Am I liable to refund an item that was lost in the mail

[$teves_$tuff]

Recently one of my buyers claimed that he didn't receive the item.  I have since investigated this buyer and he has told this same story to his last several sellers that the items were not received. He has left me negative feedback ( my first since joining eBay in 2006....960 feedbacks) . I'm wondering what I can do to restore my 100%  record since this buyer is obviously unscrupulous ?

also....am I liable to refund any buyer who claims non receipt of goods since my listings all clearly say that all items are sent at buyers ris I and I offer to send registered post for an additional $2.95. 

[justkidzbiz]

There is no buyer protection for items damaged "during" post or courier transit. EBay MBG won't cover it.

[springyzone]

Recently one of my buyers claimed that he didn't receive the item.  I have since investigated this buyer and he has told this same story to his last several sellers that the items were not received. He has left me negative feedback ( my first since joining eBay in 2006....960 feedbacks) . I'm wondering what I can do to restore my 100%  record since this buyer is obviously unscrupulous ?

also....am I liable to refund any buyer who claims non receipt of goods since my listings all clearly say that all items are sent at buyers ris I and I offer to send registered post for an additional $2.95. 

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I believe your buyer probably is playing the system. You'd think that if a lot of post really did go astray he/she would stop buying via ebay. So yes, you're probably being had. Aust post isn't that bad.

But you've left yourself open. What on earth were you thinking of, to put that condition in your listing? This isn't 2006, where you could, and throw the responsibility back on the buyer. Back in 2004-2005 we used to have registered post as an option on our listings and I think in over 1000 sales, only one person ever took it up. People will stick to the cheapest option then kick up if it doesn't arrive. More to the point, if it isn't trackable, people now can get their money back.

You'll probably lose if anyone opens a case. So do as others have said, bump up the item/postage price a fraction to cover yourself, with tracking where possible.

In this case, do as tippy suggests. Which is.. for now, do nothing.

Don't send a replacement. Wait to see if the buyer opens a dispute.

They may not, you know. If they're canny, they will try to stay under the radar by not making anything official & just stick to their easier freebies.

If they do open an official dispute at least it will be on record & eventually they may be caught out.

[chameleon54]

 I have just recieved my roll of 1000 fake "tracked item, barcode, scanned on delivery " stickers that I mentioned a week or so ago on another thread. They are high quality and look very convincing. The idea is to just stick one on each large letter, but not upload the tracking number to ebay.  The stickers where purchased from an OS ebay seller.

It will be interesting to see how they go.

[clarry100]

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@d_t_sk wrote:

Well ebay wants to proof of delivery , so tracking isnt really proof of delivery ... at least in Australia .

And what the diference if you post item with tracking and they lost or damaged parcel in shipping process anyway  ??

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Under their MBG, Ebay actually only require proof of postage to the address taken from the PayPal transaction.

So if you use tracking that associates the tracking number to the buyer's postal address you (the seller) are covered against ebay INR claims. But you need to get a lodgement scan within your stated handling time, so always lodge over the counter. This is your proof of postage. So even if your tracking does not show a delivery scan, but you have a lodgement scan, you will be covered.

PayPal, however, do require proof of delivery. Again if you use tracking as above and the delivery scan says delivered then you will also be covered against INR claims made via PayPal. If you can show a lodgement scan as well you may get PayPal to support you if there is no delivery scan. Signature on delivery is no real proof of delivery so is hardly worth the extra cost, as anyone over 18 at any address where the package is delivered can sign. A signature may stand up legally if a complaint is made to police about fraud.

Ebay MBG claims have to be lodged by the buyer within 30-days of the transaction date.

PayPal claims have up to 180-days to be lodged.

An item damaged in transit is a different claim. This would be handled as an Item Not As Described (INAD) claim because what the buyer received would be not as advertised. It is the sole responsibility of the seller to ensure that the item is packaged well enough to withstand the rigours of postage. Australia Post will likely side with the buyer if they take the damaged item and packaging to them for assessment  So its highly likely you will lose any such case and have to refund or replace the item under the MBG.

Someone else may be able to answer this one....

If a buyer lodged an ebay INR claim and it failed due to the fact that you had a valid lodgement scan can they then turn around and lodge a second INR clam on the same transaction via PayPal? Would PayPal consider the failed ebay claim as being in your favour? Or would they just apply their own rules and make a further decision that could go against you?

[lyndal1838]

As far as I know if an ebay claim fails for any reason you can make a claim on paypal.  But only after the ebay claim fails.....you cannot have both going at the same time.  And you cannot claim on ebay if a paypal claim fails.

In the event of both ebay and paypal claims failing, if the payment was funded with a credit or Visa debit card you can try a chargeback through your bank where you have to follow the bank rules.

[digital*ghost]

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@clarry100 wrote:

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Someone else may be able to answer this one....

If a buyer lodged an ebay INR claim and it failed due to the fact that you had a valid lodgement scan can they then turn around and lodge a second INR clam on the same transaction via PayPal? Would PayPal consider the failed ebay claim as being in your favour? Or would they just apply their own rules and make a further decision that could go against you?

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The requirements are actually the other way around (eBay wants proof of delivery, PayPal wants proof of post), so if a seller has what they need to successfully defend an INR on eBay, generally they'll have what they need to defend a PayPal claim. There are some differences to the way these cases are handled, though, and it's possible for a buyer to win a PP claim if they lost an MBG claim. 

I can't quite remember the PayPal policy on it, but the eBay MBG doesn't cover transit damage.... The problem with that, though, is that it's virtually pointless for them to say that because a seller has no way of proving it was transit damage. 

(See under "Not covered - Items damaged during pick-up or postage"; interestingly, they seem to have added a new one under not covered, "local pick up items that weren't collected", which is possibly the way PP's buyer protection for pick up will work, i.e. you have to collect to be covered in any way? Still speculating 🙂 ). http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

[englishrosegardens]

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@clarry100 wrote:

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Ebay MBG claims have to be lodged by the buyer within 30-days of the transaction date.

PayPal claims have up to 180-days to be lodged.

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The 30 days isn't from the transaction date.  It's from the last estimated delivery date.  That means if the transaction is on the 1st June and ebay's estimate says it should be delivered between the 7th & 10th June, they have until 10th July to do an ebay claim.