Item shown as 'delivered', buyer opens INR claim. What are the possible outcomes?

[pixeldrama]

Buyer has 7 ratings, but the account is made in 2020, so I thought nothing of it. 

I always send 2 messages before the item arrives: one to say thank you for the purchase and tell the buyer I'll ship it first thing in the morning, the second is usually with a picture of the post office receipt in the morning, notifying them the ebay tracking will update shortly if it hasn't already. 

What made it suspicious is that this is the first buyer who replied to neither message (I'm only selling my personal hobby failures or computer parts I switch, so only have 100ish items sold - still, the first time ever when no reply is given).

I always buy the label through ebay (I have a shipping label printer from some other failed endeavour). 

The item was shipped through parcelforce 48, it is shown as delivered to neighbour (I had no option when I bought the label to specify anything about delivery to other addresses). There is a picture of the item in the doorway of some home, the door is open so the item is across the doorway (I would not know which address that is).  The buyer opened an Item not Received claim, with a few words "Please chase". I've replied with the time stamp from the tracking, saying "Date,Time X, delivered to neighbour". He could have seen that himself in the tracking information which leads to the parcelforce website. 

Having read the parcelforce terms and conditions, they consider it fair to deliver an item to a neighbouring address and leave a card to the proper address letting them know where they've delivered the item. 

My question is: in this case, what more can I do about it? I have used ebay label for the service specified in the ad details (parcelforce 48), I've shipped the item, the courier delivered it (according to their terms, which I did not have control over), yet the buyer wants, I assume, a refund? I have yet to know their intentions, since they can escalate on the 7th of March and they have not replied to my reply.

The item in question is a 32" design computer monitor which is both heavy and not likely to survive multiple shipping journeys (it was shipped in the original box with all the proper packaging), since I can see from the courier pictures of 'proof of delivery' there is at least a big dent on one side (where the cardboard got punctured or kicked in probably). Monitors are not covered by any insurance, as it turns out. 

[moldosgifts]

Your not changing the tracking number the number you enter will be the same, so enter away. it is fine.

[moldosgifts]

Don't get hung up on the terminology Case , Dispute or Claim its all the same thing.

[masonsltd2009]

Hi Pixeldrama. I have recently had this exact same issue.  Parcel was delivered on time by DHL. who provided a photo that was not obviously of the customers house but the GPS tag was in the correct road. 

Customer opened INR case. I confirmed the parcel delivery details and contacted the courier just on general principles to see if they could provide any further information. They didn't have anything. 

I then let the INR case run untill I could ask eBay to step in and help. I explained the details and again provided a link to the DHL tracking and the photo. Case was found in my favour. Negative feedback from customer was removed. 

Just be aware that the customer will read anything in your notes to eBay so remain polite and professional however tempting it is to say "Duh I'm clearly being scammed" 😁

Any damage to the item is an entirely separate issue. The customer needs to open a damaged goods case if that's what happened. 

[bravergrace]

It might not be a scam.

The neighbour might - for all we know - be away for a fortnight/not on speaking terms with anyone/denying they received anything.

The buyer may not know whose front door is in the picture, and/or didn't receive a card to tell them.

The item may have been refused by the neighbour after the picture was taken, and is now being returned to the seller.

The neighbour may in fact be several houses away, not the next-door neighbour.

eBay should still back the seller in these circumstances - but it isn't certain.  Unfortunately, the wording that has been left in the "Seller Protection" pages is misleading.  It says the seller is "protected" - but only "protected" against bad feedback and defects on their account.  It doesn't specifically say that the seller is "protected" against having to refund.

[pixeldrama]

Well, the 7th came and went, the claim is still waiting the buyer's response, as ebay shows. What now? I assume there's a time limit of a claim being left open. From what I've read online, that period seems to be 30 business days ( Or calendar days?). 
The info about the unresolved, un-acted upon claims is sparse.

[m25jet]

@pixeldrama wrote:

Well, the 7th came and went, the claim is still waiting the buyer's response, as ebay shows. What now? I assume there's a time limit of a claim being left open. From what I've read online, that period seems to be 30 business days ( Or calendar days?). 
The info about the unresolved, un-acted upon claims is sparse.

It's been a long time since I last sold anything on eBay, as I made the decision to give up selling on eBay for good when they decided to get rid of PayPal as the default means of sellers receiving payment from buyers.  However, if I remember correctly, if a buyer opens an eBay Item Not Received case but does not bother to respond to the seller after he or she has made attempts to resolve the buyer's issue, then once a period of twenty-one working days has passed with no response from the buyer since the seller's last message to the buyer via the case, eBay will automatically close the case down.

[masonsltd2009]

You can now escalate the case to ebay and ask them to step in. repeat the tracking details in the case. 

Explain that according to Parcelforce and you the item has been delivered and "Choose I can't work things out with the buyer" or however it is worded. 

That should be decided in your favour. 

Its not helpful to wait for the case to expire. That can go against your seller standards rating. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@m25jet wrote:

@pixeldrama wrote:

Well, the 7th came and went, the claim is still waiting the buyer's response, as ebay shows. What now? I assume there's a time limit of a claim being left open. From what I've read online, that period seems to be 30 business days ( Or calendar days?). 

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Cases automatically close if there has been no activity for 21 business days. 

[4_bathrooms · Accepted solution]

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@masonsltd2009 wrote:

Its not helpful to wait for the case to expire. That can go against your seller standards rating. 

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No, it doesn't.

A case is only recorded as a "case closed without seller resolution" if eBay are asked to step in and decide the case in the buyer's favour. That is why I always advise sellers not to escalate cases even if they've done everything necessary to win the case. This is because someone at eBay might press the wrong button, refund the buyer and leave the seller with a ding recorded against their account. This situation has happened many times before.