Buyer opened INR but i delivered it to their address

[hotrodvideo]

I sold an $12 item which  had FREE shiping on the 27th October and as the buyer was only 2 klm  I delivered it myself  . There was no one at home so put in in the letter box and took a photo . Now the buyer has open a case  i have offered  a  replacement but had no reply from the customer via messages  Ebay dosent have any links to  upload the photos in the dispute section  and cant contact themby phone   only by a useless automated chat  

[jellybirddesigns]

You have zero protection when you hand deliver or send an item without tracking.

A photo is utterly meaningless.

I definitely would not offer a replacement as this is not seen as a remedy to solve a dispute. Part of the reason for this is to mitigate sellers losses in case the buyer is a scammer.

Customer Service will not be able to help you - you either have tracking, or you don't.

[gutterpunkz05]

When using live chat, you need to select,  talk to agent, rather than the auto responses.  In any case you can not win this dispute, as you don't have any valid proof of delivery.

[digital*ghost]

I would try responding to the buyer via the dispute with a message - in cases where I know the claim is suspect, I start by at least giving the impression I am giving them the benefit of the doubt and will ask if they have opened the dispute on the wrong item in error, then explain why I've assumed that (in this case it would be because the package was hand-delivered, so you know beyond a shadow of a doubt it arrived, and have supporting evidence). A lot of the time the buyer will respond and say "oops, my mistake" and close the case, so it's worth a try, If they are not responding to messages either through the dispute or directly, you could try giving them a call if you're comfortable with that and the number is available (I find it's still there if you "view order details" from the link in Selling Manager. 

The main issue with INR cases on eBay right now, though, is eBay only give sellers 3 days to resolve it before they will issue an auto-refund (this policy is nothing short of scandalous, IMO, but unfortunately it's the constriction we currently have to work with), so if the time starts to loom near the best, most regrettable advice is to just refund, block and move on. 

[cezm]

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@hotrodvideo wrote:

I sold an $12 item which  had FREE shiping on the 27th October and as the buyer was only 2 klm  I delivered it myself  . There was no one at home so put in in the letter box and took a photo . Now the buyer has open a case  i have offered  a  replacement but had no reply from the customer via messages  Ebay dosent have any links to  upload the photos in the dispute section  and cant contact themby phone   only by a useless automated chat  

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I wonder if the buyer is disgruntled because, although the ad has FREE shipping, shipping would be included in the price of the item

They might feel they are entitled to have it posted (or have paid less)

I would follow dg's advice - and cross your fingers

[bubblebooks2020]

Yes was thinking the same, "there was no one at home"... Did you knock on their door? Some people can get weird about these things, I personally wouldn't mind but they can see it as an invasion of privacy. I've delivered items myself but I leave it on their doorstep and run away quickly lol. 

[digital*ghost]

I think if the buyer had an issue with the item being hand-delivered, they would have been more likely to raise the issue upon receipt, which I assume was late October. 

In this case, it seems like they have waited until the last possible moment to raise a case, and that looks more like it was calculated rather than a response to something that ticked them off. 

[imastawka]

I think Digi has offered excellent advice and I would follow that as well.

The buyer doesn't know that a photo is no good as evidence, but I'd send them a pic of it anyway.  That might make them go oopsies and close the case.

Also a seller turned up on my doorstep once, cos they lived just down the road.  Scared the living daylights out of me.

It's one thing they have the address - just post the darn thing.  It's another thing to ring my bell.  I don't want or need that intrusion, thanks.

[digital*ghost]

Just out of curiosity, what was the estimated delivery date for the order?

I just got an INR request for a purchase made in October, and on checking the order details, found that the last ETA was 10th November, so well over the 30 days allowed for a request.

I contacted CS and got the chat option, I just asked how it was possible for the case to be opened and they just straight up said they'd close it and I didn't need to do anything else, so that could be an option, too, if it's been well over 30 days since the ETA on that order passed (which given it was only a week after my transaction, and for a local buyer, there's a high chance it was - I should note, however, the case is currently still open with a status saying eBay CS was contacted and it's "awaiting response", so there's still a chance for this to be stuffed up  )

ETA - just got the notification is was closed. 

[offroad7400]

You go out of your way to help a buyer and they turn around and screw you. Yes, it sucks. I make a point of taking a photo of the item at their front door.

Doesn't count as tracking though.

Leave negative 'positive' feedback. SCAMMER. SCAMMER. SCAMMER across the whole page so there is a record if ever someone checks back on their feedback.

Don't get angry - get even.