Item not received....Stat Dec?

[carmenaw]

Hello all -

I purchased a DVD, paid via Paypal, item marked shipped 21/09/2013 to arrive between 04/10/2013 and 10/10/2013 - still not recieved. No dramas as I will open a Item Not Received dispute.

I have emailed the seller on two occasions during that time, the first on 17/10/2013 they said it was in transit (not sure how they know as I have not been given a tracking number) and to wait until 21/10/2013. Today they have said it is obviously lost, and could I please fill out a stat dec they have sent to my personal email (not through ebay) which they want me to sign saying my address provided was correct, no one else has picked up the item and it is not at my post office and it is an offence to provide a false statment. They claim this is to claim for insurance.

I have no intentions of signing anything of the sort, but just wonder if this is common practice to ask for such a thing?

[thecatspjs]

When parcels are involved, if a seller is unable to provide tracking details - yet states item is "probably lost" as in the OPs case, it sounds rather dodgy to me to request a stat dec rather than open a missing parcel investigation with australia post or their courier service. 

[cq_tech]

Especially if the seller is simply using the request as a bluff, but if the seller is unable to provide tracking details, IMO the buyer has just as much right to ask for a stat dec as does the seller. Be interesting to see the shoe on the other foot for a change.

[davewil1964]

Or maybe they are genuine and want verified confirmation from the buyer that the iterm was not received. To reinforce their claim against AP/

I can't see how such a request would be an issue for an honest buyer.

[digital*ghost]

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@thecatspjs wrote:

When parcels are involved, 

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If parcels are involved, you mean.

All we know is that it was a DVD, and plenty of DVDs (even multiple-disc sets) are posted as unregistered large letters. That's also assuming it was posted within Australia, and not dropshipped from elsewhere, without tracking, as many DVDs are.

[thecatspjs]

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@cq_tech wrote:
Especially if the seller is simply using the request as a bluff, but if the seller is unable to provide tracking details, IMO the buyer has just as much right to ask for a stat dec as does the seller. Be interesting to see the shoe on the other foot for a change.

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lol - it would be interesting cq. 

I think when there are policies regarding the dispute resolution process that its the safest way to go.  Communicating with buyer / seller, then if resolution can't be reached dispute through paypal if transaction was funded that way.

It also annoys me too that if a parcel has really gone missing in transit, that AP is let off the hook.  At a minimum opening up missing parcel article investigations can assist in identifying serial non-receivers, rather than the "taking the law into your own hands" kind of approach.

[cq_tech]

Now I have absolutely no knowledge that anything like this is happening, but I do know that if I was the CEO of companies such a as Paypal and Australia Post, I'd most certainly have a cross-referenced list of serial claimers (better not call them offenders) who have a much higher proportion of AP and/or Paypal claims than the average, and would be studying their activities with a microscope.

The thing with crooks is that while some of them are smart, the majority are just plain stupid.

[davewil1964]

That's only because the ones that are stupid get caught. Nobody knows how many smart ones are out there, because they don't get caught.

Stat dec-wise. If the OP has nothing to hide, then signing a stat dec should not be an issue,.

[thecatspjs]

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@cq_tech wrote:
Now I have absolutely no knowledge that anything like this is happening, but I do know that if I was the CEO of companies such a as Paypal and Australia Post, I'd most certainly have a cross-referenced list of serial claimers (better not call them offenders) who have a much higher proportion of AP and/or Paypal claims than the average, and would be studying their activities with a microscope.

The thing with crooks is that while some of them are smart, the majority are just plain stupid.

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I agree. I don't understand why anyone would think that a crook would be less likely not fill out a stat dec - lol.  I would have thought they (scammers) would be more likely to as if they were stupid they would not care, or if they (scammers) were in the smarter group, they would know that is a bluff by the seller anyway.

[i-once-was-bump]

When a buyer has had serveral items "go missing", makes unreasonable demands on the sellers and then leaves negs for the sellers,I always suggest the request of a stat dec because something is clearly going wrong with some part of the system however a one off really should be done through Paypal.

[jameshouseofstyle]

I have no intentions of signing anything of the sort, but just wonder if this is common practice to ask for such a thing?

Hi OP, 

the common practice seems to be the advice from most regular posters - always the same:

"Ask your customer for a stat dec if they are claimong they didn't receive their item"

If you are a buyer, advice seems to be not to sign anything!

Cheers