Advice on Stolen Item

[oddsandendsoz]

Hi community,

Hoping you are all well and sales are not too bad for you all. 

I have a situation I have not experienced as a seller before that I hope you can help with. Yesterday I received an eBay message from a buyer who had just received an item earlier that day from an Australia Post delivery driver;

"I have received the package today unfortunately somewhere along the route someone has sliced open the seal of the packaging and taken out the item and left all the padding.

I have been in touch with Australia Post and putting in a complaint and hopefully they will refund some of the money I am out of pocket for it. I will be in touch and let you know how it goes. I may have to open a missing item case on here to ensure it is done in the correct timeframe, but ideally I am trying to get Aus Post to pay for their staff stealing it."

Apparently the buyer has taken images when he received it and looking at tracking, an investigation was opened around 30 minutes after receiving the parcel from the driver (this 30 minutes would obviously include driving to the PO as it seems he went to his local PO to report). The buyers second message through eBay messages in response to my reply states as follows:

"Hi

It was handed to me by the driver and as he drove off I noticed it was cut open and then realised it was your delivery and too light.

I took photos as soon as I noticed.

I have reported it to the post depot manager, and through the official channels as Aus Post.

I am a serving police officer so I have got a colleague to put a stealing report on the system.

How many have you got as I am still keen on getting this item or 12 ha ha."

Obviously the fact the buyer is a Police offer helps somewhat but I am wondering what obligations I have in this regard and how eBay would likely side with the buyer?

Thoughts and input very much appreciated. 

[curraone]

If a formal dispute is opened, make sure you respond with the tracking no.

Then I would just wait a bit.    Hopefully Aust Post will come through.    Can I ask what kind of item it was, and what value?

[katistrophik]

Follow curraone advice, and don't put too much faith in the fact that the buyer is a cop, I could tell you I am a canary and how would you know ?

Ok, bad example...... a canary probalby types better than I do

[padi*0409]

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@katistrophik wrote:

Ok, bad example...... a canary probalby types better than I do

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Probably better than me as well Kat...................

[everard6920]

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@oddsandendsoz wrote:

Hi community,

Hoping you are all well and sales are not too bad for you all. 

I have a situation I have not experienced as a seller before that I hope you can help with. Yesterday I received an eBay message from a buyer who had just received an item earlier that day from an Australia Post delivery driver;

"I have received the package today unfortunately somewhere along the route someone has sliced open the seal of the packaging and taken out the item and left all the padding.

I have been in touch with Australia Post and putting in a complaint and hopefully they will refund some of the money I am out of pocket for it. I will be in touch and let you know how it goes. I may have to open a missing item case on here to ensure it is done in the correct timeframe, but ideally I am trying to get Aus Post to pay for their staff stealing it."

Apparently the buyer has taken images when he received it and looking at tracking, an investigation was opened around 30 minutes after receiving the parcel from the driver (this 30 minutes would obviously include driving to the PO as it seems he went to his local PO to report). The buyers second message through eBay messages in response to my reply states as follows:

"Hi

It was handed to me by the driver and as he drove off I noticed it was cut open and then realised it was your delivery and too light.

I took photos as soon as I noticed.

I have reported it to the post depot manager, and through the official channels as Aus Post.

I am a serving police officer so I have got a colleague to put a stealing report on the system.

How many have you got as I am still keen on getting this item or 12 ha ha."

Obviously the fact the buyer is a Police offer helps somewhat but I am wondering what obligations I have in this regard and how eBay would likely side with the buyer?

Thoughts and input very much appreciated. 

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This sounds awfully sketchy. I don't think a police officer would say they put in a "stealing report" for starters.

Personally, I would ask the buyer to authorise you on the case (he has to ask AP to do it). Tell him you want to speak to AP about exactly how the article was packed, etc, to maximise the buyer's chance of a good outcome. Emphasise that when someone steals from your buyer, they are stealing from you.

Tell him you will also be filing a case with ACORN and basically try to get as involved with it as you can, so that if the buyer is full of it, you will make them think twice about pursuing it. If they're being truthful, then they'll be happy that you're trying to help, so no harm done.

What was the approximate value of the item?

[oddsandendsoz]

Thanks for your input. The value of the item was $109 and was sent with SOD. Hopefully AP will cover most of the costs on this but I am just wondering how AP treat these acuusations of staff theft. I imagine it is not an easy or quick process. 

[oddsandendsoz]

Yes, I do admit I was also a little suss on the wording of 'stealing report' but then he is located in rural WA so maybe that's normal speak in those parts. 

On looking at the buyers FB there are no issues at all in regards to evidence of INR or INAD, all perfect feedback given to sellers thus far. I am not sure what to make of it but a quick google of name does suggest the buyer certainly has some involvement with the Police force but not entirely clear (mainly liking twitter posts etc). The value of the item was $109 so not a biggie but just not sure how eBay treat these kind of cases? I have SOD and tracking on all my items and generally insure up to the value.

[lyndal1838]

If the buyer's story is accepted by AP they can be quite quick in settling the claim.

I am a bit suspicious of the buyers claim that he is a police officer...stealing report does not sound right to me.

I would hazard a guess that the buyer has cut into packing and removed the item himself.

[digital*ghost]

I had the same reaction to "stealing report" as soon as I read it. I mean, maybe it's not his area but these things have official names and a police officer is much more likely to use "industry jargon" than something your average citizen might come up with (which is more likely to be "theft report" IMO, but cops usually use a generic phrase like "incident report").

If an official report has been made, there will be a case number - I'd ask for that.

Secondly, what kind of weight would the box have with the contents removed? Australia Post aren't always as on the ball as you'd hope, but if a package has been tampered with in tranist and it's obvious in one way or another (damage to the outer packaging, unusually light or obviously empty parcel etc), they will usually reseal the package and include a letter about the incident, with advice on who to contact etc. 

You would be surprised the lengths people will go to for perceived believability and empathy. I had someone contact me claiming they never got the item. Before I could respond, they sent another message claiming they had received the package, but the contents had been stolen in transit, so I started asking some questions...

After my little round of questions, their story was that the package had been retreived by police (apparently the theif had a lot of stolen packages in their possession), but was empty, so it was handed off to Australia Post as it was no longer evidence in their investigation, and was then subsequently delivered by Australia Post, but included a letter from the police explaining the situation. I kept asking for the case number, in the end after repeated requests, they sent through a photo of a typed letter that (allegedly) corroborated their story. 

I wasn't done yet, though - I contacted the police and asked if it was a genuine letter; disappointingly they refused to confirm or deny "no comment, for privacy reasons" was basically their reply. However, i also contacted Australia Post, gave them the full details of what the buyer was claiming, and they were just immediately "yeah....absolutely nothing like that has happened". 

The kicker? The item value (including postage) was under $10 and it was sent untracked. 

Also had a few scammers tell me they were lawyers, or a justice of the peace, it's meant to be shorthand for "I'm a fine, upstanding pillar of the community, and / or law-abiding citizen, I wouldn't even dream of jaywalking", lol.

By all means work with them and I hope all of the suspicions here turn out to be off the mark, but just be wary of this one, and take as many measures as you can to dispute their claim if / when they try to make one. 

[oddsandendsoz]

Thanks Lyndal. I must admit stealing report did stand out when I read the message to my partner last night out loud. Very strange terminology I agree. Good to know AP will perhaps act quickly on this.