Item shows as "Delivered" but customer has not received it - should seller pay?

[yeoldecoinco]

Hello fellow eBay sellers.

A question that has been annoying me lately and I am not sure of the answer.

I send anything over $30 by Registered (signed for) mail, but a lot of my sales are under $30 and go by tracked mail but no signature, as buyers won't pay $6 - $7 or so for Registered mail on a $20 - $25 item, even though I offer this as a postage option on nearly all my listings.

Lately I have had a few items sent tracked mail, show as "Delivered" by Australia Post, but the customer swears and declares they have not received the item. From my experience, most people are honest and I am fairly sure that they are telling the truth, ie they have not received the item. This usually happens with people who live in units, rather than single houses.

Opening a case with Australia Post goes nowhere as Australia Post won't follow through on items that have not been sent by signed for mail and are shown on the tracking as "Delivered".

To keep the peace I have been paying refunds, but wonder if I should, if a dispute is opened but the item is shown by the tracking to be "Delivered" should the seller still have to pay?

[collect247]

If it happens to me I'll maybe refund 1 or 2 buyers in good faith but if it's a pattern then by rights I don't have to refund because I posted with tracking and that's all I need to do and if it goes missing I'll look into it but at the end of the day it's APs responsibility not mine if the item goes missing.

So the buyer also needs to contact AP and resolve the issue.

But then in the end it's up to ebay's or PayPal's discretion to refund the buyer as I have done everything by the book so to speak.

[twyngwyn]

if it's a 'pattern' with units, I would suggest that the buyer upgrade their letterbox....at least put a lock on it

[jellybirddesigns]

Buyers should be providing a safe place to receive mail as you would well know.

If an item says delivered and the buyer has thieves as neighbours, it's not your fault.

For sure I personally wouldn't be refunding on items marked as delivered with tracking and a dispute case will be closed immediately in your favour due to the tracking information.

BTW, the Aus Post webpages says that if an item goes missing in transit, the sender should lodge a claim, but once marked delivered, the RECIPIENT should open a claim. 

[the_dutchess_of_dork]

The problem is "delivered" is not always what it seems.

On several occassions I have received parcels which were not for me.  One was for my street number but an entirely different street.  One was addressed correctly for another house in my street but left on my doorstep by mistake.

Presumably both of these items would have been marked as "delivered" but not to the correct address.  Further, in these cases the buyer is blameless.

If I was dishonest I could have kept both parcels and no one would have been any the wiser.  I doubt contacting Australia Post would yield results as their records would show the items delivered to the correct addresses.

I know some buyers are reluctant to pay the additional costs for Registered Mail or Signature on Delivery but I don't give them the option.  I have been approached by buyers requesting I send without SoD and lost sales over my refusal but I would rather lose a sale than lose the cost of the item if it doesn't arrive.  In my opinion, any buyer who is loathe to pay $2.95 extra for Signature on Delivery is never going to wear the cost of the missing item, despite their assurances to the contrary.

[purplemon18]

OP, it's rather odd that you have had this happen enough times that you are posting about it here. I lose a few items per month, but they are untracked. I've only ever had 1 tracked item not delivered, and that was with Couriers Please booked through transdirect.com.au

It worked out in the end because transdirct pressured CP enough that they figured out it had been delivered to the wrong address, and the courier picked it back up and delivered it to the correct address.

I wouldn't be refunding them, or at best only offering them a part refund.

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@the_dutchess_of_dork wrote:

The problem is "delivered" is not always what it seems.

On several occassions I have received parcels which were not for me.  One was for my street number but an entirely different street.  One was addressed correctly for another house in my street but left on my doorstep by mistake.

Presumably both of these items would have been marked as "delivered" but not to the correct address.  Further, in these cases the buyer is blameless.

If I was dishonest I could have kept both parcels and no one would have been any the wiser.  I doubt contacting Australia Post would yield results as their records would show the items delivered to the correct addresses.

