Courier disputes - who is responsible, Buyer or Seller?

[fish19700]

My understanding of disputes raised by a Buyer stating non-delivery is that the Seller supplies tracking details. This recently happened to me ( the Seller), an item the Buyer stated was left behind a bin, the Hermes tracking, which I sent to the Buyer indicated 'left in porch'.  What upset me was that Ebay refuned the Buyer and debited my Paypal. I contacted Ebay, they have now credited me back. The question I am raising, is am I correct in thinking that as a Seller, as long as the item is fully tracked and delivered, that I have fulfilled my part of the sale? Putting the shoe on the other foot, what recourse does a Buyer actually have in such a situation - presumably dispute it with the courier? Note that during Covid, signatures are not ordinarily being taken.

Thanks all.

[arkwebus · Accepted solution]

The buyer should open a "non delivery" case and the seller inputs the tracking.  If the tracking shows delivery [and in practice that does not even have to be to the buyer] then the seller does not have to refund.

In theory the buyer does not have any comeback against the courier as the contract is with the seller and courier.  We hear so often of these cases and it seems very difficult to get any sensible resolution in such.  The courier just parrots "we have tracking which shows delivery".  I would be very very reluctant to use any one but Royal Mail

@fish19700 

[rusticrye]

When tracking shows delivery to the address the buyer provided at checkout, your job as the seller is done. You cannot be made to refund as you have no way of claiming back your loss from the carrier - because tracking proves delivery. But you must add the tracking number to the transaction at time of dispatch, or at the very least when a buyer opens an Item Not Received case.

Under these circumstances, the buyer must contact the carrier to find out where they left the package. If the carrier has misdelivered and can't retrieve the package, or has not left it in a 'safe place' and it has subsequently been stolen, they, the carrier, will have to compensate the buyer.

Carriers will often tell the buyer that they can only deal with the sender, as that is who they have the contract with. This is not true under these circumstances. It only applies when packages are lost or damaged in transit.

@fish19700