Evri delivered to safe place, buyer now states item missing.

[oae2021]

So I need a bit of advice please.

I've sent an item via evri tracked and the item has been marked as delivered left in secure location.

From looking at the proof of delivery picture and Google maps I've worked out it was left behind a black wheelie bin and location of where it was left meant that no one would be able to see it if they walked passed the persons house. The only way they would have known it was there is if they had seen it being left there. 

I've looked at the tracking history and it did give the buyer a 1 hour estimated delivery slot along if they were not going to be in.

I've created a case on with evri as a sender and encouraged the buyer to do the same to apply pressure to evri.

As a seller where do i stand if the buyer request a refund? Evri shows it being hidden away prety well. The buyer had information when the delivery would happen. 

 

 

[oae2021]

The buyer has not appealed the case but has filed a payment dispute through their payment provider. I have provided the tracking details. Ebay has told me that this dispute has qualified for seller protection and nothing will be deducted from my funds.

[pillarboxred]

This low standard of service from Evri is insupportable. Stop using it. EBay is ripping us off by promoting bad cheap services and making us responsible when they fail.

[pillarboxred]

Well I hope eBay stands by this resolution but will it?  When a buyer told me an item hadn't come, it was showing as delivered so a claim could not go forward. Four days later the buyer told be it had finally arrived that day but was broken. EBay allowed the buyer to change her story and I had to refund her. I have no idea what really went on with that parcel but it highlighted to me that Seller Protection is not really trustworthy.

[pillarboxred]

It used to be that it was up to buyers to supply a delivery address that was safe and if a parcel was delivered to that address then the seller's liability ended there. A £350 pair of vases I sent were delivered to a doctor's surgery. The vases went missing but, fortunately, I was not liable because the surgery was deemed to be open to the public and therefore not safe for the purpose of eBay Buyer Protection. I hope that principle is still in operation.

[*vyolla*]

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@oae2021 wrote:

The buyer has not appealed the case but has filed a payment dispute through their payment provider. I have provided the tracking details. Ebay has told me that this dispute has qualified for seller protection and nothing will be deducted from my funds.

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Okay, all good then, it's gone as predicted.

The buyer has got their money back and you're protected by eBay Seller Protection so have not lost out here either. 

[aj_swift]

I usually offer these guys assistance filing out a police report about the theft from their property. For some reason most of them go away once I suggest that.

[*vyolla*]

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@aj_swift wrote:

I usually offer these guys assistance filing out a police report about the theft from their property. For some reason most of them go away once I suggest that.

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As a buyer, I first contact the seller and let them know that there's a problem with the delivery, giving them the chance to try and sort it out with their courier. If they ignore me or tell me that it's basically tough, I go straight to a not received chargeback.

If the seller is nice I open an eBay item not received claim (so that the seller doesn't lose out), and when I lose that I issue the not received chargeback. 

If any seller offered to help me complete a Police theft report I'd just ignore them, to be honest. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@pillarboxred wrote:

It used to be that it was up to buyers to supply a delivery address that was safe and if a parcel was delivered to that address then the seller's liability ended there. 

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It still is where eBay is concerned and an INR case has been opened.

The advice the OP found was from another thread I posted in. In that thread I made a point about the OP being a private seller; this is because a seller's legal obligations are different depending upon whether they are a private or a business seller.

Legally, a private seller is only responsible for handing the item over to the agreed carrier; whatever happens after that isn't their problem. However, eBay insists on an online delivery confirmation for orders up to £450 to defend an INR case meaning private sellers have an extra obligation when selling via eBay. This is still perfectly legal as it is covered in eBay's (never read) User Agreement which is a binding contract. As long as the seller has an online delivery scan confirming delivery to the address provided by the buyer that's it - the seller has met their obligations to the buyer as far as eBay is concerned. 

Business sellers have an extra legal obligation when an item is being delivered to a consumer. When the seller is a business the item must be handed to the buyer in person or to someone the buyer has identified to take possession of the item for them. This is somewhat in conflict with eBay's seller protections which only require an online delivery confirmation to "prove" delivery - leaving something behind a bin would obviously not count as being delivered in person unless the buyer had specifically instructed the carrier to leave it there.