@kidres0,
I'm sorry to read that you've lost such an expensive item. $335 is a significant loss.
I don't think that your anger is directed at the right target, though. What you've been doing, irrespective of the actual words, is hitting out at the seller... but I can't see that the seller is the blame in this unfortunate circumstance. Perhaps the situation can be unpacked a little, to work out what's actually happened, what is being assumed, and what may (possibly) be done...
WAS IT DELIVERED AND STOLEN?
You say the item was "apparently stolen" and that it was "allegedly ... delivered" to your letter box. What evidence is there that the item was delivered? This is the crux of the issue. If it WAS delivered, and if you haven't received it, there's certainly some likelihood or at least possibility that it was stolen. But to assume that it was delivered and subsequently stolen is a jump in supposition.
Evidence of the item being delivered appears (from what you've posted initially and unequivocally) to consist of:
... and that's it. But... was the item actually posted with tracking? Does the tracking (if there is tracking) show a "delivered" status?
From what you've posted, I must tentatively assume that the answer is "yes". If it were otherwise, you would almost certainly have won a dispute. (I am assuming that you opened a dispute on the basis of the item not arriving.)
If the item was indeed showing a "delivered" status, then you are not covered under eBay's Money Back Guarantee. You would have to consider the following possibilities:
- the item was never delivered, in spite of the "delivered" status (dishonest postman, or postman suffered a seizure or had an emergency and failed to deliver by accident or misfortune);
- the item was delivered but to the wrong letter box (postman made a mistake);
- the item was delivered but was stolen (someone somehow guessed that an expensive item was being delivered to you, or could see the item stuck out halfway in a tempting fashion... and you live in an area where postal thieves unfortunately do operate); or
- the item was delivered and the person who was home at the time helpfully took it in, but has entirely forgotten (medical issues? acting on auto-pilot?).
These aren't the only possibilities, but they're enough to be going on with.
If either of the first two occurred, of course it would be Australia Post at fault. It would be extremely difficult to prove, unless there were video evidence, or the postman in question had a history of "missing" parcels on his/her route which would at least be grounds for some level of suspicion. Bear in mind that "at fault" would be up to you to prove in any complaint to AP.
But if it were either of the last two which occurred, it's not Australia Post's fault. AP would not be responsible for compensating you.
WHAT COMPENSATION RIGHTS HAVE YOU?
If you had instructed the seller to send fully insured, and paid for that service, and the seller had duly sent via a fully insured tracked method, you'd be covered if the parcel had gone missing. If the seller's listing offered fully insured and tracked postage method and you selected that, ditto. (If the seller's listing offered fully insured and tracked postage method and you did NOT select that, instead selecting free postage or regular postage, obviously you would not be covered...) At any rate, assuming that you had paid for insurance and the seller had duly procured the insurance on your behalf when posting, it would be up to you to prove that the parcel had never been received by you, and if the tracking showed that it had been delivered, with your signature or the signature of another householder attesting to the delivery, you would not be able to claim from AP. (Insurance doesn't mean that a parcel gets to you from a person at your address who accepted it and signed for it, or gets to your home if you collect it from the local PO, or gets to the particular room where you're taking it if you have accepted delivery... If you stipulate NO SAFE DROP, that gives you some additional protection since the parcel needs to be either accepted by you (you're at home) or picked up by you from the PO (where you'll need to show ID).
In short, insurance comes into play if your parcel was accepted for delivery by the carrier, but never got to you (and there's no tracking status to show otherwise).
You say "Was advised to ask the seller for compensation". If the parcel was treated by AP as having been delivered to your address, you have no cause for compensation from the seller. Indeed, under Australian law (Sale of Goods Act - see here for another post in which I refer to the relevant section), the risk is transferred to you from the seller as soon as the item is delivered to the carrier who is to deliver the item to you. Delivery to that carrier is considered (prima facie) to be delivery to you. It would be up to you to prove that the item was never delivered to you.
You say that "the impression I have gotten from all of my reading is that the seller is responsible for the entire cost of the item until it is marked as delivered". On eBay, under its T&Cs the seller would be responsible - if there's no tracking or other proof which the seller can provide. That means that in the following scenarios (not comprehensive), the seller is not responsible for compensating you:
- The item is marked as delivered (tracking status) but you haven't received it
- The item is marked as delivered (tracking status) but your home is burglarised and the item is one of the stolen items
- The item is marked as delivered (tracking status) but you were home all day and there was no sign of the postie (as evidenced by your CCTV) that entire day
- The item is marked as delivered (tracking status) but the CCTV shows someone stealing it from your letterbox.
That's because the seller has - under Australian law - done as much as he/she is required to do. Secondarily, under eBay's MBG, the seller has also done what he/she is required to do.
You say "It is the sellers duty to make sure it is properly covered" when you discuss compensation. This is not correct. If the seller didn't state that the parcel would be sent fully tracked and insured - or if you did not stipulate that the parcel would be sent with insurance (and pay the required extra amount for that), you should not assume that there's insurance.
In any event, if the parcel's tracking showed as "delivered", there is no applicable cover. AP do not offer compensation for parcels that go missing after being delivered. The "$50 default coverage" would cover up to $50 if the parcel goes missing in transit (hence tracking would certainly not show that it was delivered to your address)... but not "It's not in my letter box although I think it was jammed into my letter box and I never saw it so someone must have stolen it".
