SELLER APPEARS RELUCTANT TO REFUND ADDITIONAL POSTAGE COSTS

[betchacantfindme!]

I recently purchased an item where the postage cost was £1.55.  Royal Mail put a card through my door to say that the postage paid was insufficient and that I needed to pay an extra £3.50 before they would release the package.  As I was awaiting the arrival of several items, I didn't know which one this was and therefore went ahead and paid the extra cost in order to retrieve my item, thinking that any decent seller worth their salt would admit their error and refund me the extra postage.  I have been in contact with the seller who tells me that he/she just printed the label off and that I should ask Ebay about it.  The seller clearly paid for a 2nd Class large letter when it should have been a small parcel -  his/her fault, not mine.  They appear to have no intention of reimbursing me the extra £3.50 I paid.  £1.55 was the agreed postage price, not £5.05.  Anyone been in a similar situation?  If so, how did you resolve it?  I know I can leave negative feedback, but would rather sort the issue out in a civilised fashion.

[**peaseblossom**]

eBay postage is sometimes wrong.   We hear a lot about it on here.   There is no way on eBay of enforcing repayment of the extra money but you could contact eBay, point out that the seller is saying it's their error and see if they will offer a refund as a goodwill gesture.  You can use callback on here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

[tressygirl]

Yes,  others have been in this situation.

Unfortunately,  there's nothing to enforce the seller to refund that excess postage you paid,  eBay do not get involved in postage disputes.  Personally, I would say a good seller would apologise and refund asap,  you obviously have a bad un' there.

You are correct feedback is your only option here.

@betchacantfindme! 

[betchacantfindme!]

Thank you so much for your reply.  I also came to the conclusion that Ebay won't help in cases like this.  

[betchacantfindme!]

Thank you so much for your advice.   I don't use Ebay postage myself (as a seller) and had therefore assumed that the information is entered by the seller and then they just print out the Ebay postage label.  The parcel was too thick to be eligible for large letter, so Royal Mail were correct in their assessment of it as a small parcel, hence the extra postage required.  It does seem a bit off to me that, whoever's fault it was, the buyer ends up paying out of their own pocket for something which is not their fault.  I've sent the seller instructions on how to issue a partial refund, but don't hold out much hope of it being actioned.  

[thesmokingrunner · Accepted solution]

@betchacantfindme!  Your conclusion is correct - eBay will refer you back to seller as they are responsible for entering the correct sizes for the listed item when purchasing a postage label direct from eBay postage label.

As @tressygirl  mentions you are not the first to experience this and, sadly, you will by no means be the last - and, as @**peaseblossom**  mentions, eBay postage is sometimes incorrect.

Unfortunately, with the pending introduction of Managed Delivery, I think this will become an increasingly common problem, as a seller will be required to enter the size and weight of an item when listing and the buyer will then be given the cost of available shipping options based on those entered values; the buyer then pays eBay for shipping and the seller is then sent an eBay-generated label. It follows that if the seller enters incorrect size and/or weight for an item the shipping label will be insufficient and the buyer - as happened to you - will be penalised by having to pay an excess-postage charge. It's going to get messy...

At the very least at least you'll be more aware than most in future that excess charges may be levied if a seller lists with incorrect shipping details. I'm not sure what can be done about that - the only thing I can suggest is that you check the shipping size with a seller before purchasing and compare that to the cost of postage, though the seller may not give an accurate answer.

[betchacantfindme!]

Hi there

Thanks so much for your in-depth response.  I have not heard of 'Managed Delivery', but then I don't sell much on Ebay and am mainly a buyer.   I tend to take my items to the local Post Office where the correct postage is added by the operatives.  I sell on other online venues as well, so tend to know by sight whether a parcel is likely to be large letter or small parcel.  However, if there is a shipping overage, then I refund the buyer.  I have sent the seller instructions on how to arrange a partial refund, but don't expect to hear back from them because they know I  can't enforce it, so I am going to have to leave negative feedback, which is something I have only done a couple of times in over 15 years of selling and buying online.