Hello would really appreciate help from experienced sellers on what I'm sure is a problem that inevitablty crops up from time to time. Case opened against me today as buyer hasn't received item- 2nd class signed- that was dropped at post office on 10th Oct with expected delivery date of 16th. I was unaware until that point of any issue as I learned a while ago that fairly often items don't show as delivered even when they have been (though that may not apply to signed ones). Unpleasant surprise, as always if anything goes wrong. I'm currently perplexed as to how Ebay deals with this scenario. My options appear limited to (a) contact buyer, (b) provide tracking, (c) refund. I've contacted the buyer, apologising and promising to get on it straight away. Next step was providing tracking. I expected to have to provide a photo showing my receipt from when I dropped the item at post office, but instead I was only able to input the tracking number and carrier...which is already on the Ebay system, meaning buyer can already see it, and could do from moment I purchased postage automatically through Ebay (as i usually do). So what's next? I don't find the information provided by Ebay to be at all clear, but have a bad feeling I, and other sellers, are only covered if can provide proof of delivery, which I can't, and which nobody can in the event of item not getting there. It all seems very shoddy to me, especially as buyer currently seems in position of having gained nothing by me providing them with tracking details they already have. The case now shows as waiting for buyer action, which seems ridiculous as nothing has changed for them and there is no action they can take, beyond closing case which they obviously won't do. Item shows up at my end on ebay as having been accepted by post office, with the second step also ticked (in transit, i think). Royal Mail website adds nothing. Says only 'we've got it' and details of when and where it was accepted at post office, as well as 'Your item has been posted at a Post Office. As you've used our Royal Mail Signed For service, the next update you'll see is after we've attempted to deliver to the recipient.' Given it's 17 days now, fair to say it's surely lost by them. So...is this really the ebay system? Do I now have to wait for the inevitable of the buyer bcoming more annoyed, understandably, and then it being escalated to who knows what step, which I have no faith is any more sensible than this one? I suspect my only real option is to offer a full refund and then pursue it through Royal Mail. If anyone could confirm for me this is the case I would be very grateful, as i dislike waiting and want to resolve it for the buyer as quickly as possible. Thanks
... View more
