Item stuck at mail centre Royal Mail

[tranceenthusiast]

Hi all,

Fairly new to selling, so far have had no problems.

I've shipped all my items within an hour of purchase. With labels purchased via eBay.

Item dispatched last Friday from Hampshire to an address in Wales.

The tracking is showing the item at Swansea MC since Saturday morning. Today is my finally expected delivery date. 

I'm reading that if buyer requests, I have to send a refund or eBay will punish me and give him a refund from my account anyway. 

So my question is, If the item does not arrive today, What is the best course of action here?

Although the item is not expensive, I do not want to be in a situation where I have refunded and then suddenly Royal Mail deliver the item leaving me with no compensation and the buyer with my item for free. 

Contacting RM is impossible nowadays. 

 Hopefully someone can put my mind at rest here. 

Many thanks in advance.

(considering pulling my other items is this more hassle than it's worth?)

[tressygirl]

Those dates are only eBay's estimated dates, but yes,  even though  ' Estimated' is written on the listing,  some impatient buyers do  open a case for item not received if they do not receive it on the date specified on listings.

Enter the tracking number of items, when you mark them as dispatched,  then if cases for not received are opened,  you do have 3 days to refund, if within that time item arrives,  the case will close within 2 hours in your favour.

Personally,  I would extend your dispatch time by a day or 2 this gives a little leeway for delivery as we all know Royal Mail and couriers do not always deliver well on time.

[tranceenthusiast]

Thanks for the reply. I've never had to enter tracking, when you purchse the label through eBay it does that automatically, so tracking is all showing in account. Every other sale has been fine. 

I have my dispatch time at 2 days. But I've got everything sent on the day of order so far. ( wanting to provide good service  / avoid problems ). 

 
What if the item arrives after I've refunded and after the 3 day window? RM won't let me claim compensation for the item until at least 7 days after expected date. 

Anyone know exactly why the item would be sat in Swansea MC for the best part of a week? 

I'd really prefer to not be left out of pocket due to the poor service of Royal Mail. After all the whole point in selling is to raise funds to help me get through Jan / Feb. 

[tressygirl]

Aaah yes sorry ,  I don't buy eBay labels I pay over the counter postage, your tracking then s immediately uploaded when scanned at the PO.

No idea why it should be sat in Swansea.

If an item arrives after you have refunded,  then there's nothing you can do to retrieve the money through eBay,  as the case closed with the refund.

You have to then rely on the buyer's honesty to repay you by cheque,  bank transfer or by a PayPal Friends and Family payment.  Or you can send them a PayPal invoice,  though nothing then to enforce them to repay you.

Dispatch within 2 days is cutting it fine. Whilst you are probably dispatching well within that time, you are still then reliant on Royal Mail / courier services to deliver on time.

[tranceenthusiast]

" If an item arrives after you have refunded,  then there's nothing you can do to retrieve the money through eBay,  as the case closed with the refund. 

You have to then rely on the buyer's honesty to repay you by cheque,  bank transfer or by a PayPal Friends and Family payment.  Or you can send them a PayPal invoice,  though nothing then to enforce them to repay you. "

Wow unbelievable, That's bad isn't it? Where's the protection for sellers? I really struggle to understand how eBay gets away with that? Especially after taking our money. I really hope this does not happen here. 

Sound advise on dispatch time. I'll change all my listings to 5 days. I had it set to one originally. I assumed having higher would decrease likelihood of selling. Personally I can't stand waiting. I ordered some items Monday this week sellers still haven't disapstched.. 

Anyway let's not get distracted here. The buyer has not yet contacted me, I expect he will if the item is not delivered today. Is there any possibility that the item has been delivered but the postie has not scanned? Or would that be impossible as it would surly need to get to the delivery office before going out for delivery? 

So frustrating, this situation is completely out of my hands. I did everything right. Fingers crossed it updates tracking today, not looking likely though. It's almost 7am.. 

[tressygirl]

I have a 3 day handling time, and dispatch sometimes within hours of payment, and have never had a late dispatch notification.

The rare INR ( item not received ) I have had,  I used my 16 digit number into Royal Mail's Track and Trace showing delivery I message the buyer this, and it turns out partner's received item and forgot to tell them. Tracking showing delivery will win any case.

People are usually honest,  well one would hope so, and if an item does arrive after the buyer has been refunded, most would not  wish an item for nothing and will pay.

One more thing to be aware of eBay's tracking is notoriously slow to update and show a true picture.  Do you use Royal Mail ?  Then, it's their tracking which if showing delivery wins cases.

Truly worry not, no need to check status of items,  until if you receive a case for item not received.

[1956glyn · Accepted solution]

Hi

Sometimes items are not scanned properly by RM so i would wait until the buyer contacts you saying they have not received their item.     When i buy something on Ebay i usually wait about 3 days after the estimated delivery date before i contact a seller because i know the delivery dates are estimates and set by Ebay and often unrealistic.        Yes sometimes items are actually delivered but not properly scanned 😞      I would not chase the buyer asking if they have received the item........they may have but the tracking says otherwise and IF they are dishonest this may prompt them to open a case.

I would try and be patient.    If the buyer contacts you saying they have not received the item then tell them to open a not received case under Ebays Money Back Guarantee and deal with them through the case and refund them.    You will then have to try and make a claim for compensation from the carrier.

[tranceenthusiast]

Yep, When you click on tacking no. It takes you to the RM page. It's been saying Item at Swansea mc since Saturday. 

I mean relying on the honesty of a stranger that lives half way across the country / in another country is not ideal is it? There should be more protection for sellers.

Perhaps I'm just thinking of worst cases scenarios here. But when if comes to finances, I like to make sure I've covered all bases. The system is very open to abuse isn't it. That's what worries me here. If eBay factored in the 7 day wait for RM compo claim, it would be much better for sellers. 

