INR Issue Need Advice

[neuvecottage]

Customer purchased 4 items.  Items were sent with  eBay tracking on the 6th January. Tracking indicates item was delivered 11th January.  17th January, customer messages me that parcel was received but 2 items are missing. I checked my inventory and it confirms that the claimed 2 missing items were sent. I have not had this issue before and would like help in how to handle it. Thankyou.

[jellybirddesigns]

What are they asking for? Have they opened a case, or are they just fishing for a refund?

And who waits 6 days before "opening" the parcel and making this discovery anyway?

Does their feedback left for others/sellers indicate any issues or problems?

[neuvecottage]

Hi and thankyou.

No case opened. No problems with feedback. They look good. They ask where are the other 2 items. I figure they may have taken their time in opening, maybe back from holidays. Still doesn't explain why they say 2 are missing. As all 4 items are pretty hair bows, maybe the kids, maybe the dog, maybe look in the rubbish bin. I don't know . On a different matter, how are you travelling without a storefront? Any notable difference?

[jellybirddesigns]

I'm actually seeing a small uptick in sales, but we'll see how the month pans out. I'm sure just coincidence though 🙂

In terms of your buyer - not really sure what to advise, but I wouldn't do anything without a case. Were the hair bows all the same price, or are the "missing" ones more expensive?

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

This used to happen to me all the darn time when I started selling craft supplies, and I couldn't always remember beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had packed the order correctly, so I would just post out whatever the buyer claimed was missing. 😓

But the frequency started to get really suspicious to me, so I decided to take photos of every single order I send, with the addressed package and all items that were about to be packed into it. This was the only way I could think of that gave me clear evidence I could refer to to confirm a buyer's claims. Now, if if I get a message like that, I look up the photo - sometimes the item they say is missing is not in the pic, so I don't have to doubt what they are saying or feel suspicious of someone etc, I can just apologise and tell them what their options are (and I can tell it's a relief for the genuine buyers, as they are often worried they won't be believed). 

If my photo shows everything was there, I re-check my packing area to make sure nothing slipped down somewhere and went overlooked - a couple of times I've found stuff lodged between boxes etc. If it doesn't turn up there, I ask them to double-check all of the packaging and so on, since my records indicate everything was included - I also send them the photo so that they can be assured of this and not just dismiss it out of hand if something really was overlooked when unpacking and they genuinely believe it's missing from the order. About 7/10 times I do not get a reply to that, the rest of the time the buyer just lets me know they found it. 

It is tedious and time-consuming at high volume, but it's just part of my routine now and has saved me a lot of time in other ways, plus quite a bit of money and unnecessary worry over buyers who were telling the truth. 

I know this might not help directly with the current situation, but hopefully there's something useful in all that up there - and for now, if you are very confident everything was included, you need to be able to demonstrate that to the buyer without being accusatory - sometimes (if they are not being genuine) they are just looking for a quick "I'm sorry, have a refund" response, and if they don't get it, won't bother pushing back. 

[domino-710]

I beg to differ on the ' clear evidence ' - photo of goods to be packaged.

It wouldn't stand as evidence - there is no way to confirm all went into the package.

[janeababe]

I have to agree with Dom.  
Im also a little surprised at the amount of issues you’ve had with INRs in the past to warrant such a detailed picking and packing process from you now, including taking photos.  If the order was for over $100, I could possibly understand it. 

Why don’t you just include a picking and packing slip which details the items ordered, and then tick off the items as they get packed? 

When I do the stores order at work, I keep a copy. I use that to check off the ‘pick and packing’ slip included with the delivery as it arrives.  No photos needed. 

[digital*ghost]

Good thing I'm just presenting it to myself, and not in a court of law then, hey? Like, it's clear evidence to me that I picked and prepped everything for packing, rather than overlooked something when the order was completed.

And you're wrong anyway - since I do it for every. single. package I send, and keep those photos for up to a year, if I did have to present it to a court, I would be able to demonstrate a very clear history of everyone receiving everything in the photos, plenty of people who said they found the item afterall, and the rest appearing to accept it without pushback.

Like, you know a seller's history is considered in an actual court, even though it isn't on eBay? Here. they're like "yes, we can see that the last 5000 buyers received their items without issue, but that doesn't mean you sent this order". A court would take the previous 5000 successful transactions as establishing a track record, lol. 

[domino-710]

---

@digital*ghost wrote:

Good thing I'm just presenting it to myself, and not in a court of law then, hey? Like, it's clear evidence to me that I picked and prepped everything for packing, rather than overlooked something when the order was completed.

And you're wrong anyway - since I do it for every. single. package I send, and keep those photos for up to a year, if I did have to present it to a court, I would be able to demonstrate a very clear history of everyone receiving everything in the photos, plenty of people who said they found the item afterall, and the rest appearing to accept it without pushback.

Like, you know a seller's history is considered in an actual court, even though it isn't on eBay? Here. they're like "yes, we can see that the last 5000 buyers received their items without issue, but that doesn't mean you sent this order". A court would take the previous 5000 successful transactions as establishing a track record, lol. 

---

Like, it's clear evidence to me that I picked and prepped everything for packing, rather than overlooked something when the order was completed.

Then :

I also send them the photo so that they can be assured of this and not just dismiss it out of hand if something really was overlooked 

This is not definitive proof all items were packaged.

A seller's history would indeed be ' considered ' in a court of law - but not admissable as evidence in a particular case.

lol

[jellybirddesigns]

I include a packing slip on which I highlight each item as it goes into the satchel and then the paperwork itself gets attached to the last item. It's the first thing the buyer will see when they open the parcel at the other end and in 8 years I've never had a complaint of anything missing once a parcel has been delivered.