Seller refusing to send paid for item to PO Box.

[emcmad]

Hi, I have paid over $400 for an item with paypal, and nowhere on the listing does it say that they would not post to a PO Box, but now over a week after I paid for the item they are refusing to send it unless I provide a street address.

The reason I have a PO Box is because postal services do not come out to us as we are out of town on a property. We have never had anything successfully delivered to us from a courier service (doesnt help that our road is not on any GPS's.) and have to meet deliveries in town. Since we are currently doing seasonal work which involves 12 hour days we won't be able to meet anyone in town.

Am I within my rights to ask for a refund ( or demand if it comes to that, and/or open a dispute with PayPal if they continue to refuse to deliver it?? I honestly can't see why they can't just send it thru auspost. I have even offered to pay extra for postage if they will just take it to their nearest PO and send it to my PO Box.

Any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated. 🙂

[davewil1964]

I doubt that Lyndal cares, 15 month later.

Nor most of the other posters, a lot of whom don't seem to post on the boards any more.

[diamond.elite.bargains]

PayPal recommends not to send to a PO Box and they state that Seller protection may be null and void if the address used is a PO Box.  When you call PayPal you can speak to 3 people and get 3 opinions.  As a result, the seller will say no PO Box.  Also, most couriers in Australia will not deliver to PO Box, so if there is a contracted courier, you will find that PO Box is a no no. 

The seller should state it in their description.  And where someone stated don't respond to the case in the resolution centre, forcing the seller to pay fees, shame, and giggles, eBay will refund them if the buyer does not interect in the case, and as a result the actual buyer gets a mini flag against their file. 

Help enough people get what they want, and you will get all you want. 

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

even though this is an old thread, and you are replying to a post by pj from 18 months ago, can you please let me know which section of the PayPal user agreement that recommends that sellers not send to a PO Box?  Additionally, which section says that seller protections could be voided if items are sent to a PO Box?

The reason I ask is that PO Boxes are safer and more secure than street addresses as parcels cannot be left on the steps of a PO Box.  PayPal are not likely to discourage postage methods that are more safe and secure for delivery of parcels.  Furthermore, why would PayPal void seller protections for sending to a PO Box seeing as it is more secure?

[davewil1964]

I believe in the USA PO boxes are very easy to obtain. With little or no ID requirements. Unlike here, where you need the same level of proof of ID as you do to open a bank account. Which probably in the US is the same level as for a PO Box. None.

So, of course that scenario applies to the entire world. In Yankee perception, anyway.

As for the bumper, we all know what people who have just found the boards are like.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@diamond.elite.bargains wrote:

PayPal recommends not to send to a PO Box and they state that Seller protection may be null and void if the address used is a PO Box.  When you call PayPal you can speak to 3 people and get 3 opinions.  As a result, the seller will say no PO Box.  Also, most couriers in Australia will not deliver to PO Box, so if there is a contracted courier, you will find that PO Box is a no no.

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Here is a link to the PayPal User Agreement https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en-AU

I use Internet Explorer, and under the "Edit" menu "Find on this page..." feature I did a search for the word "box" and there are only two places where the word box appears in the PayPal User Agreement.  One appears in relation to a complaint service not being open on Boxing Day, and the other appears as part of the address for the Financial Ombudsman Service i.e. GPO Box 3 Melbourne 3001.

If PayPal recommend that sellers not post to a PO Box then surely there would be more references to the word "box" in the User Agreement.

[tritonallwood]

I live on a boat in the river and have a Pobox which some send to but others won't ,how dumb when it's safer than a mail box in the street ,you find out too late and you are up **bleep** creek without a paddle . I wish they had less air and more brains ,yet to find one who will change his mind , must be a true .......

[black*poppy]

Until recently I lived where I was unable to get australia post delivery.

We had an arrangement with our PO to use the PO street address for deliveries where sellers wouldn't send to PO Boxes.

This is suprisingly common for large online retailers too.

The post office would then card our Box to pick it up from inside the shop.

Worked a treat for us many times over.  We had a good relationship with the PO staff who knew us well.

You could also offer your seller to pay extra for signature delivery to offer them better protection.

We didn't have problems with couriers as they would deliver to our street address - but I do believe that you might have to pay a surcharge for a courier delivery to the PO, depending who it is, which you could also negotiate with the seller.

[lyndal1838]

Poppy, a lot of courier companies are not prepared to pay the surcharge to deliver to Parcel Lockers or PO Boxes.

The last time I looked it was $11 and you can bet that the company would hit the sender with more than that and it would in turn be passed on to the buyer.

Can you imagine what the buyer would do to the seller's feedback if they were charged so much extra because the buyer used a Parcel Locker of PO box?  Far safer to refuse to post to them.

[black*poppy]

I did acknowledge that some couriers charge to leave items at a PO.  I'm sure anything can be sorted with good communication and the OP seems very willing to accept extra charges - sign of a good customer in my book.

I think good feedback might have already been lost in this transaction.

To blanket refuse to send anything to any PO Boxes is a loss of alot of potential sales IMO.  

[lyndal1838]

There are very few courier companies that have signed the agreement with AP to allow them to deliver to PO boxes and Parcel Lockers.

Sellers would have to ask their courier if it is possibl to do it in order to know if they can sell to a buyer with a PO box.

All very complicated....a blanket ban is much simpler if the seller uses courier delivery.