Items missing from package

[kieranw120]

Sold an item

Package has been delivered with proof of postage from Royal Mail (with picture)

Buyer saying Items weren't in package and have fallen out from the envelope. 

He wants to raise a case with eBay - I think his issue lies with Royal Mail?

The envelope is clearly ripped open not caused by item(s) within envelope

Who claims to who?

As a seller, item was delivered? Funds should be made available?

Buyers issue is with missing item(s) from envelope with Royal mail?

Advice please?

[tressygirl]

The buyer has to claim from eBay, under their 30 day MBG Money Back Guarantee policy for their refund.

They need to open a  case for item not as described,  and Not one for item not received,  as an item was received,  albeit a partially empty envelope.

If  Simple Delivery was used, eBay should take care of this refund and you get to keep the sales payout.

SD does insist on secure packaging, it may be seen that the envelope used was not fit for the purpose to hold those items,  however,  the process has to be started with the buyer starting a case for item not as described.

@kieranw120 

[4_bathrooms]

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@tressygirl wrote:

If  Simple Delivery was used, eBay should take care of this refund and you get to keep the sales payout.

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The buyer is most likely going to select "Missing parts or pieces" as the reason for wanting to return. I don't believe this is a return reason that sellers have any protection from under "Simple" Delivery - I'm pretty sure SD only offers protection if the seller opens an INR case or a return case with "Arrived damaged" as the reason.

[4_bathrooms]

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@kieranw120 wrote:

Package has been delivered with proof of postage from Royal Mail (with picture)

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Is the picture you have attached the one that can be seen on Royal Mail's website?

[tressygirl]

I did think that too,    however,  who's to say that any remaining item was not damaged and in effect the item then was not as described as it did not match the photos and description. 

Interesting one to see how this will pan out, however, SD terms clearly state ' secure packaging'  I've had an item delivered ( barely)  hanging in the bag as the sharp edge of the box cut through the jiffy bag,  damaging the box, had it been taped all the way round  it might have had a better chance of ' survival'.  The seller here may fail SD / eBay paying up because of insecure packaging.

Found this in an eBay help page:

In eBay's Simple Delivery, if an item arrives with parts missing, the seller is generally not directly liable for the missing parts, provided they used the prepaid label and properly packaged the item. eBay's Simple Delivery provides protection for items lost or damaged during transit, from the point of the initial scan until delivery confirmation. If a buyer reports missing parts, the buyer is compensated by eBay, not the seller. 

@4_bathrooms

@4_bathrooms

[4_bathrooms]

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@tressygirl wrote:

Found this in an eBay help page:

In eBay's Simple Delivery, if an item arrives with parts missing, the seller is generally not directly liable for the missing parts, provided they used the prepaid label and properly packaged the item. eBay's Simple Delivery provides protection for items lost or damaged during transit, from the point of the initial scan until delivery confirmation. If a buyer reports missing parts, the buyer is compensated by eBay, not the seller. 

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The only place I find that text in a Google search is in the Google AI response. Do you have a link to an eBay page where that paragraph exists?

[tressygirl]

No link sorry but copied  from  the middle section of a help page .  Was it an AI response? 🙄  Don't know!

It's all such a grey area to us all,   even if the answer comes from a poster coming back with CS' reply,  it may well be different the next time.

In my humble opinion all this has just been rolled out too soon with many ' creases'  needed to be ironed out first! 🤔

@4_bathrooms 

[tressygirl]

Hi again   

This link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/postage/simple-delivery?mkevt=1&mkpid=2&emsid=0&mkcid=8&bu=43952...

Has this section:

Get full coverage for your items

From the moment your item is scanned by the courier until delivery confirmation, the full value of the item is covered against loss or damage during transit. Plus, you won’t have to worry about responding to buyer claims.

I do understand where you are coming from for the explanation of ' loss' here, but part of the item received was lost in transit.

Guess it's wait and see hopefully OP will come back with a good result , but I still fear the ' secure packaging' may be an issue here.

