Problem re collection by courier

[mari65-2007]

I’ve sold a large item of furniture for which the buyer arranged a courier collection.  When the buyer paid I emailed them to let me know when they were able to collect and also provided some dates when I wouldn’t be available.  I then got  a text from a courier company with a date (which was one of the dates when I wasn’t available).  This was followed by an email from the buyer saying he’d booked collection but if it wasn’t convenient change the date with the couriers.  There was never any communication with the buyer asking if I was ok if they arranged a courier but to be fair that was probably my fault as in hindsight maybe I should have said collection in person only.  Anyway I changed the date with the courier to yesterday.  I emailed the buyer to confirm and also asked for the collection code.  He replied saying he would pass this to the courier.

Yesterday the courier arrived and they hadn’t got the code.  They rung their office who didn’t have it.  I then phoned the buyer who said he’d given it to the courier company and that he was driving at the moment and would need to access it on his laptop when he got home which would be in an hours time.  I said to him that the driver wouldn’t be able to wait that long, at which point the driver said he could come back later.  I told the buyer this and said if he could send me the code in the next hour then I could release the item when the courier returned.  Shortly after this I received a text from the courier company saying collection failed and delivery rescheduled for tomorrow (Thursday).  I then rang the couriers, explained that the driver had said he could return later, however they advised that drivers should not be rearranging collections.

i emailed the buyer last night just to confirm the above (so I’d have an email trail in case of future problems!) I explained that I was not available on Thursday as I have to work but could he contact the couriers and rearrange for Friday.  I again reiterated that I could not release item without collection code.  To date I’ve had no response from him.  I’ve now had a text from the couriers saying collection booked for tomorrow which I have changed to Friday and have emailed buyer to confirm.

So I will have to see what happens on Friday.  To be honest I’m getting fed up with it now and if there are issues again I would like to cancel the sale.  Can anyone confirm that I would be within my rights to do that if again the code wasn’t available?  Also beginning to feel a bit uneasy about this buyer.  Just hope if they do collect there won’t be issues down the line.  My understanding is that if a buyer uses a third party courier and for instance item is damaged, there’s no comeback on the seller - is that correct?

sorry for this long post!  Most of the items I’ve sold have been small items which I’ve posted apart from a couple of things in the past when buyer themselves collected and it was cash on collection.

[sml192]

Yes, you are correct that if a buyer arranges for a third party such as a carrier to collect the item then they will no longer be protected by eBay's Money Back Guarantee.  

You are also perfectly within your rights to insist on the collection code being provided before the item can be taken away.

[**peaseblossom**]

There is no buyer protection for third party couriers but nothing ever seems to be 100% with ebay so personally I wouldn't necessarily rely on that.    There's a cancel option for collection items "Unable to arrange collection", or use "Problem with buyer's address" if that's there.  

[kyanyama]

I was worried about this very thing!  I have an item that requires collection but buyers can still claim not as described and I would have to collect it - and they could be miles & miles away.

I don't know why your buyer couldn't just give you the collection code?  Your spidey senses are there for a reason!  If you don't get the code I wouldn't let the item go.  My item will be listed on a different platform as I don't want to go through what you are.

Good luck.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

"I have an item that requires collection but buyers can still claim not as described and I would have to collect it - and they could be miles & miles away."

Unfortunately you might have to pay for return by trackable method unless you have a very trusting buyer.

Can be uneconomical to do so.

You could possibly refund them when you collect the item but as the refund wouldn't be instant you would have to hope the buyer understands that and trusts you.

Not a situation i would want to be in.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

But they can still do a chargeback.

[mari65-2007]

Thanks everyone for your responses.   I’m becoming more and more concerned about this buyer.  As I say collection rearranged for Friday.

 Please can someone tell me can I cancel the sale now or is it too late?  If I do cancel, will the buyer say he’s out of pocket with the courier but it was his decision to arrange a courier?

[**peaseblossom**]

You can cancel now if you want.  In theory the buyer should be able to cancel the courier but that's not your problem.    You listed as "Collection in person only".

[sml192]

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@roger_roger_over_and_nowt wrote:

You could possibly refund them when you collect the item but as the refund wouldn't be instant you would have to hope the buyer understands that and trusts you.

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The buyer wouldn't receive the refund instantly but it should show on their eBay account straight away.

[sml192]

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@roger_roger_over_and_nowt wrote:

But they can still do a chargeback.

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Yes, and a seller would only be protected from an 'Item not as described' chargeback if the buyer had already attempted a case with eBay for the same reason.

[papso22]

As i understand it, the case has to be positively decided by ebay in the seller's favour because ebay decided it was as described.

  So if the buyer used a courier, opened a case for item not as described which was closed by ebay because they were not entitled to open a case at all,  it wouldn't count.

[mari65-2007]

Thanks everyone for your help.  I have spoken to an agent to confirm that I was able to cancel the sale, they talked me through doing this.  

[lucy_farmer]

The words 'Gumtree' and 'cash on collection' would be occurring to me, now!