Seller charged for Express Post but sent by Parcel Post

[yumidiamonds]

Hi all, I purchased a laptop from a seller in NSW. The only postage option availabe was for Express Post to post this to me in QLD. I paid for the purchase and the Express Postage, but the seller then sent it via Parcel Post.

I sent the seller a message about it and his reply was that when he went to the post office, he was told that Australia Post had suspended their Express Post service between NSW and QLD due to Covid, which was why he sent it via Parcel Post. This is obviously false as Australia Post never suspended this service. When i called him out on this, he apologised and started going on about how he lost money selling the laptop to me and admitted that he sent it via Parcel Post as a way to recoup some of his losses.

I feel compelled to report this matter to eBay, and wanted to find out which category to report it under, and if anyone else had experienced this before and what they did.

Searching eBay's FAQs and the community boards, I could not find anything that relates to this sort of postage service switch. The closest thing that i could find was under the "receiving something that doesnt match the item listing" category, although all the answers regarding the definition or determination on this appear to relate only to the item itself and not the receiving of a different and cheaper postage service.

Will leaving a negative feedback warning other eBayers of his fraudulant practice be the only recourse here?

Thanks for sharing your comments and advice in advance!

[springyzone]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Springy, are you serious? You have pretty much lost all credability with that post.

FYI, I recently posted an item express to WA from NSW. It took almost 3 weeks. Regular post is arriving quicker. I nearly sent it regular post for that reason. Would I then expect to be negged?

What if the item was "free" express post? Should the seller be negged if they sent it regular post, even though they are footing the postage costs?

I can't believe you think that seller deserves a neg. I am seriously rolling my eyes.

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I suppose the thing is, tippy, that I am finding some of the reasons for your objections here irrelevant.

I don't care if your parcel from WA to NSW took 3 weeks or 3 months (well, I do care for your sake but I am talking about the concept of time).

Once a parcel is sent off, as sellers here always say, it is in the control of Australia post and that timing comes down to them.

All that is relevant is that the buyer paid for express post. She paid for a service she didn't get. Whether that service would end in the same delivery time or not is not the point. The cost is the point.

I would imagine though that express post, though slower than normal, should still be faster than parcel post.

I realise you think I have only my buyer hat on but you're wrong. I have sold too. I am not saying the buyer here has to give a neg, just that if you don't give a buyer what they pay for, then you are often going to upset a buyer and certainly risk a neg if you do that. And I think the OP is in that frame of mind.

I don't believe I have lost credibility. Maybe with you but not everyone and I am guessing a lot of buyers would be agreeing with me. I thought DG's post summed up things perfectly and this isn't a unique topic, I have seen other buyers come on here before and complain about the same thing or complain about postage discrepancies.

Basically,  from my past experience, I found you get less trouble as a seller if you supply exactly what was paid for.