Buyer has asked to have their order sent to a different address

[twolittlemissesboutique]

Hi all, hoping someone can give me a bit of an idea on what to do to cover myself here.
I had someone purchase a dress and then message me asking if I could send it to "such and such name" at "such and such address" instead of their registered address. They also asked me to not include an invoice in the package.
I'm guessing it may be a gift or something and they want it sent straight to the recipient but I'm a little wary because then they could easily claim it hasn't been received.
I was thinking of messaging them back and letting them know that I am happy to do that but then I do not take any responsibility if the parcel is not delivered. I will be sending it as a tracked parcel.
What would you do in this situation?

[twolittlemissesboutique]

Thank you, yes, that is something to consider.
I'm going to sleep on it and hopefully I will figure out what to do!

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Last time this happened to me (a buyer requesting a different address that is) I told them that as they had paid, the only option was to send after the 45 days to open a case had expired. This is what I did upon their acceptance.

[phorum_junkie*]

Why not just tell the buyer they have two choices, you can refund them then they can go through checkout again changing to the correct name and address or you can send it to the address that was in checkout when they paid and they can forward it to the address they want.

One or the other is the only way I would proceed.

[cq_tech]

A refund is out of the question as it will earn the OP an unavoidable defect. I would only send it to the address on the Paypal advice and if they negged me, I would be taking it up with eBay. Being a seller themselves, the buyer should know better and I think they have a bloody cheek to ask what they did.

Doing it my way would only add around 3-4 days to the end user's delivery time, or only one day if the buyer sent it via express post (which they can clearly afford as they're already making twice their normal profit on the item).

[black*poppy]

I'm pretty sure that refunding will not automatically give you a defect.  From what I understand, if you have had an email exchange with the buyer, then you CAN refund safely, but I would talk to ebay first on the phone.  I have refunded recently to buyers for change of mind, and have not received a defect (and received my fvf back).

If you do refund, the buyer can then pay again and change the address through paypal.  Being sellers, that is totally not acceptable that they didn't do this in the first place... but then again it's easy to not be aware of some aspects of ebay.  Are they big-time sellers or just intermittent?

[thecatspjs]

You don't get a defect for refunding and cancelling using buyer changed mind as reason.

[twolittlemissesboutique]

I just replied to the buyer letting them know that to ensure we are both covered by Paypal's Purchase Protection I can only send it to the address they have listed in their Paypal account. I said that if it isn't okay with them and they want to cancel the transaction then I can do that.
Hopefully, they are fine with it *fingers crossed*

[twolittlemissesboutique]

Just got a reply.

They said to just post to the Paypal address.
At least that is one less thing to worry about. Now hopefully it gets to them safely. Come on AusPost, don't let me down! (I know, I'm dreaming there lol)

[twolittlemissesboutique]

And thanks again everyone 🙂

[curraone]

can you mark it posted and add a tracking number?  

We'll automatically award you 5-star DSRs in the following categories, when:

• Postage and handling charges: You offer free postage, the buyer chose that option and left you Feedback.
• Communication:
  • You offer 0-1 business day handling time and upload valid tracking information within one business day;
  • At the time the buyer leaves Feedback, there are no communications initiated in eBay Messages* and no pending eBay Money Back Guarantee or PayPal Purchase Protection cases; and
  • There haven't been any requests for contact information between you and the buyer.

  *Best Offers, Second Chance Offers, invoices and invoice requests don't affect automatic 5-star eligibility, even if they contain messages added by the buyer or seller.

We'll automatically remove low (1-star) DSRs for Postage time when you offer 0-1 business day handling time and upload valid postage tracking information within one business day of receiving cleared payment.