topic Re: Item not received and sell responsibility in Selling

Item not received and sell responsibility

bronwynsgold — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 07:42:04 GMT

I would like a little advice and information please. A buyer stated they did not receive item ...I immediately panicked and sent another item. On reflection I think I should not have done this. (BY the way there was no tracking as a small item )

Should this happen to me again is it possible to refund the buyer for the item less the postage - this action would have been a less expensive option for me in retrospect. Is this allowed? The item was free postage but we all know postage is included in the cost.

Just as an aside I have very little problems with buyers - but recently an item was returned to sender, this is me. I contacted the buyer and confirmed address and so on - all correct. So just a quirkly happening. I told the buyer I would post again in the morning and the buyer threatened me with negative feedback if I did not express post.

Well I do not take kindly to threats so I resent the parcel with registered post so there had to be a signature and then I blocked the buyer so they cannot buy from me again. Interestlingly enough the buyer did not leave feedback

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

digital*ghost — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 08:23:41 GMT

I think the best way to approach these situations is to look at it as broadly as possible, and for a moment forget everything from your perspective as a seller to think about what you would want and/or expect from a seller if you purchased an item and it never arrived. (My motto is, be the kind of seller you'd love to buy from).

Most people would either expect, or appreciate, a replacement or a full refund, and the reality is it (full refund) will be provided to them if they don't accept a lesser offer from the seller, via the dispute options provided on ebay or with with PayPal (if you can't show proof of delivery or postage, depending on where the dispute is raised).

Even though we all know a seller's costs (be it for stock, fees or postage) are generally accounted for in an item's total, if you tell someone something is free, charging it via withholding it from a refund isn't going to sit very well (you can retain a portoin of the sale price as a "restocking fee", but those are only applied when a buyer changes their mind and returns the item for a refund or exchange. I know it's pretty much "what's in a name?", but sometimes the answer is "quite a lot" in terms of impressions).

I've had packages inexplicably returned to me as well, the addresses have been 100% correct and there doesn't seem to be any explanation for it, so I treat it the same as I would if Aus Post had lost the package, and provide a refund or offer to resend, if the buyer prefers me to resend, I send via whichever service the buyer paid for, or registered if it was originally an untracked large letter (I would only upgrade the shipping service if I contributed in some way to the issue, eg if I made a mistake in addressing the package, or had promised them delivery by a certain date - which I never actually do even when they choose express).

Every time someone threatens me with negative feedback, I just tell them that they are welcome to do so if that's what they feel is appropriate, I don't offer them any more than I normally would, though in some cases it leads to fewer options being provided, as I still do take offense to such tactics so will be less likely to go above and beyond for someone who thinks that's a good way to approach me. My response explains my position very politely, but in short I pretty much just say "that has no power with me", and it really doesn't. 😉 ).

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

black*poppy — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 09:13:06 GMT

Bit off topic but just to share... I have a good story about Australia post today.... Hold the presses!....... Had a returned satchel that was addressed correctly (was generated thru eBay labels) but the postie must have been having a bad day. The buyer even sent me a screenshot of official mail she'd received addressed the same. So AP added a new tracking number and off it went again. Very happy, nice patient customer too.

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

digital*ghost — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 09:39:33 GMT

@black*poppy wrote:
Bit off topic but just to share... I have a good story about Australia post today.... Hold the presses!....... Had a returned satchel that was addressed correctly (was generated thru eBay labels) but the postie must have been having a bad day. The buyer even sent me a screenshot of official mail she'd received addressed the same. So AP added a new tracking number and off it went again. Very happy, nice patient customer too.

Half your luck (please, lol). Last week, I sent an express package to an address the buyer gave, to a shop located in a large shopping centre. The address given to me was the business name, level, area (was an outlet of a well-known chain in the food court), plus the shopping centre name and street address. I couldn't see anything wrong with that address, so off it went.

Next thing I know the buyer sent me a message saying it's been returned to sender because the address was "unknown". They confirmed they've received mail using the exact address before, so I called Aus Post - their rep insisted the package couldn't be delivered because it didn't have the shop number...

I asked them how there could not be enough information on the label to deliver, and they didn't even bother answering my question, they just kept saying "you can't just put [business name; food court], but as far as I'm concerned, if I told someone to go to "Shop B52, Imaginary Shopping Centre", then told someone else to go to "Food Planet, in the food court of Imaginary Shopping Centre", I can almost guarantee the second person would know exactly where to go, while the person with just the shop number would likely take a little longer to find it.

Blasted package still hasn't been received back yet, either. I'll be even more ticked if they try to charge me for the return.

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

davewil1964 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 10:13:16 GMT

'Try' being the operative word, I hope

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

designers*n*more — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 10:54:02 GMT

Australia Post just don't use common sense,nor read for that matter.

i had my daughter's school photos, which were sent in a stiff cardboard envelope, stamped with "photos do not bend" so what does the idiot postman do? Forces the envelope to be bent circular and sticks it in the newspaper holder, half sticking out in the rain because he couldn't push it all the way in. Needless to say my photos were not only ruined from being bent, but wet as well!

i rang AP to complain, and jerk there told me it should have been sent in unfoldable envelope. **bleep**...It had to be really forced to bend it., but the idiot at AP then said, well it was non bendable then was it! What a total jerk!!

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

*tippy*toes* — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 13:17:00 GMT

If you're on Facebook, complain on their page. You generally get a pretty good result doing that because they don't like being publicly shamed.

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

englishrosegardens — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 15:21:07 GMT

digi, is there a chance that there's a bank of letterboxes somewhere in the complex that the businesses pick up their mail from and that the postie only delivers to there, not to the actual businesses themselves? Just asking...

