Got a good one here...

[wargamers_vault]

A buyer has sent me quite an irate message demanding to know why I've sent his order to his old address.

I politely pointed out that he must have failed to update eBay because how would I know his old address, he's insisting his address on eBay is correct and wants either a refund in full and a bit extra for the inconvenience, or for me to resend the item along with a partial refund for the inconvenience.

The item has been marked as delivered and as it's quite expensive I don't really want to refund him, am I right in thinking I'll be covered? Even if he's threatening legal action?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Assuming that you sent it fully tracked and the address matches what is on the order, then yes, you shouldn't have an issue.

I would be sending the customer a screen print of the order itself, so that they can see the mistake they have made.

But assuming that they have relatively recently moved address and it's not too far away, I would ask the customer to go and check at their old address.  

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Just thought, how exactly does the buyer know that you have sent it to his old address?

He obviously wouldn't have received it and wouldn't even know where it had been delivered from the info on Ebay or the tracking.

[wargamers_vault]

I have no idea? I'm guessing it had the address somewhere on the order confirmation? If not then it's very suspicious.

Yes, it was fully tracked.

Thank you for your reply.

[4_bathrooms]

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@wargamers_vault wrote:

The item has been marked as delivered and as it's quite expensive I don't really want to refund him, am I right in thinking I'll be covered? Even if he's threatening legal action?

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First, make sure you have the "Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me" option selected on this page. Then, add the buyer's eBay ID to your block list here.

Once you have done that the buyer will not be able to contact you unless they open a case. If they open an "item not received" case you will be covered due to the tracking you have. If they maliciously open an "item not as described case" you will need to send a return label but obviously the buyer won't be able to return something they don't have.

Your buyer is very unlikely to start a small claim against you; it would actually be pretty stupid of them to. Take a screenshot of the order confirmation page just in case along with a copy of the order confirmation email and the tracking information.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Far more likely to initiate a chargeback when they think of it, rather than a small claim.

But that should be easily won as well in any case.

I thought that blocked buyers could still contact you even if blocked about a current order?

I am sure that I have had that happen in the past, but I could be wrong.

Obviously they will be unable to buy.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Hmm, as far as I'm aware, the only place the address will appear, is in the order itself.

Which of course buyer can view.

But if that is the case, then that proves that the buyer provided the incorrect address!

As you cannot amend it.

Which only leaves, that the new owner of the property have contacted them to say there is a parcel here....

[grapecr-30]

Phone eBay and explain the situation.... They can tell you right away if and when he updated his address, and I would say 99.999999999% it's not.your fault.... You sent it to the address given, sounds like he might be trying it on....check his Feedback left for others to get a general idea of how he deals with people...

[grapecr-30]

Just too add.... It does sound like you have done everything right, if he leaves you Negative Feedback,also phone eBay explain the situation, and they can remove it....

[4_bathrooms]

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@therenewalworkshopltd wrote:

I thought that blocked buyers could still contact you even if blocked about a current order?

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That used to be the case; I think a buyer could contact a seller up to 90 days following a transaction even if they were blocked. However, I had cause to block a buyer last year and after blocking them the messages immediately and unexpectedly ceased. Within a couple of hours they opened a case stating they did so because I had blocked them and it was the only way they could still send messages to me...

As I never told them that I had blocked them they must have been blocked from sending messages immediately. This all happened well within 30 days of the sale. 

[grapecr-30]

Just to add again....Legal Action....you got to have money to do that, I can't see it would be worth his while, and sounds like if you explain yourself in Civil Court,you'd more than likely win.... He is responsible for updating his address,not you....!

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Sorry, but you are utterly wrong about legal action.

Small claims cost very little and can be done completely online.

Go look up "small claims procedure".

[grapecr-30]

I will take your word for it.... But it still costs money....I'd say it was a bluff.....and even if it wasn't a bluff...... I'd still take the court case..... I thought Small Claims were about £150 to bring(but I am probably wrong,and you can tell me the exact amount)..... But I'd say the Seller has a fairly open and shut defence/case..... Don't know how much the Item was worth, but hardly seems worthwhile paying for a Civil Case

[papso22]

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@grapecr-30 wrote:

Phone eBay and explain the situation.... They can tell you right away if and when he updated his address, and I would say 99.999999999% it's not.your fault.... You sent it to the address given, sounds like he might be trying it on....check his Feedback left for others to get a general idea of how he deals with people...

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I doubt if ebay are allowed to give the seller that sort of information about a buyer's account.

[grapecr-30]

No they won't give you that information....but they will know who is telling the truth from the Information and whether the Buyer had actually updated his address..... And that's all you need 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Small claims depends on the amount of the claim, but it starts from about £20 ish...

Google it, you will find out more about it.

And something that you should be aware of in case you ever have a non payer etc.

[grapecr-30]

Funnily enough,I was chased down the road from a B&M store last year,by a Police Car with blue flashing lights(scared the beJesus out of me), I actually pulled over to let them past,and then realised it was me they were chasing, anyway apparently I had shoplifted some Lego.... They detained me and searched my van, to find no Lego anywhere, they then phoned B&M to find out,the actual theif had gotten into a car..... And was probably already home assembling the kit as I was set free....!!!

I was absolutely furious..... anyway, I thought ,ok I will sue B&M.....and I looked into it, and it seemed like a whole lot of hassle, and expense..... I tried to get some Legal Help, and that was another fortune I had to spend, for probably little return..... In the end I reluctantly excepted a £25 gift voucher from B&M as an apology, but I really couldn't afford to go down any other route.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

That sounds like fun, not....

But what you are talking about is suing a company.  That's an entirely different thing and something that you would likely need to involve professionals with.

If your chasing for none payment etc, then small claims is the way to go.

[grapecr-30]

Thank you for the advice 

Yes it was particularly unpleasant, but I have too admit ,I still smile to myself thinking about when I pulled over to let them past,and they just pulled along side, pointing at me ,their faces were furious looking, and I was thinking "oh my God what have I done".... And strangely enough they almost had me believing that I had stolen the Lego....!! I was actually thinking to myself "did I do it"....

Anyway,ever since that experience and trying to get Legal assistance, I kinda realised, saying you are going to sue someone and actually doing it are two completely different things..... If you don't have money to do it, the game is a bit rigged..

But I take onboard what you have said, and thank you for your advice 

[bravergrace]

I've had this sort of situation a few times in the past.

Once the buyer has calmed down and realised it isn't the seller's fault, it usually gets sorted amicably.

Sometimes it can be resolved by the buyer contacting the current residents of that address, asking them to  if they've still got the item.  Or even writing them a postcard explaining!  Most people will forward an item if you ask them nicely and cover the cost!

If you can trace the current residents' contact details, you could do this yourself, if you're so inclined.

Sometimes the current resident refuses to accept delivery of an unexpected parcel, in which case it should make its way back to you eventually, and you can then offer to re-send it at the buyer's expense (check with eBay first about the best way to do this).

The most helpful thing you can do, is probably to point out to the buyer that "eBay may not have realised their new address was a permanent one, if you didn't remember to tick all the boxes" - ie the buyer probably filled in their new address on eBay, but didn't mark it as the new default address, or delete their old one.  If you can get them to do this now, they'll realise that the fault was theirs not yours!