Free Postage that isn't really Free

[the_walsh*s]

Morning,

I have purchased eBay item number:132883628236 which clearly states FREE Postage, but yesterday I received a card in my letterbox to collect an item BUT they are requesting I pay $7.80 when I collect it. Well tome then this is clearly NOT Free Postage as advertised. I should of checked the company feedback prior to purchase as it is very clear by all the neg's that have recieved that they do this quite often and obviously keep getting away with it as they are continuing to do it over & over....So I have contacted the seller asking for a refund of my purchase price, but also reading feedback it looks like they don't bother to repsond, so I am not expecting a response, but obviously I now then just lodge a dispute with is it Ebay or Pay Pal? and I leave the item at the postoffice and not collect it? Just wanting to make sure I do all the right things to ensure I get my purchase price refunded. I know it's not much, but by time I add this postage cost if I was to pay to the purchase price, I may as well have bought a better quality item in the first place. thanks

[eol-products]

I agree that the sender address is most likely missing hence the fee did not go back to the sender. I would not be surprised if most get through and only a few get hit with a fee. I know I have received items larger than 20mm as a letter.

[hbrih3]

Had the same thing happen to me with my item purchased from seller REMOVED.

I refused to drive 26km to post office and pay $7.80 for postage on a $8.95 item and left him negative feedback. Over the past week he's been offering to give me a refund but wanted me to remove the negative feedback.  Since it wasn't a one off on his part I refused to remove the feedback in exchange for the refund so now the matter has been escalated to Paypal because eBay didn't seem interested in doing anything about it.   

Part of the issue is with eBay for allowing the practice to continue but part of the problem lies with Aus Post as they don't check every parcel and sellers can get away with underpaying postage most of the time.  When they do pick it up on an item and send an extra charge notice card the buyer takes it on the chin or at best leaves a negative feedback which is later removed in exchange for the refund.  Also by not providing a tracking number the receiver is unaware of what exactly he is picking up until after he paid Aust Post and opens the parcel so is unlikey to refuse to pay.   Once they paid the charges they can leave a negative feedback but most buyers would likely take the easy way out and agree to remove the feedback in exchange for the refund so these days checking feedback before buying is worth very little. Even more so if the feedback goes into tens of thousands.

As long as the seller gets away with underpaying postage 90% of the time and can get 90% of the negative feedback removed in exchange for the refund he will continue to score above  99% and look like a great seller.  

As for your other suggestion of opening a return that is all good but unless eBay does something about the scammer the buyer will eventually receive the refund and the seller will continue to scam. 

And for a high volume seller underpaying postage by  just  $5 per parcel on say just 2000 items  a month it can add up to a lot of dollars over a year,  even when taking into consideration a few refunds.  

[twyngwyn]

98.2% f/b.....yikes, hit the back button

[hbrih3]

Not so many 100% sellers out there anymore unless they changed IDs so hitting the back button not the solution.  Reporting him to Paypal may help, if he receives to many complains they may decide to cancel his account. 

Also informed Aus Post to return the item to sender and just in case he didn't put his address on the envelope I gave them his ebay and company details and informed them he is a high volume seller.   

[davewil1964]

I have three 100% feedback accounts. Two of which are TRS. And I generally see many others. Twyngwyn for example. Definitely a high volume TRS

Maybe you aren't looking in the right places.

[springyzone]

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@hbrih3 wrote:

Not so many 100% sellers out there anymore unless they changed IDs so hitting the back button not the solution.  Reporting him to Paypal may help, if he receives to many complains they may decide to cancel his account. 

Also informed Aus Post to return the item to sender and just in case he didn't put his address on the envelope I gave them his ebay and company details and informed them he is a high volume seller.   

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I agree with you about that. Even the best sellers may not have 100% feedback because there are plenty of unreasonable buyers out there.

I've bought before from some sellers with feedback lower than 98% without any trouble at all, they were good sellers as far as I was concerned.

It depends sometimes if they are high volume sellers or not. If they have only sold eg a dozen things, then one neg is going to drag them down.

But it is important, I think, if the feedback score is low, to read the neg comments and see if there is a trend or a clear warning that comes across. If there is, then don't buy. But if you see a neg with a comment like 'okay', you can pretty well dismiss it.

[sea.breeze]

To OP.

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/Fake-free-postage-is-NOT-a-problem/m-p/2267271#M105680