True, I'm prob / hopefuly worrying for no reason here. But does seem odd item hasn't updated since Saturday. As I say I like to make sure I've got all the right information. Definitely helps to get info from experienced sellers. 🙂 

[tranceenthusiast]

" People are usually honest " You are a very sweet person. Unfortunately I'm more of a cynic. Sadly life's thought me people are usually very dishonest.

[tressygirl]

You are worrying too soon, and to be honest I think if I checked the tracking on my items,  I'd be on high blood pressure pills.  Never do this beforehand truly no need.

Worry not,  and just attend to cases if and when they appear.

[tranceenthusiast]

Cheers mate, also sound advice. I was think the same about not contacting them and only dealing with it once they contact me. 

Ok guys you've both really helped me out here and put my mind at rest. Luckily the item was not expensive. 

After listening to both of you, this is what I'm going to do. Wait, let eBay deal with the refund via MBG and refund. I will then go through RM compensation. If however it arrives, and the buyer doesn't give me the money back. I'll just sadly have to write it off. It seems that this is sadly the risk we take when selling on this platform. 

I'm actually going to pull all my other listings. Which is a shame as I had been enjoying the sales. 

Thanks to both of you.

Have a great day, legends. 

[tranceenthusiast]

Ha ha, I shall take your advice, This is the solution. 

[tressygirl]

Do not pull your items,  you say you enjoy selling on eBay,  so as they say Keep Calm and Carry on.

Truly issues are few and far between.  They do happen of course, but no point worrying about IF something can happen.

Carry on selling, extend that dispatch time to give you that extra time for those Royal Mail ponies the time they need to gallop to their delivery places.

Remember no news from your buyers is generally good news, most will not leave feedback so don't think no feedback means an item hasn't reached its destination.    Pack , post and forget that transaction.

@tranceenthusiast 

[tranceenthusiast]

Thanks, yeah think I will leave them. I put my dispatch time on 5 days for all items don't have much left to sell. 

It's definitely not moving from Swansea MC. Utter shocking can't even contact them. 

It does make me think twice about selling this way though. Hopefully will be able to get refund from RM if buyer contacts me. And hopefully it won't suddenly arrive the refund and compo claim are sent. 

I kind of knew what would happen here btw, I just wanted to have it all confirmed by experienced sellers. RM are shocking and the lack of protection eBay give us as sellers is also really bad.

I'll post the results for anyone wondering in a few weeks time. 

Thanks again 

[tranceenthusiast]

Trying to get through to RM, left on hold for 45 mins. Phone rings and goes to a static line and then hangs up. Absolutely shocking.

Listening to an automated woman voice saying  "we'd like to thank you in advance for showing kindness and consideration to our team as they do the very best to help you" Yeah very funny... 

[tranceenthusiast]

Update;

Resolved :

Buyer left positive feedback , assume he has the item.

Rm still have not marked as delivered it's still saying it's at Swansea Mail Centre 😂

[tressygirl]

Excellent,  and you have given the best example of why I personally,  never check tracking until necessary, that is, only when a case for item not received is opened.

Enough stresses in daily life,  without aiding to it.

Glad it's all sorted.

@tranceenthusiast 

[leon9503]

Hi, not sure if you are going to continue selling but to clarify for others also:

It's the sellers legal responsabilty to make sure the item is delivered in to the hands of the buyer, the 'hands' part is important, it has to be handed to a real person, that's not EB terms, as they DO NOT override Consumer Protection Laws/Rights.

In recent times we've had Recorded Post delivered but we've not signed for it so if we were dodgy then we could easily claim as not delivered as whatever signature was supplied it wasn't ours, which is easily provable, pictures are not proof of delivery as one could easily take the pic then immediately pick the parcel up and off it goes.

One of the last ones we had was a pic of a signed for letter, half stuck in a letter box that was 5 Houses down the road! We knew the neighbours and recognised the door so easily sorted and that was considered 'Delivered' ; ) Oh and never ask parcels to be left in a Blue Bin as thieves know this.

If a courier calls here with a Parcel and hands it to me in person and I sign for it, then tries to take a picture I tell them to get lost, one they are on private property and two, they've handed it to me in person so no picture is needed, it never was before the failure of the postal system, so why now?

An item left on the doorstep with a picture is not legally delivered, regardless of what EB might say, but it's up to the seller to know their 'rights', it makes it harder but the Law is the Law.

Regarding refunds:

If someone is refunded for an item not delivered and then it turns up later on, EB do not get involved as the seller should have or could have made a claim for the item already and already been refunded by the Courier and then try and ask the buyer for payment again, yes there are shady sellers also, I had one try and get me to make a claim for non delivery when regular sellers know, buyers can't do that, it's up to the seller to make any claim, and as that is outside of EB's control why would they get involved.

Sometimes though matters are confused by some of the responses on forums like this, not in this thread  ; ) As there are lots of misinformation about what's Legal and not, but, I repeat, EB's 'Terms' do not override Consumer Protection Laws, regardless of what you might read.

Sadly though the system is designed to be manipulated because EB only really cares about fees and a lot of the claims are not dealt with by real people, the Bot is king on EB and responses are automatic/default in most cases.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck in your endeavours.

Regards

P.S. Do not rely on EB's Tracking System, it is broken, even with the recent updates, I've still got items 'Out for delivery' from 2023. Lol.

[tranceenthusiast]

Thanks, Yeah there certainly is...

I'll be taking your advice with future sales. I posted another thread last night over on postage section. Wondering if you could check it out?  Selling a larger item, Just wanting to make sure I have all facts. 

[tressygirl]

I'll try and find it.

@tranceenthusiast