Expensive electrical goods sold delivery attempted buyer opened case item not returned

[hondapower117]

The item was sent with Royal Mail Special Delivery, the online tracking showed an attempted delivery occurred the buyer even showed me a copy of the Royal Mail slip showing delivery attempt occurred yet they were adamant that the person waiting in on there behalf that no attempt took place.

The buyer opened the case on 21st I added the tracking and replied to the case.  The buyer hasn't responded to the response. It's still available for redelivery/ collection yet demanded immediate refund and were calling royal mail liars yet how did the attempted delivery card arrive on the day?

Royal Mail were supposed to automatically attempt delivery again on the next working day on the Monday however nothing happened with no further scans until the Thursday indicating it's ready for either collection or redelivery to the buyer.

I've asked eBay to step in.

What complicates it is the buyer doesn't even live in the UK and instead used a relatives address and had the relative to wait for the package to take with them to visit the account holder who lives in another country. They have zero feedback and I dispatched it three days earlier than what they agreed to when buying. They left a note with the item when purchasing that they wanted delivery by the Monday so I dispatched it the same day for them.

It's not my fault they ordered at the last minute and don't even live in the UK. I dispatched to the buyers address that's visible on the order and have the royal mail proof of posting and it's not lost but waiting there action to collect it.

Clearly I shouldn't refund the buyer until the items return otherwise what's to stop them collecting it and having my money at the same time.

Will eBay close the case until the items returned to me?

[tressygirl · Accepted solution]

If you added tracking that showed attempted delivery the case should close in your favour, annoyingly it doesn't happen immediately, but if it doesn't in a few days, contact eBay Customer Services and provide that tracking number stating attempted delivery made, so there's no need to refund.

Might be worth sending a message to your buyer to explain to their relative to go to their sorting office , stress this is not their Post Office, take the card and ID,  the item may be there awaiting collection.

If you need to Contact Customer Services,  it's a Live Chat, or you can select to speak and request a Call Back. Click on this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

On weekdays lines open between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

On weekends they open between 9 a.m. aand 6 p.m.

[thesimstore]

As mentioned above, as long as you can show that there was an attempted delivey and the same is avaiable through tracking, you are covered. As per eBay policy, if seller has send the item to the address provided by eBay and posted it using a signedFor or tracking service, eBay would protect the seller.  On the buyer front, do let them know that you would be happy to issue refund via eBay messaging but only after you have received the product back in post. Do encourage them to find a way of collcting it before it is returned to you. A lot of time buyers just do not know that they have an option of collecting from their local post office to collection centre.  

[plpmr]

adding to the advice already given -

you must keep in mind that if the buyer later opens another not received case [say with PayPal] and you cannot prove actual delivery the buyer will win.

also, if you won the eBay case, eBay should be responsible for any refund.

[lostin2922]

Sounds like a scam were they bully you into refunding and then collect the item from the depot.

[papso22]

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@lostin2922 wrote:

Sounds like a scam were they bully you into refunding and then collect the item from the depot.

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Which is precisely why ebay bought in the attempted delivery exclusion to the money back guarantee. 

[hondapower117]

eBay's sent a message asking for something:

Looking through the case details, I see that you provided a tracking number but we’re unable to see a specific location in those tracking details. Since the buyer has mentioned they’ve not received the item, we would ask you to attach a copy of the postal receipt showing this buyer’s delivery address within 3 days 1 January 2023.

Please note that, we need the original receipt and not a screenshot of the Royal Mail website showing the item was delivered.

I'm confused because I'm protected for delivery attempts but they ended by saying showing item was delivered. 

[pillarboxred]

Don't do anything, especially do not issue a refund, until the buyer has successfully opened and won an item not received claim through the eBay claiming system. Do not tell them how to do that. 

[pillarboxred]

WRONG!  AS I FOUND OUT: Buyer says she hasn't got the item; tracking shows DELIVERED and she then says, four days later, that the item has come but is broken and eBay sides with the buyer.

It turns out, after I have been "through the mill",  a Red Card had been left for her and she did indeed get the item four days later and her photo does show a broken saucer like mine but by this time what can I believe? Not eBay's Seller Protection system: Tracking is not as final as you think. It is not the last word.

[4_bathrooms]

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@hondapower117 wrote:

eBay's sent a message asking for something:

Looking through the case details, I see that you provided a tracking number but we’re unable to see a specific location in those tracking details. Since the buyer has mentioned they’ve not received the item, we would ask you to attach a copy of the postal receipt showing this buyer’s delivery address within 3 days 1 January 2023.

Please note that, we need the original receipt and not a screenshot of the Royal Mail website showing the item was delivered.

I'm confused because I'm protected for delivery attempts but they ended by saying showing item was delivered. 

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This is the second time I've seen a poster who was asked for a receipt showing the buyer's delivery address. Is the item now showing as delivered? If so, Special Delivery should show a picture of the delivery location and a GPS scan.

Anyway, I'd still advise providing eBay with what they are asking for - a picture of the receipt showing the buyer's address. As they won't accept a screenshot of the receipt you need to take a picture of the receipt from the Post Office (if you purchased at a PO counter) or print out the email receipt if you purchased the postage online then take a picture of the (now printed) receipt.   

[ile136yz]

You said you entered Tracking.    Did you also enter the Tracking Number into the opened case?  with a scan/s of the attempted deliveries. 

It does not matter the Buyer not being in the UK.  You sent it to the UK delivery address given.

[4_bathrooms]

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@ile136yz wrote:

Did you also enter the Tracking Number into the opened case? 

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It seems they did; eBay's message states "Looking through the case details, I see that you provided a tracking number but we’re unable to see a specific location in those tracking details."

Online tracking details almost never show specific location details; the destination town/city/village is normally all that is shown until delivery regardless of who the carrier is. There was another recent thread where a Royal Mail account customer was asked for something similar - the RM invoice showing the buyer's address. eBay made it clear they wouldn't accept a screenshot of the booking; they wanted a photo of a paper invoice with the buyer's address displayed on it.

[hondapower117]

I sent a photo of the proof of postage receipt I got at the post office, which does show the post code and building number it was being sent to.

Hopefully that's what they were wanting.

I might contact support team today as they've not responded to the photograph of that proof. 

[lostin2922]

Pointless if you're a newb and already refunded.