topic Re: How long before you call an item lost? in Selling

How long before you call an item lost?

elusiveeditions — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 03:46:51 GMT

Just curious as to how long people give domestic mail (letter rate, untracked) to arrive before you call it lost?

I mailed an item by large letter on 4 Mar, rural Vic to Darwin, buyer contacts me on 26 Mar to let me know it hasn't arrived. I replied saying let's give it another week and then we'll call it lost and I'll refund.

I figure a month, even on a longer route like this, is plenty of time. Lovely buyer & low-priced item so no big deal really, just curious how long people generally give it from X location to X location before you call it lost in AP's void?

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

stampingpaws — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 03:56:22 GMT

I agree, about twice the normal delivery time.

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

*sparklz* — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 03:56:34 GMT

A month is ample time.

Your buyer has been very patient to wait that long and as long as there comms between you then 1 month is long enough.

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

joethenuts — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 04:21:59 GMT

excellent result plenty of time and you have agreed to give her a refund and she is happy for another week.

have a nice day

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

elusiveeditions — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 04:44:10 GMT

Yes, a month is more than ample really. Thinking further, I probably should've just done the refund on 26 Mar when they contacted me (I'd messaged at the time of sale/post saying the PO advised at least 1-2 weeks, which seemed a long time etc etc and the buuer msg'd back agreeing to let me know when it arrived).

I've recently heard of mail from rural Vic - rural Nsw taking 3 weeks which I found pretty amazing, and I once got a refund myself from a seller in Qld when an item didn't arrive in 3 weeks.... then a week later it showed up! So more messing around to fix that with the seller, although it worked out fine in the end.

It was great of the buyer to continue using msgs rather than opening a case, not all buyers do. Perhaps a good reason to send buyers a short msg when posting, which I sometimes do and sometimes don't. Might make a point of it in future.

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

clarry100 — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 05:27:50 GMT

A month is plenty.

The longest known one we have had took 3-weeks to arrive.

By that stage we had already sent out a replacement and that arrived before the original one did.

The buyer was good enough to contact us when the original one arrived and offered to pay.

But we just said no keep it that's OK as a bonus.

They were very appreciative and actually came back to buy more from us. And told their friends to as well.

So we just put it down to a bit of an advertising cost.

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

sueken4812 — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 05:41:31 GMT

I bought a book on here on January 9th. It arrived on my doorstep last week ..... 21st March ..... some sort of record.

The packaging was pristine, so it hadn't travelled very far .... must have been sitting at the bottom of the pile somewhere and was finally got to. It has been returned to the seller, who sent another one out 4 weeks after the first one.

Another time I had an item returned to sender that I'd posted 3 months prior. The address was correct, as I'd sent a replacement in the meantime. Luckily the buyer was a nice one.....and didn't ping me for postage time. But heaven only knows where the original one went, it didn't even reach the proper address, just came back to me?????

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

i-love-my-sheep — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 08:28:54 GMT

@elusiveeditions wrote:
Yes, a month is more than ample really. Thinking further, I probably should've just done the refund on 26 Mar when they contacted me (I'd messaged at the time of sale/post saying the PO advised at least 1-2 weeks, which seemed a long time etc etc and the buuer msg'd back agreeing to let me know when it arrived).

I've recently heard of mail from rural Vic - rural Nsw taking 3 weeks which I found pretty amazing, and I once got a refund myself from a seller in Qld when an item didn't arrive in 3 weeks.... then a week later it showed up! So more messing around to fix that with the seller, although it worked out fine in the end.

It was great of the buyer to continue using msgs rather than opening a case, not all buyers do. Perhaps a good reason to send buyers a short msg when posting, which I sometimes do and sometimes don't. Might make a point of it in future.

It takes me on average 3 weeks to get mail from rural NSW to pretty much anywhere in Vic. Has been this way since before Christmas.

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

joethenuts — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 08:35:39 GMT

thats a hell of a long time ,what does AP use up your way a donkey and cart

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

elusiveeditions — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 08:52:04 GMT

I bought a book on here on January 9th. It arrived on my doorstep last week ..... 21st March ..... some sort of record.
The packaging was pristine, so it hadn't travelled very far .... must have been sitting at the bottom of the pile somewhere and was finally got to. It has been returned to the seller, who sent another one out 4 weeks after the first one.

sueken, wow, that’s pretty good as a record regardless of where it went to/from.

I guess some mail does genuinely turn up much, much later but generally, best to call it lost after 3 weeks.

It takes me on average 3 weeks to get mail from rural NSW to pretty much anywhere in Vic. Has been this way since before Christmas.

i-love-my-sheep, an elderly relative in rural NSW has had the same problem since about Jan, specifically to rural Vic but elsewhere too. He doesn’t ebay, just sends letters & is getting very frustrated!

Thanks all, I think I’ll go with 3 weeks as the max for standard letters.

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

trainsforyou_com — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 10:00:53 GMT

had to deal eith ebay money back gaurantee. for lost letter items. posted on the 17th Item case raised 26th no chose but to refund. Paypal canceled a deposit to my bank accubt and then overdraun my bank account.

I will now send item registered / Pickup only

Basicicall buyers can get a full refund on items they may have recived. Lost or stolen after ebay time estimates.

good luck in your selling/

Anthony

Re: How long before you call an item lost?

zouba09 — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 12:47:30 GMT

I have recently had a similar experience. I posted two items from VIC to two different buyers in NSW on the 17th March, one buyer claimed non-delivery on the 23rd (Estimated delivery was 20th-24th) accusing me of not posting item and demanding refund. I lodged an investigation with Austpost as the other buyers item was delivered (as was another item posted 2 days later to QLD). Buyer was rude and aggressive in their behaviour despite the fact I was attempting to locate the package and resolve the issue for them, and communicating this back to the buyer. The buyer lodged a refund claim via ebay on the 25th, only one day after estimated delivery. I even contacted Ebay Customer support who advised me on the 30th, not to refund until Austpost had completed their investigation (due to the buyers behaviour). The buyer had initially agreed to wait until the Austpost investigation had been completed (I was offering a full refund on completion of the investigation, escalated this claim to ebay customer support on the 31st (Yes today) who have instantly refunded the purchase despite informing me not to until the investigation is completed. Even if Auspost now find that the item has been delivered to the buyer, the buyer has already scammed their payment back and I am out of pocket! Disappointed that Ebay advised me to do one thing then turned around and did the opposite themselves!!