Address does not exist, do I have to refund postage?

[threelittlech]

Hi. I sold a phone on ebay for £150. I sent it to the buyer 1st class with tracking. The phone did not arrive and the tracking shows that it arrived in his home town but does not say anything about attempting to deliver it to him, it just turns right around and heads back in my direction then gets directed to the National Recovery Centre.

Understandably the buyer wants a refund, however when I google his address, the postcode doesn't match the number and road name he provided me to send the phone to, so this may well be the reason Royal Mail didn't attempt delivery and are sending it back? 

I wrote my senders address on the package but despite this it still seems to have been sent to the National Recovery Centre, so who knows when I will get it back?

Obviously I will refund the buyer but do I need to refund the postage if he put the address incorrectly? and can I even do this, a partial refund, then refund the rest if it turns out Royal Mail are at fault? 

If I refund it all to him, and Royal Mail refuse to refund me as the address was incorrect I am left out of  pocket and this whole situation is already very stressful for me as the money was paying off my credit card which I now can't do. It is also impossible to get through to Royal Mail by phone and emails bounce back. 

He has opened a request which I don't need to respond to until the 3rd December, so trying to explore my options before then. He has also said he needed a phone urgently so has brought another one so won't want the phone I sold him once it does reappear. 

I would welcome any advice.

Thanks

[john1297576]

Even worse for you, Royal Mail are unlikely to pay full compensation even if it gets lost. 1st Class is not suitable for anything over £20, you should have used Special Delivery, not only is it much safer, it would also get back to you, SO LONG as you put a return address on the packet.

Did you do this? National Recovery Centre does not sound very promising!!

If buyer has opened a not received case, you have no option but to refund in full. The money will already be frozen and can only be released by a full refund.

Read this - https://www.royalmail.com/help/what-happens-if-royal-mail-cant-deliver

[tobiasd4]

If you can't prove by tracking that item was delivered, you have to refund, make sure it is through ebay case,

do it now, if you wait for ebay to force you, you won't get fees credited.

Did you take parcel to PO, as they should check that address & postcode are correct.

Make sure you put claim in to Royal mail, if return address was on parcel it should come back to you.

[threelittlech]

Thanks, I did take to a PO but don't know if they checked the address or not. I guess my question is if the address is wrong who is responsible, me the seller for not checking - though why would I as I used the address provided by ebay or Royal Mail for not checking the address I provided. If me and I have reimbursed the buyer then I lose the postage money for no fault of my own, in addition to all the hassle I now have to get phone back, re sell it etc.

[*knight-rider*]

Whilst it`s not your fault the item did`nt get there, you will need to refund in full i`m afraid. Did you tell the buyer about the issue and what did they say?

[threelittlech]

The buyer wanted a phone urgently so has gone and brought another one, so when the one I sold does materialise he doesn't want it as he has brought another one.

I will continue to try and get through to Royal Mail today and if I can't will just reimburse him in full, I don't mind reimbursing him it is just the postage I am annoyed about, if it didn't arrive with him because he didn't provide the correct address. Because I feel if that is the case Royal Mail won't reimburse me either!

[threelittlech]

... I just want to know why from Royal Mail why they didn't deliver it in the first place and why it is taking so long to come back to me, given I put my address on the package, it was meant to be delivered last Thursday!

[threelittlech]

I got through to Royal Mail, the address does not exist, so basically this whole disaster happened because the buyer didn't provide the correct address. I am going to call ebay to discuss!