Has any seller experienced Ebay not accepting An Post (Ireland International post) tracking?

[cmlhorsebits]

Hi - I have come up across a rather odd reaction from ebay to tracking I submitted for an item sent Registered tracked and traced via An Post Ireland International postal service. I have submited full copy and link to An Post tracking that shows the (admittedly very slow!) progress of an item I sent to the USA.

They refunded as the buyer claimed the tracking did not work (it did) and they had not received it - so Ebay refunded them.  And it was very slow but did show as still in transit. And I did send ebay proof it was in transit still to USA via An Post.   Yesterday I received an email from An Post confirming that the parcel had now been delivered in the USA - I sent a copy of this to EBay and they do not accept it as it says Delivered in USA so will not give me back the money they refunded. This is registered, insured, tracked and traced with Irelands national postal service and Ebay say it is not proof of delivery! 

Why do they insist in their T&Cs we use tracked traced and proof of delivery and then just randomly say it isnt good enough proof??? I feel a bit cross, buyer now has the product and my money! 

Anyone else experienced this? I have no idea what to do now as I send everything from Ireland An Post registered post and as it is I subsidise the cost to try and stick to the rules about tracking etc. Couriers are just to expensive and frankly I have not found them reliable with International post. Any idea please?

[m25jet · Accepted solution]

If eBay won't help you to get the money back then contact PayPal about the matter.  PayPal's contact number for buyers living in the Republic of Ireland is 1800 944 570.  Have the tracking number to hand, as well as the name and address of the buyer and the PayPal transaction number, then when you get through to somebody explain that eBay have issued the buyer wtih an unjustified refund, yet the tracking details prove that the buyer has successfully received the item.

At this point give PayPal the tracking number.  PayPal will then put a trace on the tracking number to see whether or not the item has actually been delivered to the address that you were given on the PayPal confirmation of payment e-mail when the buyer paid for the item.  Given the fact that PayPal tend to investigate matters far more thoroughly than eBay do they will more than likely see that the item has been successfully delivered to the buyer, at which point you can really ram home the point that eBay have given the buyer an unjustified refund, the end result being that he or she now has the item and the payment that ought to be in your own account!  At this point PayPal will revoke the unjustified refund issued by eBay and reinstate the funds back into your own account, in which case you will still end up with the payment for the item that you sold to this buyer.

[cmlhorsebits · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your really helpful reply m25jet, well worth giving it a try anyway, I shall try that today.

[mar.sells53]

This happened to me... buyer said they waited long enough to have parcel arrive (14 days) so opened a case against me , my account on hold until I sent refund , I did same day , then after checking Royal Mail it had proof of delivery , so buyer has money back plus the items , have messaged buyer , no answer

[pixiesen2012]

if the tracking doesn't show the item as delivered when the buyer opens a case you have to refund,

if an item is delivered after you refund you have to contact the buyer and ask them to repay, ebay cannot get the money back for you

[cmlhorsebits]

Oh yes that is my point the tracking does show as delivered! It didnt show as delivered when they issued the refund, but it did show it as in transit but they refunded anyway. As it now shows as delivered they are still saying it is not proof of delivery when tracking clearly shows delivered! Ok so I have to ask the buyer to repay me is that correct? I dont think that will happen but worth a polite ask I guess.

[cmlhorsebits]

I am still wondering why I am paying extra to register track trace and notification of delivery by Irelands national post office if Ebay do not accept it? My main worry is - I am paying a lot of money especially to send to Uk with Brexit to use this service but if ebay doesnt accept it then where do I stand with anything else like this in the future?

[pixiesen2012]

ebay do accept it, IF it shows as delivered when the case is opened, your tracking didn't show the item as delivered, it only showed in transit, if it doesn't show delivered the buyer has to be refunded,

if the item eventually arrives you have to contact the buyer to get the money back, ebay can't get it back from them

[cmlhorsebits]

At what point then do ebay decide that the item is not going to ever be delivered, when it shows in transit, especially as this past few weeks there have been VERY long delays in all parts of the world with some mail? Is there a timeline that they will still stick to even under the unusual circumstances of both Covid and Brexit causing huge delays everywhere. I guess I can answer that myself, makes no difference to them even if nothing to do with the seller - purely a logistic problem and not theirs then so they just go ahead and refund. Lucky buyer nice position to be in if you are happy to have a delay with the system getting your parcel to you. 😉 .

[pixiesen2012]

it is quite simple

the buyer can open a not received case one day after the estimated delivery date,


ebay then allows another 3 days for the item to arrive


if the tracking doesn't show the item has been delivered the buyer is refunded


sellers need to protect themselves and increase their handling time so that the buyer can't open a case too soon.

[cmlhorsebits]

Thank you for your input, and as you say - it is quite simple - and I guess I must be too to even have queried it on here. 🙂 .