Scammed - Buyer claiming I sent him biscuits! - Best way to proceed?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I sold an item a few days ago and because I re use-boxes - I packed it in a box that originally had biscuits in.

The buyer has now messaged me to say that I sent him biscuits - not the item.

What's the best way to proceed with such a claim?

It's a £5 item  (plus £3.50 for P&P) but why would I bother trying to pull a scam like that when I know eBay would give them the money back.

[signs_and_vintage]

Nice touch it IS Christmas after all?

[johnwash1]

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@tressygirl wrote:

I can add to this list and say I've experienced this too.

Using good sturdy reusable boxes, I used a box originally holding chocloates to receive not a message but a Return case for item not as described.

Asking the buyer had they opened the box which was taped all round with wide parcel tape and looking very much NOT like a new box of chocs, buyer had not , and hadn't thought too!

I still use reusable boxes, but use a red thick sharpie pen to cross out all info of previous contents even writing a note on some.... Thank you for buying from me,  please find your *****  inside!

Nowt as strange as folk!  🤔

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Hmmm, announcing the contents?  Maybe not such a good idea, unless very low value.

Reminds me of the time I waited in all day for Dell to send me a replacement memory stick.  Still not here at the end of the working day.  Called Dell CS.  "Oh yes, it has arrived, and you've signed for it!".  "No, I think I'd know if I signed for something".  "Yes, you've signed for it, shall I send you the signature to prove it?".

I met my neighbour who was returning home and she opened her postbox, to find the parcel crammed in.  It had been ripped open, but the replacement stick was still present.  Evidently of insufficient worth to attract the driver.

Unsurprising that DHL are often known as Drop it, Hide it, Lose it.

[kidmore_kats]

There was a bookseller on The River who was famous mostly for his responses to customer feedback but also for reusing packaging.

He told the tale of a customer who claimed not to have received a book, did a refund and some weeks later received an apologetic email saying that the buyer had found the missing item. Apparently he had posted the book in a Fish Finger box, the buyer's wife found it on the hall floor and put the box in the freezer.

[tressygirl]

Apologies @johnwash1    time ran away with me for the above post so I couldn't edit it.

When I said I write the contents of the item on the box,  I write it on the used box, with all the contents of previous contents crossed out, and then the box is wrapped in good quality brown wrapping paper.  The contents are not written on the outside of the parcel for all to see !

[the-nutwood-collection]

Send him a real box of biscuits...

Send him a bag of biscuits, parcel size, in a poly envelope.  When he opens it, he'll say 'Crumbs!  How generous'.

[johnwash1]

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@tressygirl wrote:

Apologies @johnwash1    time ran away with me for the above post so I couldn't edit it.

When I said I write the contents of the item on the box,  I write it on the used box, with all the contents of previous contents crossed out, and then the box is wrapped in good quality brown wrapping paper.  The contents are not written on the outside of the parcel for all to see !

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Oh, well, well done you!  However, even though I reckon to give my buyers good value and get plaudits for my packing, good quality brown paper is above and beyond anything I aspire to!  Unless you have a free source of it.

Actually my current main concern is lack of bubble wrap.  I used to get enough by scouring my local supermarket's fruit/veg section, gently removing it from the containers that were nearly empty.  But times have moved on, they protect their fruit with compressed cardboard-like material.  Still useful for packing, but not as good as bubble wrap.

As one who used to struggle with even packing a Christmas present, I never imagined retirement would bring the need to learn new skills! 

@the-nutwood-collection   Crumbs!  ROFL!

[clearingmyshelves2025]

I do that too, but in the daytime! I'm a brazen soul! Picked up some really useful packaging, even new shoeboxes which came in really handy.

Annoyingly my local Sainsburys seem to have cut down on bubble wrap in the fruit department.

[dlas-0]

A tip for reusing boxes - turn inside out!  Just break open at the seam and stick or tape the edge.  Then tape the other edges  as normal.  You end up with a pristine, blank box.

[kidmore_kats]

Absolutely.

It also gives you the opportunity to wipe all the Fish Finger crumbs off the packaging 

[department28]

I'm all for recycling packaging, but a fish finger box?!  A bit crumby & greasy - although the fingers might've been in an inner plastic bag I suppose, but even so... 

I would love to know what the book was.... Ice Cold in Alex, or A Touch of Frost, perhaps? Hope they didn't tip it straight into the frying pan...!

[kidmore_kats]

The man was a legend in his own lifetime. His seller name was The Intel Thug, not seen him online for years.