It doesn't explain how the previous parcels got delivered and not this one, but perhaps it was a different postie who went above and beyond.

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

springyzone — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 21:37:13 GMT

would like a little advice and information please. A buyer stated they did not receive item ...I immediately panicked and sent another item. On reflection I think I should not have done this. (BY the way there was no tracking as a small item )

--------------------------

It is possible you struck a dishonest buyer, one who realised the item was not tracked so you were vulnerable. Most people are honest but there's the occasional scammer.

But... (& this is from a buyer's perspective), things have changed a lot on ebay over the last decade. Once upon a time you could have suited yourself how you dealt with a buyer or how much you refunded, but not any more.

These days, if I messaged you about a missing item & you offered a partial refund only, I would probably just open an official item not received claim because then I would get the lot back. I'd be mad not to.

I realise that that means you as a seller would be out of pocket but that's how it works if you have no proof you even posted the thing.

Probably best to build a slight bit of leeway into your overall prices to cover the occasional item lost in the post.

As for the buyer who expected a replacement sent express post etc, plain rude & arrogant. The pendulum has swung on ebay but the trouble is some buyers now have too great a sense of entitlement.

You did the right thing there to post registered and block them.

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

helenm777 — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 22:52:06 GMT

I get a few items reguarly that are small items therefore not sent with tracking, when I receive a message stating they have not received Item I always just Refund Full amount to the buyer.

I always leave Positve Feedback when the buyer pays, so always add Feedback advising "Buyer advised Item not Received, Requested Refund". I then always Block the Buyer.

I also check myself on the customers previous feedback, to see if any other sellers have left the same..

On 2 occasions customers had advised an item was not received, I then refunded and they left feedback that they received the Item and loved it!

Must have forgotten they had stated he did not receive!, I then added the feedback as per above so other Sellers would be aware, if he tried the same thing again.

You have to expect of few of these, but it is always interesting that it is always on untracked small packages, on mine anyway. I have never been advised of an Item not being received that had tracking or Reg Post.

I also check myself on a customers feedback, to see if any other sellers have left the same feedback.

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

*tippy*toes* — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 00:29:45 GMT

I can count on one hand the amount of INR's I've had. 3 were large letter, so no tracking. I asked they waited another week and when it still hadn't arrived, I refunded. No dispute, all done via messaging. I would have lost any dispute, so not point arguing the issue. None of the feedback suggested they had tried this before (I always check feedback when someone places a bid).

The other was more recent and the buyer opened an INR dispute. I checked the tracking and it said delivered at her local PO (she had a PO box in a small rural town, so not even like it went to the wrong PO). Her PO admitted they probably put it in the wrong box, so I said she needed to take it up with them. I had done my duty as the seller. If she escalated the dispute, eBay would see in my favour as the tracking showed delivered (even though I knew they probably wouldn't!). She closed the dispute and left negative feedback (which eBay kindly removed).

I send a few large letter items, although not as many as I used to, and have expected more people to say it hasn't arrived when they see it's been sent untracked. So far so good!

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

digital*ghost — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 02:39:12 GMT

@englishrosegardens wrote:
digi, is there a chance that there's a bank of letterboxes somewhere in the complex that the businesses pick up their mail from and that the postie only delivers to there, not to the actual businesses themselves? Just asking...

It doesn't explain how the previous parcels got delivered and not this one, but perhaps it was a different postie who went above and beyond.

I honestly wouldn't know. The AP rep wouldn't provide any further info (I created the label via C&S, so once I gave the tracking number, they could see the address exactly as I entered it on their side), she just kept telling me I needed to use the shop number and that I can't just put the business name plus food court. My exact words to her were, how is there not enough information in that address to deliver it? But if there are boxes instead, she probably didn't know herself otherwise I suspect that would have been the answer.

The buyer didn't give anything away, either, they were really quite nice to deal with (absolutely no aggression or blame from them, which made my job so much easier). Before I was able to call AP, I did some googling of the business at that location, including "[business name], [shopping centre] postal address", and that's when I saw that there were two versions of the address - one was as the buyer gave it to me, the other was the same with the shop number included, so I messaged the buyer and asked about it, and that's when they confirmed they've previously received mail using the address that was provided to me. (I didn't mention the shop number, though, when I called AP, that just came up as the reason for it being undeliverable).

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

black*poppy — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 12:00:05 GMT

Digi - maybe try just taking the package back to an official Australia Post outlet (not LPO) and explain? I didn't have to say I'd called CS. You might have better luck and be able to get it sent back free, emphasising the address is correct. Maybe you could add the shop number on to the the package to help the postie at the other end?

Re: Item not received and sell responsibility

digital*ghost — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 13:09:54 GMT

I think that probably would have worked, given the staff member's reaction (and apology) when I picked the package up at my PO today. I didn't say anything, just that I had to pick up a returned express package, he looked at the address while scanning it and just went "how is that an undeliverable address?" Then when I explained, just said it was pathetic and apologised. (For full context, my PO is an Aus Post outlet in a shopping centre ).

I sent off replacements via express last week, though. I felt bad for the buyer, who really was very nice and was willing to re-pay for delivery - because of the way they handled it, I ultimately trusted that they gave me the address in good faith and that they had used it successfully before, plus despite what AP say, I couldn't see any reason why it wasn't delivered, so just wanted to get them their order ASAP.

On a sidenote, though, it's a sad state of affairs when something like this occurs and I feel a small sense of something like relief crossed with victory when there's no attempt by Aus Post to charge me for the returned package. <<as representative of my mixed emotions over that. 😄