Item stolen from Evri Simple Delivery parcel and substituted with another item

[7jonquil7]

Hi,

Looking for some advice on how to proceed with this. Has anyone else been in this situation? I sold my old iPhone and despatched via Evri Simple Delivery in good faith. The buyer received the parcel but is saying the package was tampered with. It didn't contain what I'd sent him but some random PS3 Spiderman game. The buyer asked if I'd sent him the wrong item by mistake but I've never even owned a PS3 let alone had any games to sell!! He sent various photos as evidence, and the Evri proof of delivery pic definitely shows my parcel. In the pic there does seem to be a big jagged flap cut into the side of it, taped over. I guess if a parcel arrives with something inside it, it covers the thief's tracks and makes reports of theft more difficult to prove.

I'm not sure how I'm meant to appeal this. The buyer has opened a Returns request. Should I accept the return and contact eBay to appeal, or should I wait for escalation? I'm absolutely fuming! All I wanted to do was make a few quid from my old phone...

[dancewithadingo]

Good Afternoon 7j

If you used Simple Delivery you both will be covered. That's one of the perks ie in the case of damage or loss then the buyer and seller will be refunded.

Make sure that you let eBay know via the case that this was a Simple Delivery and as such is covered for this situation.

Good luck

PS. eBay also remove any adverse feedback. May I suggest that you use Royal Mail in future as Evil are hopeless and are prone to this happening.

[7jonquil7]

Thank you for your help. Is it a good idea to accept the return, or hold off doing anything until eBay steps in? The buyer has opened the case as 'Wrong Item Sent', which isn't strictly true as I sent the right item, he just didn't receive it. 

[cobwebcottage]

Call CS.

Tell them it is a simple delivery parcel and ask them to read the e mail correspondence between you and the buyer to make sure that they understand the issue.

Dont close the case.

eBay Customer Service

[lucy_farmer]

Obviously (with the delivery pic evidence) something has happened to this parcel, but I just can't get my head round how .....!

How does the evri driver/parcel handler know what is inside an anonymous parcel  (it's a used phone, so I'd assume it wasn't in a box marked 'phone'..)  and why would they have a random computer game with them to put in it instead?

I'm stumped.

[7jonquil7]

The address on the Evri label had a company name, ‘Broken Fones’, a dead giveaway. I did have a slight qualm about that at the time, and now of course I really wish I’d acted on it. I agree about the game, though. Where did that even come from? 

[7jonquil7]

Thank you, I’m going to try this. Definitely not accepting the Return until I’m clear about my position.

[sml192]

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@7jonquil7 wrote:

Thank you for your help. Is it a good idea to accept the return, or hold off doing anything until eBay steps in? The buyer has opened the case as 'Wrong Item Sent', which isn't strictly true as I sent the right item, he just didn't receive it. 

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The buyer should have used 'Arrived damaged' ad the reason for the return request.  Then eBay would have refunded the buyer at no cost to you.  By the buyer using 'Wrong item sent' that effectively makes you responsible so you will definately need to contact eBay Customer Service to appeal this. 

[pillarboxred]

This is theft and fraud and must be a police matter. EBay can't and really doesn't have the right to investigate this. If the police won't investigate, write to your MP and tell him or her that as far as you can see, the only solution to get justice is to vote for a Far Right party as criminals are getting away with far too much and need to be cracked down on.  That might get some action.

[pillarboxred]

The returned parcel will inevitably have a different weight to the precise weight on the printed label and the receipt. If it is out by as much as a gram, it is not the same parcel. Don't tell the buyer because that detail could snare him and he might go to great lengths to try and match the weights. Tell eBay Customer Service and the police.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

If the buyer has opened a claim you only have 3 working days to respond.

On day 4 the buyer can ask Ebay to step in.

If that happens Ebay will refund the buyer,give you a defect and will probably advise buyer no need to return.

[the_bbbs_nees3]

Hi eBay will make you accept the return, even though your buyer sounds like a thief, issue a return label, once you get the package back phone eBay right away and tell them that the buyer has switched the item you sold and returned a different item, eBay will then send you a declaration to complete, once you have done that send the declaration back to eBay via the link they send you and eBay will protect you and not make you refund the buyer,  there are scammers out there. 

[suelel1968]

Can it be long before Phones are excluded from SD? There must have been 3 cases on the forums in the last week, and more and more recently. If the box looked tampered with in the delivery picture then probably was Evri in this instance, but buyers are not angels either. I certainly wouldn't sell a phone on Ebay.

Sorry this happened to you by the way @7jonquil7 . You should be OK, one way or another and my advice FWIW, make a fuss until you get the correct outcome.

[pillarboxred]

Sickening that we are all paying for this kind of protection through the fees we pay when criminality should be dealt with by policing.

[1902elder]

When police fail to respond to burglaries as has been heavily reported, there is no chance that they are going to become involved in an Ebay transaction.Your suggestion in a previous post of writing to your MP would be equally ineffective. Selling expensive items on Ebay is fraught with dangers, and probably better to be avoided.

[pillarboxred]

I'm quite serious about involving the police. What are our taxes for? What are the police for? What are our  MPs for?

[suelel1968]

Hi @pillarboxred I think you will find that the police are spending their time checking into the bigoted Emails of our MPs who are spending out taxes on expensive second homes.