My customer paid and then sent a message asking that I please ship the item to his mom?

[goody-stash]

my customer paid and then sent a message stating he wants this shipped to his mom.  So when I clicked on the order to edti the shipping address it prompts me that I may not be protected if I change the address?  I thought since he wrote in ebay messages where he wants it shipped this is ok? but now I'm thinking its a ship at my own risk situation, I just want to know the policy on this and cannot seem to find it or get ahold of customer support.  I want to be prepared as this is sure to come up over and over during the holiday season so what do you do, usually just send it or what is my alernative?

[rusticrye]

All payment processors' policies are very clear: You MUST send to the original address, or you lose all seller protection, ie. you will lose an Item Not Received case, and an Unauthorised Accout Use claim. And the latter will cost you very dear, as not only will you lose the item and your money, but you'll be charged a hefty admin fee too. So ignore anyone who tells you to 'risk it'.  That policy exists for very good reason: To protect you from account hackers and other fraudulent users.

So cancel the transaction ('problem with buyer's address'), which will auto-refund the buyer, and credit the selling fee back your Ebay account. You can then relist so that the buyer can buy again, this time using the correct address. No honest buyer will object to this. It is only an account hacker or other fraudulent user who would quite naturally object.

@goody-stash 

[john1297576]

If you are not using tracking it won't make any difference.

If you are using tracking, only delivery to the address shown on the paypal payment, would protect you against claims of Not Received.

In other words you could be forced to refund even though you have proof of delivery but to the wrong address.

It is more likely ignorance on the part of the buyer, but he may think he can get a Freebie.

I see you are in the USA, you have wandered on to Ebay UK but I imagine that rules in the US are similar to in the UK.