Buyer of collection only items not communicating collection code or QR code to me

[achroin]

I had listed a bulky collection-only set of 10 boxed items (Lego "Duplo") which were proving difficult to sell, when out of the blue, a buyer made an offer, I counter-offered and it was accepted and paid for immediately.

I noticed that the buyer was local in Milton Keynes, so rather than be tied to them coming here, I offered to drop off which they accepted. the buyer has a red star 100% record >4000 transactions.

It turned out that the female owner of the ebay account was not the person who responded but in fact her male business partner. this particular business was a newly opened museum of Lego products, hence their purchase.

We arrived at the stated time though the said buyer was extremely late, he took the items from us and promised to sign the collection off "within the hour" as he was very busy.

We now know that we should not have parted with the items without the 6 digit code but we trusted him.

Since then we have messaged them on two mobile numbers, WhatsApp and of course eBay messaging so that there is an audit trail, requesting the code, to no avail. The messages have been delivered but not yet read by the two recipients.

So far we have had no response to any of our requests for the code. I saw the posting that  @ mmw-1215 had with a similar no-code scenario. One mentor said that it will default to being collected in 21 days unless the buyer files a non-delivery  report.

What should I do here, I thought of giving it a few days then reporting the buyer to eBay for non-compliance perhaps?

Whilst we were waiting for the buyer to arrive at his museum we spoke with some others waiting to see him who said that the buyer was very difficult to deal with and often did not respond to electronic comms for weeks.  He is the director of some 16 local business's and is consequently very busy though that's no excuse for avoiding a very simple and quick task.

I agree with @mmw-1215 that ebay has not thought it through that a 3rd party without access to the code might be deputed to collect the items and not provide an alternative. This is our first and probably our last collection in person sale, I don't think I will be doing it again!

[**peaseblossom**]

There's nothing you can do if he's not giving you the code but the money will be released anyway, usually after 14 days.

[cobwebcottage · Accepted solution]

There isn't anything you can do except to hope that they do not open an INR.

It is up to you as the seller to make sure that the buyer is aware that you will be requiring the QR code before parting with the goods. If not, then you either take a chance or decline the sale.

Far too much information about your buyer in this post considering it is your fault for parting with the goods.

Absolutely no good 'reporting the buyer to eBay for non-compliance' as you allowed it to happen.

[achroin]

The member whose ebay account the actual buyer was using was on holiday and not in contact.

She has now given me the code and we have been paid . The buyer did not know what he was doing and was unfamiliar with the changes made by ebay .

Alls well that ends well.

[dancewithadingo]

Good Morning Ach

I have sent you a private message. You might find it illuminating and helpful.