Item Delivered, buyer says not, ebay case closed, but buyer asking me to get RM compensation

[phillip8706]

First time on the forum. I sent a camera (£175) to a student halls of residence to an international student. Royal mail 48hr tracked. Royal Mail says delivered, student says not, they opened case which was then closed by ebay with the supportive message that I didn't need to do anything, buyer pursuing card refund. Buyer insisting I start a Royal Mail claim for compensation and send him any refund. On enquiry Royal Mail say that the parcel GPS did not match the postcode. Is this some kind of postage scam? Do I need to get compensation from RM or do I just leave it that ebay says case is closed? The funds have been released on my account.

[tressygirl]

If this was sent under Simple Delivery,  the buyer would have received a refund from eBay,  and you the seller,  keeps the payout.

If this is the case,  refunds to the buyer will go back to original payment source if your buyer paid, most likely with a credit card,  it can take 30 days for the money to appear in that card account.  

What was the message the buyer received,  case closed, but was a refund being processed?

@phillip8706 

[jckl1957]

This sounds quite complicated and there is a lot of information in your post.  Excuse my slightly rambling reply.

The camera was listed with Simple Delivery so I will assume you used that service and sent with the label provided by Ebay rather than buying your own postage.

If the item shows as delivered, then Ebay will not compensate the buyer.  As stated, with SD, Ebay pay rather than you having to refund.

However, it seems to me that Royal Mail admit it was mis-delivered as the postcode and GPS don't match.  That is not a scam - that is RM delivering to the wrong place.

You state the buyer is pursuing a card refund.  If they start a chargeback/payment dispute via their card company, they will come after you for the money.  I don't know if Ebay will deal with such a claim even though you used Simple Delivery.

You need to find out from Ebay what will happen in the event of a chargeback for an item not received if you used Simple Delivery.  I am not sure you would be able to claim from RM because the buyer paid Ebay directly for the postage and the contract for safe delivery was between RM and Ebay.

kat@ebay 

Do you know what would happen here?  Would Ebay refund in the even of a payment dispute for item not received if the seller sent using SD?

[phillip8706]

Thanks for the comments. Item was sent under simple delivery (my first experience of yours system). I'll keep chasing RM for now and see if I get an outcome from them. I'll ask the buyer if ebay have been offered compensation, or what messaging ebay have sent the buyer. 

[jckl1957]

If Ebay had refunded the buyer, they would have told you.

The wording seems to be along the lines of ...  'We have refunded the buyer and you don't need to take any further action ...'

If you have just been told the case is closed, they won't have refunded the buyer.

Also, I can't see why the buyer would have suggested you start a claim with RM and they would not have been able/needed to pursue a card refund if Ebay had refunded them.  Personally, I would not contact the buyer again.