buyer had wrong address, they updated it then re bought item and now refused delivery

[antai2023]

Hi guys, 

I have a buyer who bought a medium sized parcel item and then messaged me saying their address is wrong and to send it to a different address. They stated that the parcel will be too large for them to carry from their work.  I messaged to say I can only send it to their address that ebay has on the system. I gave them the option that I can cancel the order and then they can rebuy the item again after updating their address on their ebay account. They did this and re-bought the item with a different address on their ebay account. 

I send the item via royal mail tracked 48 and checked couple days later to see that they have refused the delivery. I am not sure what I should do from here, do I wait for them to contact me or do I message them and ask why they have refused delivery? (I have not got the item back from them yet) 

This buyer seems like a scam to be honest and now I have lost money on postage as I send it via medium parcel which is about £6.59. I offered free postage so in the case where I have to refund the money I presume I will have lost this money? 

Any ideas on what to do? 

[4_bathrooms]

Have you uploaded the tracking to the sales record? If not, do so - the buyer is not covered against an INR case if the tracking shows the delivery was refused but sufficient postage was paid. If the buyer opens an item not received (INR) case you will need to upload it to the case as well. Do not refund anything until you have received the item back.

You were correct to cancel the order and ask them to re-order with the correct delivery address but note that buyers can specify whatever delivery address they want during checkout - it does not have to be their registered address. Sellers need to make sure they send the item to the delivery address provided with the order to be protected against an INR case. 

As long as the label had your return address on it you should get your item back. You will likely lose what you paid for postage no matter what happens; as you didn't charge postage separately eBay are unlikely to allow you to deduct your postage costs from the inevitable refund. 

[*guinevere*]

Do nothing at the moment,

When a buyer refuses delivery they automatically lose their access to the MBG so you should not have to refund.

If they open a Not Received case you may have to remind ebay of their own rules and tell the the parcel was refused on the doorstep.

[antai2023]

Yeah I have a feeling that's the case that I will have to refund them fully. I bought postage from ebay so the tracking automatically updated itself. I hate when buyers are a problem from the start and you still have to sell to them regardless. I am so glad that this a part time job for me there is no way I can ever make full time money from ebay. 

[4_bathrooms]

I've just realised you're a business - even if you had charged postage separately you would have been forced to refund it as eBay would treat a situation like this as a remorse return (which it effectively is).

[m25jet]

If you get the item back again make sure that you refund the buyer's money in full, making sure that you upload the tracking number details to the case as already pointed out if the buyer opens an Item Not Received case against you.

In the event that the buyer does open an Item Not Received case against you then eBay would decide the case in your favour, the reason being that the buyer will have voided his/her rights to the eBay Money Back Guarantee by refusing to accept delivery of the item.  Should the buyer leave you any negative feedback in the meantime you would also be able to get this removed once you win the case, as well as the defect resulting from the buyer's negative feedback.  If the buyer does leave you negative feedback and eBay don't automatically remove it then get in touch with eBay Customer Service straightaway and ask that the buyer's feedback be removed.  If necessary remind eBay that the buyer's negative feedback should not be allowed to remain seeing as you won the case.

If you have not already done so by the time you read this reply add the buyer's User ID to your Blocked Bidders List.  By ensuring that you've blocked the buyer before relisting the item for sale again (thats if you do end up getting it back) you can prevent the buyer from purchasing anything else from you in the future and causing you any further aggravation.

[antai2023]

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely contact eBay customer service if they give me negative feedback. In terms of blocking the buyer, I will do that once I get the item back. I am assuming they will contact me for a refund, so once that is sorted I will then block them. 

[m25jet]

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@antai2023 wrote:

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely contact eBay customer service if they give me negative feedback. In terms of blocking the buyer, I will do that once I get the item back. I am assuming they will contact me for a refund, so once that is sorted I will then block them. 

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Given that you've recently been in a transaction with this buyer the blocks will take longer to kick in than they otherwise would have done, but once they do take effect the buyer will not be able to make any further purchases from you.  Blocking the buyer straightaway before this case has been resolved will not prevent the buyer from being able to correspond with you via the case (if he/she opens one) or via the option to contact you with a question, nor will it prevent you from being able to issue the buyer with a refund; however, it will result in the cut-off point for purchases arriving sooner than if you had decided to wait until the refund is sorted.

If you do decide to go ahead and wait until the refund from this transaction is sorted before applying the blocks then this buyer could potentially make further purchases from you in the meantime, causing you additional headaches on top of the one that he/she has already given you.  However, if you were to block him/her now you would still be able to sort this transaction out with the buyer, even after the blocks on further purchases had kicked in.  The only difference is that the buyer would not be able to make any further purchases from you once the blocks take effect, even if they do come into effect before the refund has been issued.

[antai2023]

Update: The buyer messaged me saying that they have not had any contact from royal mail and when they click on the tracking, it says refused delivery and they never refused. Unfortunately, royal mail went to the wrong address. I have given the buyer full refund. Royal mail said I would have to take the hit as they technically delivered it and it was refused even though they went to the wrong door/address.  The person lives in a dorm so I might still block them to save myself from the hassle. 

I still don't have my item yet, best case scenario royal mail lose my item so I can claim some money. 

[4_bathrooms]

How do you know Royal Mail went to the wrong address? Did Royal Mail confirm that was the case with a GPS scan?

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@antai2023 wrote:

I still don't have my item yet, best case scenario royal mail lose my item so I can claim some money. 

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I would have thought the best case scenario would be getting the item back and only losing the outgoing postage. I suspect what Royal Mail meant when they advised that you "would have to take the hit" is that they won't entertain a claim for compensation (or at least, not without a fight). Did you pay for the Tracked 24 service via eBay, Royal Mail's website or via a Royal Mail business account?

[antai2023]

I payed royal mail tracked 48 through Ebay. 

[therma-tec]

When purchasing labels with the Royal Mail, use the Royal Mail Click & Drop website and use Paypal to pay for the label.

If there has been a delay with the service or delivered to wrong address you can calim back the postage with Paypal. As you paid for a service which wasn't as described Paypal do refund you!

I have done this on numerous occasions, even international deliveries and it saves you getting a book of stamps as compensation from the RM. You should ALWAYS be refunded the same way as you paid for an item.

[4_bathrooms]

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@antai2023 wrote:

I payed royal mail tracked 48 through Ebay. 

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That means compensation arrangements are subject to Royal Mail's specific terms (PDF file) for non-account Tracked.

What does the tracking state now? Does it show the item is being returned to you?

[antai2023]

The package has now been returned to me. However on the royal mail sticker, the address unknown was ticked. I looked up the address and it's a university dorm. Either royal mail went to the wrong address or they couldn't be asked to deliver my package and just put on their system they person rejected the parcel. 

[myriad*seller]

It's possible that the Uni dorm reception refused the parcel