Buyer not at home to receive item ,returned to seller . Must I pay for re posting ?

[basiltrading]

Buyer has paid for item which was sent to h/a via Hermes . First delivery , card left , no one in . Following day , according to tracking , two more attempts were made , no reply ,so item returned to seller . Buyer claims he wasn't aware of any of these attempts on following day despite being in ,and states no cards were left proving attendance .Seller now has item , which the buyer still wants .
Has the buyer any responsibility in this ? Hermes will say it did nothing wrong .

Aware of courier shortcomings .. But am I responsible for paying for another courier to deliver the item or can I charge the buyer if he failed to be in for delivery for it ?
 I realise that I can just refund and re sell . No communication problems with buyer and apparently , no other viable address re postage .

Appreciate any advice regarding this situation , Warrick.

[red_magpie · Accepted solution]

EBay's money back guarantee policy makes the seller liable to refund the buyer unless the tracking record confirms successful delivery to their address.

Attempted delivery isn't successful delivery. Sometimes buyers willingly offer to pay for reposting. Sometimes they demand that the seller should repost it. Or they can simply open a case inder eBay's money back guarantee, for a full refund including postage.

There is no "rule" over who should do what, except that if it isn't successfully delivered the buyer is entitled to a refund.

[arkwebus]

It is - sadly - a problem when using a courier.  Unless they can deliver then the item is sent back to the seller.  Compare with Royal Mail who leave a card and take the item back to the sorting office.  The buyer can opt to have the item redelivered  on a specific day or the item will be held at the office for 15+ days whence it can be picked up by the buyer. Most big towns have a RM office whereas couriers offices are [if they can be found at all] often remote. 

I'm not saying all couriers are bad.  I bought a jacket on ebay on Sunday and it was delivered the next day.   Couriers will collect from your house which is a service RM is just starting.

@basiltrading