Item appears to have gone missing

[sharot1999]

I sold an item and posted it Royal Mail 1st class signed for on 12 September.

the tracking details suggest that it has not been delivered, and neither has it been designated unable to deliver. In effect it has gone missing.

everything I have read on eBay appears to protect the buyer in as much as he will be refunded.

am I correct in thinking that my only recourse of action is to claim the value from the Royal Mail as compensation.

This lack of safeguard for the seller seems to be an invitation for non receipt claims.

kev

[tressygirl · Accepted solution]

Hello Kevin,

As you can appreciate if a buyer does not receive an item they have paid for ,  they do need a full refund.

Then,  as Royal Mail do have a compensation process in place,  as they do lose items,  you can claim after the item has been missing for 10 days,  up to the value of £20 on a regular POP,  or if you took outr extra insurance,  claim the full amount there.

Both you and your buyer are  refunded for a lost item,  why is this not fair?

[*vyolla*]

I'm not quite sure why you think the buyer should lose out here.

Refund them and claim from Royal Mail if they've lost your item.

[sharot1999]

Thank you everybody who responded. I am in total agreement that the buyer should be reimbursed for an item he didn't receive. It just seems like the seller, even though he has done everything he/she can, has to jump through hoops to get any reimbursement.
Kev

[tressygirl]

Well it's Royal mail's fault when things go missing, so the buyer has also to request refunds, and wait for it to be processed and money refunded, just as the seller does. Jumping through hoops, well both seller and buyer may do a bit of jumping here for the refund that is due to both !

[red_magpie]

This lack of safeguard for the seller

In fact, since the introduction of delivery numbers on all Royal Mail parcels, and almost universal tracking for courier deliveries, sellers are now much better protected against fraudulent claims for non-delivery. EBay will support the seller if the tracking record confirms delivery. If it doesn't, the buyer is legitimately entitled to a refund. And the sender can claim whatever compensation is available from the carrier.

The much bigger problem, where sellers are left almost entirely defenceless, is abuse of eBay's money back guarantee to make false "not as described" claims.

[john1297576]

If tracking does not show as delivered, you have to refund, the buyer must open a Not Received Case, and as RM cannot show delivery you claim from them.

Not like Special Delivery, Signed For items just go in with the ordinary mail, so are just as likely to get mislaid as any other piece of mail.