I know some buyers are reluctant to pay the additional costs for Registered Mail or Signature on Delivery but I don't give them the option.  I have been approached by buyers requesting I send without SoD and lost sales over my refusal but I would rather lose a sale than lose the cost of the item if it doesn't arrive.  In my opinion, any buyer who is loathe to pay $2.95 extra for Signature on Delivery is never going to wear the cost of the missing item, despite their assurances to the contrary.

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That's a perfectly legitimate position, you have the right to only send things as SoD, but I just wanted to point out, that for me, it is not about the $2.95. It is about the inconvenience when I inevitably get carded and have to go to the post office to collect it.

[5kazam]

Twice in the previous few weeks I'd been expecting parcels via Aust Post.

On the first occasion, I received a text from Aust Post to tell me my parcel was at the local PO.

On the second occasion, I received an eBay email to say my parcel was delivered - checked everywhere - no parcel - no card - so rang Aust Post, who advised me it was delivered to my local PO.

On both occasions I was at home all day, there was no knock at the door, nor was there any card left.

If I hadn't received those text and email messages, I wouldn't have known where my parcels were. 

Bottom line on this is the delivery driver made NO attempt AT ALL to deliver to my address - just took parcels (and I dare say not just mine) straight to the PO.

Maybe you should ask your buyers to check whether what they were expecting has gone to their local PO.

[yeoldecoinco]

Yes, did that (asked buyers to check at local PO)

No result, PO did not have item.

The trouble with a tracking number is that sometimes no signature is required (on items I send under $30)

This advertises to the postie or to a letterbox thief that there could be something interesting in the packet.

For a postie, if no signature is required, but the item is tracked, what is to stop them marking it as delivered and putting it in their pocket? Nothing, as far as I can see.

So, I will have to re assess how I send mail, as it is happening far too often.

It is a dilemma. If I mark everything as registered mail, the postage cost makes many of my cheaper items uncompetitive and sales decline. So, one has to weigh up whether the extra sales are worth the cost of having to pay refunds.

[springyzone]

Aust Post sometimes gets it wrong and for sure, some posties are better than others.

But you say it is happening far too often.

That doesn't sound like Aust Post at fault to me. They always seem to cop the flak but I have found that 99.9% of the time, they are pretty spot on.  I'm a buyer.

When we sold (before paypal came in) we never had anything go astray and that was in a few thousand sales. I recall a couple of things being slow, but things eventually did arrive.

You're talking of your items that are going to widely varying areas. The only thing in common is most of the problems are unit addresses.

I honestly don't think it would be the posties stealing. Not saying it would never happen, but it defies common sense. If you were a postie, you'd be more inclined to take something with no tracking at all. You could not afford to take too much or else I am sure the computers would signal a higher than usual incidence of things going missing in your area. I don't think most posties would risk their jobs, not for something small when they wouldn't even know what it was exactly.

Much more likely, in my opinion, that the items are being stolen by other unit owners. Unit letter boxes are all together. Maybe your buyers don't have locks on theirs or maybe the little parcel inside has been sitting near the slot and was withdrawn.

My first reaction I think would be to politely quote the tracking number, say item is showing as delivered but you noticed they are in a unit location, do they have a lock on their letterbox?

That lets them know that the problem is probably at their end. I wouldn't be encouraging any of this 'blame aust post' thing.

Do get them to check out their local PO but if it is not there, then I'd say it has been stolen and not by a postie.

You don't have to refund them, as far as I know, because you can prove delivery, but if it is becoming a regular headache for you, would it be worth paying for signature delivery (out of your own pocket) on unit addresses?

[wide-world-of-stamps]

Many older unit blocks have small letterboxes set in a low wall near the street.

Larger items are often left on top of the wall.

Anyone can see what's been left, and pick it up if it looks interesting.

Or the letter gets lost in amongst all the junk mail sitting there, and accidentally thrown into the bin.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do if it's not viable to charge for signature on delivery - which for most of our items it isn't, so we just wear it.

Luckily we don't have many items go missing, but always worry when we send a large envelope to a unit address.