Items marked as despatched but not delivered

[aerialpink]

Some of my sold items are often marked as despatched but not delivered. Never had a complaint about non delivery until yesterday when buyer reported non delivery.  I’m not saying buyer is lying but it seems too easy to me for buyer to get a refund in these circumstances.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[style_wise]

What courier and service are you using in general, and for this item in particular please?

Most buyers are genuine. But I once had a buyer open INR case on the afternoon the item was delivered but before the system was updated with delivery info that evening. Even with the odd bad apple, I find it better to keep cool and assume everyone is on the level 😉

[aerialpink]

Hi there, I always use Royal Mail with Post office tracking number, normally 100% reliable. I agree, most eBayers are totally honest.

[dch2112011]

Best advice I can think of is treat the buyer as you would want to be treated if you were a buyer who had ordered goods online and not received them - perhaps you would want it to be easy to receive a refund ?

ebay is not easy - the easy thing would be for the buyer to contact the seller and receive an immediate refund or replacement.

With ebay the buyer has to rely on the MBG and carrier tracking which is time consuming and difficult if the item is misdelivered.

Until you have proof of misconduct assume the buyer is truthful and do everything you can to refund or replace the item.

[aerialpink]

Thanks for the reply, it was a low value item so refunding is not a problem. Just seems there’s an anomaly somewhere, four items I recently sold all marked dispatched, not delivered with no complaints about non delivery apart from this one!

[dch2112011]

Have you checked the RM track and trace website ?  The interface between ebay and RM is not always reliable -  If the RM website does not show delivered then both RM and the customer are stating non delivery .

Most packages get delivered even if RM tracking service is unreliable but occasionally packages do get lost or are delayed for a long time through no fault of yours or the buyers but the buyer has a right to expect goods paid for to arrive in a timely manner - as we all expect when buying.

This is evidenced by the majority of your deliveries arriving even though the tracking does not update - sooner or later you will get one that goes astray - law of averages - it is unfortunately becoming more common as the carriers struggle with the volume of online deliveries.

You could look at carrier services with better tracking but the cost increases  but for an occasional delayed or lost package is it worth it ? 

[aerialpink]

Yes, put in tracking number, still comes up not delivered as I said ,RM is always dependable, just think if an unscrupulous buyer sees item not delivered but it has in fact been delivered, he or she can demand a refund. In this case, the item was not high value so guess I’ll just have to swallow it!

[kyanyama]

Did you obtain a proof of post?  Sometimes that helps if you scan it for the buyer which will prove it is a carrier problem not non-performance by the seller.

I always used to send everything with tracking - after I had a few INRs without it.  But that was ages ago.  Only sold 2 items with Simple Delivery (posted Friday) so have no idea how things are going as I had a 2 month break from selling.

I always block a buyer if there is any hint of any problems.  If it turns out I over-reacted then I can always unblock them.

A lot of folks don't know Royal Mail are only delivering on certain days now - so there will be delays and cos eBay over promise delivery dates buyers are less patient.  And of course there will be some who will milk the system - if they can.  You can only hope the tracking is updated soon.  If you used Simple Delivery then eBay will have to sort it out without impacting your funds or feedback.  But if turns out buyer received their item and a refund then you won't want them buying from you again.  eBay will discover what type of buyer they have.

[aerialpink]

Thanks for that, have refunded but still not happy that even though I have proof of dispatch I still have to refund!