly be left bad feedback, so in order to prevent bad feedback (those who care) the seller is technically forced to refund the money, despite then being down 1 x goods and 1 x sale price, not to mention paypal fees and the cost of listing

its fine for big companies like amazon, the cost of sending out another item or refunding, is less than the cost of all the hassle to find out what happened to a lost item, but for independant sellers

what would everyone else do?

bear in mind that yes you can technically claim from royal mail for lost post, but only if you fill the receipt out properly, and when you send maybe 15 items on the same receipt, there is only space on the bottom to detail 4 items, so what do you do in this case?

im reluctant to take the items to the post office one at a time just so i can write the details on every receipt, sorry if this seems really trite and tedious to some people

thanks for any pointers
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

Davo · Davo To The Rescue! Joined: 04 Apr 2004 Karma :

Always worth sending ebay items so that it requires a signature off the buyer when the post is delivered. To me it's worth the hassle of filling out the appropriate forms

..... · Quote Me Happy Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Karma :

Send stuff Recorded Delivery. It's not much more than normal post.

karen_moomin · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Apr 2004 Karma :

I've had this problem selling items on Amazon marketplace. It's a Royal pain in the arse.

Firstly, the buyer should contact you saying they've not received the item. Respond straight away asking them to wait a maximum of 10 working days (this is what the Post Office advised me). Don't even consider refunding until this time has passed. Keep in contact with the buyer all the time to let them know what's going on.

In my case, I asked the buyer to contact his local sorting office after the 10 days were up. It turned out that the item was there, but the stamps had fallen off, and noone had contacted him to let him know. He gave me good feedback in the end Smile

I've found that mail rarely disappears, it's usually down to the sorting offices messing up.

I understand what it's like send bulk packages, make a note of all of the postcodes and keep the receipt they relate to.

Whosthedaddy · Super Spammer Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Karma :

Sold a 2nd brake lever for £3.50 with free p&p, I just wanted rid for a few pence.

The item got sent and a week or 2 later got an email about where is it? It was a public holiday and I had other emails saying that they recieved their goods which were sent at the same time.

A few days past and another email, 'where is it?'.

I explained that it was sent on xx date and gave a description of the package. The next email stated, that he still had nt recieved it and for the sake of a couple of quid he would bother leaving neutral / negative feedback.

I suspect he got the item and was after a few pennies back.

If you send an item, get a reciept or pay for special delivery. Its out of your hands then and its down to the PO fault.

Scamming b'stards are always after extra money or refunds, stand firm Thumbs Up

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sickpup · Old Timer Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Karma :

Every thing I sell goes special delivery.

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 20 Mar 2002 Karma :

that might be the way to do it,

Whosthedaddy · Super Spammer Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Karma :

carvell · Scuttler Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Karma :

Recorded does require a signature at the end, which you can check online.

The only bad thing with special delivery and recorded delivery is that if the person isn't in, then it gets taken to the local royal mail centre, and you just get "the person wasn't in". No idea if they've picked it up or anything.
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Yamaha TDM 850

Louise · World Chat Champion Joined: 22 May 2006 Karma :

I had this, I sent a home phone to the buyer... 45 quid it came too.
week later he filed a 'item not receievd' form without asking me first.
In the end Paypal ended up giving them half a refund, from my bank account Evil or Very Mad

I was not happy, happy at all. Hench now I send recorded. for the sake of a few pennies i fill out the form then I have proof I sent the item.
Besides, add it to you P&P and you cant loose.

Robby · Dirty Old Man Joined: 16 May 2002 Karma :

I had this happen a few times when I was selling lots.

I just filled in the royal mail lost in the post claim jobbie, and got my compo out of them. Mininum compo from them is 12 1st class stamps, which I think is worth about £3 at the mo.

I didn't have proper proof of postage - just a receipt with 5 or 6 things on and no addresses written in. At the end of the day you can always just write the house number and postcode on there at the bottom, its all my local postmaster does.