@4_bathrooms

[kieranw120]

The picture is from the buyer... 

This picture is from Royal mail tracking/proof of delivery

[4_bathrooms]

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@tressygirl wrote:

No link sorry but copied  from  the middle section of a help page .  Was it an AI response? 🙄  Don't know!

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Here's what I see on Google when searching the first sentence from that in double-quotation marks:

The first part is Google's AI response. Google had no matches for "In eBay's Simple Delivery, if an item arrives with parts missing, the seller is generally not directly liable for the missing parts" which means they haven't indexed a page from eBay or anywhere else that contains that exact phrase. If you give it an hour or so this page will probably be the only result.

[tressygirl]

Oh crumbs nothing sacred when you try and look things up.

However,  did you see my other post with the link to eBay's help page?  That does show depending how one reads it,  that loss in transit will be covered by eBay / SD.  

It's a wait and see how eBay will view the case, not saying at all it's gonna be an easy win for the seller.

@4_bathrooms 

[4_bathrooms]

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@tressygirl wrote:

From the moment your item is scanned by the courier until delivery confirmation, the full value of the item is covered against loss or damage during transit. Plus, you won’t have to worry about responding to buyer claims.

I do understand where you are coming from for the explanation of ' loss' here, but part of the item received was lost in transit.

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I'm fairly certain eBay are going to treat SD the same way they treat GSP; i.e. "loss" means the tracking does not show a delivery or attempted delivery scan. According to eBay's API these are the INAD reasons that will be available:

• Doesn't work or defective
• Doesn't match description or photos
• Wrong item sent
• Missing parts or accessories
• Arrived damaged
• Doesn't seem authentic

I'm pretty sure "Missing parts or accessories" - note I got the wording slightly wrong originally - will be treated as a "seller fault" rather than a "carrier fault".

[thesmokingrunner]

There's something not quite right here...

The first photo - from the buyer - shows the envelope opened across the entire width of one end. If - and it's a big IF - that had happened in transit then Royal Mail would still have delivered the envelope but it would have been in a clear 'Damaged in transit' bag.

There is no evidence of this actually being the case: the buyer supplied a photograph of the opened envelope, but no photograph confirming it had been delivered in that condition. The buyer could quite easily have opened the envelope and removed the contents before taking the photograph.

Unfortunately royal Mail's uploaded delivery photo is inconclusive because it doesn't show the entire envelope. But it doesn't show the envelope resealed in another bag either, which suggests it was delivered intact.

All a bit odd, that...

[4_bathrooms]

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@kieranw120 wrote:

The picture is from the buyer... 

This picture is from Royal mail tracking/proof of delivery

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There's no way to tell how the item arrived from the RM picture. Has the buyer actually opened a case with eBay?

[kieranw120]

Can someone definitively tell me what the best thing to do is?

[kieranw120]

My thoughts exactly mate, I think we're on the same wave length with what may or may not have happened here

As stated, In my opinion, Buyer should be in touch with RM and I should have my payout?

[tressygirl]

Hi @kieranw120   as in my first answer you have to deal with your buyer first before pursuing any claim for yourself.

If your buyer has received a ' part item' they open a case for item not as described. 

If a case  for item not as described is opened,  it's all automatic, no point challenging it at that point with no human contact.

You need to accept it within 3 days,  pay for that fully tracked return postage if you want your item back first,  do not refund until it's back with you,  you then have 48 hours to fully refund.

Stick within those timelines,  and your seller performance is not affected.

See how eBay handle the refund if it comes from you,  then you need to claim from Royal Mail for loss of item.  If the package arrived damaged RM usually place this in a plastic bag with a note describing the damage.  If the buyer can photo this for you or send that packaging back it will help with your later claim.

@kieranw120 

[4_bathrooms]

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@kieranw120 wrote:

Can someone definitively tell me what the best thing to do is?

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Direct your buyer to open a case with eBay. If they refuse or tell you they can't you need to tell them they can only get a refund if they open a case.