I wish I had saved some of his customer feedback and his responses to it. Enough material for a You Tube video on Customer Care When Dealing With Disgruntled Buyers 

[bazinga-games]

..." I've even been known [looks around carefully and lowers voice] to go down the road late at night checking blue bins for clean useful..."

😆😂😂🤣

[the-nutwood-collection]

There's something really satisfying about acquiring free packaging. 

I was offered a pile of flat-pack mug boxes.  I don't sell mugs, or anything mug-shaped.  I have lots of boxes that fit my products.  I don't need any more clutter in my workroom.  However, I said thank you, and immediately grabbed them.

It took me ten minutes to figure out how to assemble the first mug box.  What a complicated thing.  However, I then found that four spools of ribbon fit neatly in a free mug box!  Sheer joy.  

[bazinga-games]

I totally agree about receiving free packaging 😊

Someone local to me has twice put on Freecycle black bags full of nice, clean bubble wrap - I was straight round there on both occasions! 😁

It was the furtive peeks into people's recycling boxes at night that tickled me!  😂

[the-nutwood-collection]

We have livestock, and are always in need of pallets.  If I see a neighbour having something delivered on a pallet, I always stake a claim to it.  A guy turned up at the door and asked if I was the lady that collected pallets.  My reputation must have spread throughout the neighbourhood - the weirdo at number 27.

[rainbowtrax]

Even using new packaging doesn't save you from trouble. I've had a buyer who bought a paper item which I sent rolled inside a new cardboard mailing tube inside a new plastic mailer. Buyer claimed there was nothing in the mailer, just a cardboard tube. Had to instruct them to look inside the tube.

Then another one who bought a few paper items of different sizes. Larger pieces were rolled in a tube, smaller ones were inside a new small board-backed envelope. Tube and envelope together inside a plastic mailer. That buyer claimed to have only received the rolled ones as it hadn't occurred to them to open the envelope and they'd thrown it in the bin.

[johnwash1]

Makes you wonder how some of them even manage to navigate ebay's web site and find the 'buy' button.

They get the cat to walk over the keyboard?

[Anonymous]

Haha these stories are great, free cardboard boxes are often stronger than the ones you can buy in the Post Office,

I have a question for those who buy postage online,

If I take a parcel to my local Post Office and pay over the counter the receipt has the exact parcel weight on,

When I buy postage online and say it is 2kg, then take the parcel to my local Post Office, the receipt has the weight I specified online,

Is this the same for everyone? or is it just my post office?

If it's the same for everyone, does that mean a scammer could send an empty box but have a Post Office proof of postage receipt saying the box weighed 2kg and then claim the Postman stole the contents? - meaning Royal Mail would compensate him for an item that was never in the box in the first place?

I choose 1kg even if my parcel weighs 500g or 2kg if it weighs 1.2kg as doesn't cost any more and ensures a buyer won't get a card saying he has to pay extra postage.

[the-nutwood-collection]

Is this the same for everyone? or is it just my post office?

In my experience, it differs depending on the counter clerk.  If I take my parcels to PO(A), one clerk ignores the weight on the label and just enters random numbers which (I think) accord with the weight band.  The other clerk enters the label weight.  Neither of them ask for the parcel to be weighed.

At PO(B), one clerk enters the weight on the label, the other asks for the parcel to be weighed and enters the scale weight.

At PO(C), one clerk enters the weight on the label, the other takes the parcel from me, scans it, gazes at the screen for five seconds, gives it back to me to put on the scales, gazes at the screen for five seconds, takes the parcel back, then scans it again.  Idiot.  I avoid this PO.

To answer your question about scammers labelling an empty box as 2 kilo - your scammer would have to know the process the PO clerk uses.  If the clerk enters the weight on the label and doesn't have an sufficiently enquiring mind to ask why a 2 kilo parcel is as light as a feather, then the receipt would show 2 kilo.  

Surcharges are imposed by Royal Mail.  If their scanner detects a parcel that is overweight or oversized, it's hooked out for a surcharge.  Your 1.2 kilo parcel with a 2 kilo postage paid label should be OK as the charge for both weights is the same.

[myriad*seller]

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@johnwash1 wrote:

Makes you wonder how some of them even manage to navigate ebay's web site and find the 'buy' button.

They get the cat to walk over the keyboard?

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There seems to be a lot less of that nowadays doesn't there? 

Odd when there are more cats in the UK than ever?