Buyer says they haven’t received item but tracking says delivered

[jesma5605]

Hi everyone

its my first time selling on eBay and I managed to sell an item for a good amount. I was so happy because the money is going towards an important move. I made sure I posted the item out literally the same day using evri simple delivery with eBay’s prepaid label. I took photos of how it was packed, how it looked outside on the box I used as I wrapped the entire box with fragile tape , used excessive amounts of bubble wrap etc to ensure it arrived safely. I truly couldn’t have done anymore to ensure it arrived in good condition at a good time.

Anyway, I was keeping an eye on the tracking the whole time, and on the day of the delivery which was Saturday 17th I had a notification saying it would be delivered between 11:00 and 13:00pm. Cool. At 11:33 I get the confirmation that it was delivered via evri, and it seemed to have updated on eBay as confirmed delivery. I checked evri tracking and it showed the GPS coordinates of where it was placed and the driver took a proof of delivery photo outside their door where the parcel was on a doorstep.  All was good as far as I was aware. On the Monday, I received my funds from eBay and withdrew into my bank- not heard anything from the buyer at all or eBay etc about the parcel so I assumed this is the order completed and he’s happy.  Fast forward to now, today Thursday 22nd of May at 10pm I received a email from eBay saying the Buyer has opened a case and said they’ve not received the item with a message from them saying “would still like the item but only if it’s delivered by Friday”. Obviously I’m confused because the parcel was confirmed by eBay and evri as delivered on the Saturday , funds released to me the Monday, and only now he’s opening a case saying he hasn’t received it. Anyway I send him a quick message apologising because I was under the impression everything was fine because it’s been almost a week since the delivery was confirmed. I also let him know that I’m able to see the tracking and explained there was coordinates where the parcel was left as well as a photo outside the door incase he hasn’t been able to check yet. He’s not replied yet understandably as it’s late, I’m just in a bit of a panic because it’s my first time selling and I was overly cautious from the start because I never use eBay. I have absolutely no idea what I need to do now, how I can even help in this situation or if I’m now gonna have to refund the buyer even though I did everything my end correctly the way eBay said. I think I’m worried that  the parcel was just left on the doorstep and stolen. I don’t know how I can help if that’s happened because if  a refund is required then I’d be out of pocket as well as no item. It’s too much money for me to lose if I’m honest. Any help would be really appreciated and I’m sorry if this is incredibly long and in the wrong section lol. 

[sml192]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'If, it's E-Bay selling you the carriage you're right, they would be liable, however....'

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Under the S.D. T's and C's :

Ebay will take responsibility for your parcel once it has been handed over to the chosen courier. As long as your parcels comforms to S.D terms and the carrier's terms, ebay will cover refunds for loss and damage in the post. (my bold italics)

The carrier's terms include a hysterically long list of items that are excluded from compensation for loss or damage in the post (covers almost everything breakable, valuable or seriously important- look up evri's 'excluded from compensation' list)

We have had one definitive answer that excluded items will *not* be covered under S.D. (few weeks ago from kat@ebay ) but there's been quite a lot of confusion and conflicting statements about all things S.D. over the last couple of months so can't really be sure.....

(The problem, if they are *not* covered under S.D. , is there's really no way of telling at the point of listing, and no options to avoid S.D if it does eventually become mandatory...)

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The compensation is being provided by eBay not the carrier.  It is highly unlikely that there will be any compensation paid to eBay by the carrier as with business contracts any right to compensation is usually waived in return for a heavily discounted price.  The carrier's 'Excluded from Compensation' lists should, therefore, be irrelevant and provided the item conforms to the carrier's general terms of carriage (packaging guidelines, etc.) and isn't on either the carrier’s or eBay's 'Prohibited/restricted' lists it should be eligible for compensation.   This is an area, however, that definitely needs further clarification from eBay. 

[j.p.greenwood]

But from what I've read it's not 'contractually' clear.

I suspect that this might end up getting tested in court at some point, I can guarantee if a parcel was sent to me that had an item worth in the hundreds of pounds and it got taken from my front door, then E-Bay argued that the item was 'delivered' (as there's a photo of it sitting on my doorstep) so they're not refunding me, I'm filing......