You say "But as soon as it's marked as delivered, I'm not sure what happens. I have seen a few posts that suggest this is a magic threshold that means the courier is not responsible, the seller is not liable for anything and the purchaser of the product is not able to claim anything either apart from go to the police with a lost item report". It's not a magic threshold; it's evidence that the carrier has delivered the item to you, unless you can prove otherwise. If the carrier has delivered the item to you, then the carrier isn't responsible for its being missing. If the seller delivered the item to the carrier, and the carrier delivered the item to you, then the seller isn't responsible. And eBay is certainly not responsible in that scenario - why should it be? eBay is neither the carrier nor the seller. eBay offer a Money Back Guarantee which protects you when an item doesn't arrive and there's no proof that it was delivered (for instance) but it isn't a gold-plated "Until the item arrives in your hands, no matter what" guarantee. It's a courtesy policy, by the way... eBay aren't obliged by law to offer it, but obviously such a policy protects buyers in many circumstances and gives more certainty to eBay buyers.
You say "I expected my seller to make some kind of an effort to get compensation". If the parcel's marked "delivered", there isn't any compensation; it would be fruitless for the seller to attempt to discuss compensation on your behalf for an item that has been, as far as AP is concerned, delivered to you.
You say "When claiming, I made a claim for what Aus Post might have given him in compensation". From whom did you claim? Are you talking about making a claim from AP yourself? See above. Are you talking about making a claim under eBay's MBG? See above where I address your "magic threshold" comment.
You say "It is his duty to insure the parcel". No. See the paragraph immediately beneath the "What Insurance Rights Have You?" heading.
You say "it is his duty to retrieve the money". No. If the tracking status says "Delivered", the seller's duty is done. He/she does not have to act on your behalf to procure compensation (which wouldn't be forthcoming, anyway) or track down the thief who presumably stole your item. If you contacted the seller with that expectation, you were being unfair - but I understand how frustrating it would h ave been to purchase something worth over $300 but find that it has vanished into thin air. If the seller contacted AP concerning the missing parcel, they've already acted on your behalf beyond their responsibility.
You may want to contact the seller one more time - with the utmost politeness and in a spirit of being aware that you're asking for a favour - to request that they contact AP to say that they give AP permission to speak with you concerning this missing item. If the seller is kind enough to do that, you could then contact AP and explain your concerns and requests for further information. But I stress this: you have already put the seller to a lot of extra work - unpaid and not part of the seller's responsibility - so it's anyone's guess as to whether the seller is going to respond to you for what is probably a fruitless avenue of enquiry... but by all means, try.
You say "It is ebays duty to refund the money to the buyer through disputes". No - not if it's not included within eBay's terms & conditions under their MBG Policy.
You mention that you have the serial number of the item. That's good - and I hope that if the item was stolen and someone is attempting to register it or use it, your police report may be part of a good outcome.
You say "Personally, it wouldn't surprise me if the seller has gotten or will get it in the future if it is bounced back to him and keep the instrument for himself." You have absolutely no basis to suppose that. It's perilously close to being defamatory. That sort of comment is not likely to incline the seller to attempt anything further on your behalf. Wouldn't you be better off assuming good faith on the part of the seller...? It also doesn't match what you say has happened. You claim that it was probably stuck in the letter box and subsequently stolen... Is the seller supposed to have followed the postman and stolen it almost as soon as it was delivered? Or are you saying that the thief would for some reason decide to post it back to the sender? That doesn't make sense, and I think you have the intelligence to acknowledge it.
You say "Personally, it just gave me real great satisfaction seeing his seller positive fall from 100% to 91.7%." That is mean-spirited... no other way of putting it. Why does it give you satisfaction? The seller did nothing wrong! You appear to have expected services from the seller which are in no way his responsibility. If the seller wishes to contact eBay using Have Us Call You to request that the neg be removed on the grounds that you gave it on the basis of expecting more than he was offering in the listing, or was required to do, there's a good chance that it will be removed.
You say "he is an utter hypocrite complaining of sellers taking no responsibility in his feedbacks to his sellers". I presume that you're speaking of the feedback given in respect of a lost item...? There is no indication that the relevant item was delivered; if there isn't any tracking to confirm delivery, and the seller won't voluntarily refund, negative feedback by the buyer is par for the course. It's a different situation if there is tracking to confirm delivery; I am sure that you can see that. In other words - no visible hypocrisy.
You speak of "a seller who trolls your feedback when you are trying to get him to do the right thing". What exactly do you mean by trolling feedback? To troll someone is to relentlessly give hostile or offensive communication... so I suppose that if this seller had peppered your feedback repeatedly with comments of a negative nature, that would be trolling. However, the nature of eBay doesn't actually permit the seller to do that; the seller can only give one feedback comment. It isn't a "thank you", but it's not accusing you of anything, it's not calling you names, it's not littered with profanity... It's just a very matter-of-fact and brief status report. I don't think you can legitimately call this "trolling your feedback" - and I also don't think you were trying to "get him to do the right thing"... You were actually trying to get him to do far more than was required of him.
I do understand - losing an expensive item is very upsetting. If only you'd requested SOD and insurance, paying for those services... I'm truly sorry that you are in this situation.
Perhaps the police will bring you good news in the near future. I hope so.
