Buyer has advised Item not recieved? what is the next step?

[lady_and_the_tramp]

Hi, I received an email this morning from a buyer stating that they did not recieve their item which was purchased and sent on the 23rd March ' 15.  The item (child's apron NEW) as a large letter and therefore no tracking was recorded.  This method of postage, and the option to upgrade to tracking was mentioned in my listing. They did not advise they wished to take up this offer, so item was sent as large letter.  Post was from QLD 4211 to Vic 3195. Should the item arrive by now?  What is the process now for me as a selller?  I have advised I will look into it with Aust Post first thing Monday as today is Sat, but what is the chance they will do anything?  Any advice from experience sellers appreciated.

Thanks

[clarry100]

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@lady_and_the_tramp wrote:

Hi, I received an email this morning from a buyer stating that they did not recieve their item which was purchased and sent on the 23rd March ' 15.  The item (child's apron NEW) as a large letter and therefore no tracking was recorded.  This method of postage, and the option to upgrade to tracking was mentioned in my listing. They did not advise they wished to take up this offer, so item was sent as large letter.  Post was from QLD 4211 to Vic 3195. Should the item arrive by now?  What is the process now for me as a selller?  I have advised I will look into it with Aust Post first thing Monday as today is Sat, but what is the chance they will do anything?  Any advice from experience sellers appreciated.

Thanks

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OP I will answer your questions from the way I understand the situation...

1. I think it should have arrived by now.

2. Even tho you offered a postage upgrade service in your listing the buyer will almost always choose the cheapest option. After all if something goes wrong they will simply blame you. Fact of life when trading on-line. So its up to you as a seller to protect yourself by any means you can, your choice not the buyer's.

3. Just ask them to check at their local PO in case it is being held there. Sometimes the postie does not leave a card. Also check with any neigbours. Also ask them to validate that the address your took from PayPal is correct. Sometimes buyers give an incorrect address. If all this is good then without proof of lodgement you really have no choice but to either refund or send another one to them.

4. Unfortunately AP will do nothing if you have no tracking or lodgement receipt.

[mbselections00]

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@joethenuts wrote:

one thing is correct yourself and most sellers would just replace an order sent by letter as it would be the right thing to do ,looking after your buyers , and most of the time its only a small amount of money. 

now i dont know where your post office is , but mine is at a shopping centre, and most times the line up is huge ,and if those standing in line saw a person with a whole lot of letters and parcels taking photos of everything, and taking a lot of time ,i dont know how the rest of the people in line would feel,these days post offices have everything from lollies to toys ,to selling anything ,pay bils ,passport-photos , in fact a few weeks ago ,i had to get a licence renew ,  a very expensive photo card $250  + line up for 20 minutes mmmmmmm

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joe I also understand (I think) what you're saying.  But what clarry & penny are saying is correct.

My closest Red Box is about 3 minutes drive max - and my local PO is about 30 minutes drive away but I choose to use the PO so I have the evidence should I ever need it.  I like to be able to prove to my Buyers as well that I actually posted the item - I would hate to think a buyer ever thought I was a scam seller - as there are some around.

Because I take a typed list with me, all the staff do is check the addressed Large Letters against the list and then stamp each address on the list as well as the envelopes & they then staple that list to the receipt.  I do it this way so I have a hard copy (should anything ever happen to my phone) and so I don't hold anyone up.  There are other eBay sellers who use the same local PO and they can often be seen taking their Stamped envelopes to a side counter to take their photos and then just hand them back over the counter.

Which ever way you do it, it is worth having the proof & PayPal have told me on 2 occasions the stamped list is acceptable also.

[joethenuts]

TO myselection  I can understand you and clarry and penny 100%

but if it came to the law and thats what we are talking about,,what chance would the chap who also uses your post office win his case in court, he gets his letters stamped 

by the post-officer then hands them back to the chap ,he then takes them to a counter and takes photos of them , surely they are the property of the australian post.  would that be thrown out in 10 seconds in court.

[mbselections00]

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@clarry100 wrote:

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4. Unfortunately AP will do nothing if you have no tracking orlodgement receipt.

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clarry, agree with everything except I beg to differ on point 4.  So although a bit off track of the topic, for the benefit of anyone reading this post -

Unless you pay extra for insurance AP will do very little, even with Tracking & Lodgement receipt. 

I recently had to decide whether to send an order (around $70 worth + postage, which is quite a large order for me) via Registered or Express.  As the (non eBay) buyer needed the items by a certain time I eventually decided Express (which has tracking) would be the way to go for convenience as I knew she worked and would not be able to sign for the parcel (Large Letter) and getting to her PO may be a hassle.  Well, AP marked the parcel as delivered and she never received it.  I have no reason to doubt this buyer and because it was not insured, I have no come back what-so-ever with Aust. Post & neither does my Buyer & it is in fact her place, not mine, (even though I paid for Express) to fight it out with AP !  My LPO owner told me AP MAY and should in this instance make a discretionary payment (only up to $50 max), but so far they are refusing.  Of course meanwhile I have sent a full replacement (with insurance this time !) and by Registered mail so it had to be signed for - which was a big hassle for her as it took her 3 days to get to the PO.  I am just grateful the Buyer was very understanding as she could see from the Tracking that AP claimed it had been delivered.

So can sometimes be a no win all round

[mbselections00]

True I guess joe if we want to get right to the nitty gritties, but it saves holding up a long line of people & I guess as regulars at the PO there is a certain amount of trust between the staff and their customers

[clarry100]

MBS.... yeah we had something similar with an Express satchel a little while back.

When I lodged it over the counter they said the buyers postcode was within the express network and it would arrive next day.

The buyer contacted us next day (friendly contact) to say it had not arrived yet.

I took a screen-shot of the AP tracking page to my local PO where I had lodged it and they agreed the system had stuffed up.

They handed me a free 500-gram express satchel to compensate me for their error.

As it turned out the package arrived the following day so my buyer was still happy too.

[davewil1964]

As long as they're still in the PO, Iimagine they are deemed in AP's hands still.

[goodthingsforsalerobert]

What a great idea and it provides proof of postage, 1 must start doing that

[curraone]

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@clarry100 wrote:

In the MBG eBay may say the require "proof of delivery" but the fact is that this is outside Australian Consumer Law to do so.

This is a flow-on from the USA where proof of delivery is law. Different rules here.

In the Sales Of Goods Acts (SOGA) in each state of Australia it is very clearly spelled out that once an item is handed to a carrier this is deemed to be delivery to the buyer. Google search for the one in your state.

So all you need to have is acceptable proof of lodgement (and this is deemed delivery) to have full and legal seller protection.

For PayPal, that lodgement must at least show the postcode of the buyer. So with ebay labels and C&S labels you get the buyer's full address against the tracking number, so with this, and coupled with your Australia Post lodgement receipt you cannot, by law, lose any INR case.

If ebay or paypal find otherwise against you then they are in breach of the laws of the land and you will have the case overturned in your favour if you lodge a report with the ACCC or the FOS as appropriate.

They are simply not above the laws of the land although they may think they are and try to bluff sellers into accepting the situation they try to dictate.

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Clarry:   does this apply if I send a parcel to the U.S.A?. - using click and send I have a lodgement receipt with the full address and the PO acceptance

Foolishly I have sent a parcel to the USA without paying for tracking. 

[duck---dodgers]

If you drop your items in a red mailing box and video the event would that be considered posting the item as the mailing box is the property of Aus Post?