Courier lost my items twice and it was counted as MY fault

[seedbankers]

Just talked to an ebay operative after being sent on a fruitless wild goose chase by AI. I sent an item with a proof of posting and buyer said she hadn't received it. I sent another tracked and she still had not received it. She told me that she lived in a remote area and that she had a new postie and after his arrival, service went downhill. The operative told me that courier is MY problem and in this case both Royal Mail. How am I be held responsible for courier trouble and he said because of this, it was counted as a defect. He also said OUT OF STOCK was counted as another defect. Once I had a lovely rare flower and someone bought it but I couldn't send it as the flower NEVER unfurl itself after a whole week. I had to cancel. In the end, the bud just NEVER opened. He said this would be counted as a DEFECT! It's not HIS fault, but these rules are absurd at best and should be moderated coming to perishables.

[papso22]

Whether you think they are absurd or not, they are how ebay works.  It's all set out in the published policies.

If you can't prove delivery (not just posting), then you have to refund, and if you don't do so voluntarily you get a defect.

You get a different type of defect for cancelling for out of stock.

There are no special rules for perishables, at least as far as ebay defects go, but see below for government rules relating to plant and seed sales.

https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/assets/uploads/Amateurs-Hobbyists-Factsheet-v2.pdf

[seedbankers]

What more could I have done? I used proof of posting and then tracked the item. Just saying this is how it works here, take it or leave it is arrogant. IT IS NOT MY FAULT. What control I have over couriers, especially when it comes to Royal Mail as there are worse courier.

[papso22]

Please don't add things to my post that I didn't put.  I never said anything about 'take it or leave it' and I was factual not arrogant.

The only thing you can do is look to claim for compensation from the courier that lost your parcel.

[ed_58611]

If you had uploaded the tracking number to eBay they would know that it had been successfully delivered, and would therefore NOT have refunded the buyer.

Incidentally, as it's Royal Mail as the courier, was there no geo-tagging of the delivery point or photograph added to the delivery status?

If the tracking shows that the parcel remains undelivered then you must claim against the courier as it is with yourself that the contract to deliver the goods was made.