Buyer hasn't received item

[kimbooley89]

The buyer contacted me yesterday to say that she hasn't yet received her item - nearly a month after it was posted.

I posted the item on October 19th and, according to the tracking number, the package was delivered on October 21st. I suggested she check her local post office in case she hadn't been home when it was delivered and that the postie had perhaps forgotten to leave a card, so she did that and said the package wasn't there.

My question now is, if I go to my local post office and give them the tracking number will they be able to tell me the exact address the package was delivered to?

[lyndal1838]

They might be able to track it to the actual address it was delivered to.....you can but ask.

[shepherdsrule]

Given the delivery date Oct 21st, the PO may have returned it to (you) the sender, they only hold parcels for 7 - 12 days after being carded at my local PO as they just do not have the room.

[clarry100]

This sounds like a delivery error by Australia Post.
Since the tracking is showing delivered you should win any INR case the buyer might open, as long as the tracking number can be linked to the buyer's address.
However, that does not help the buyer to get what they paid for. I think if you ask AP about it they will say it's now up to the recipient to chase it up themselves. I would try to help the buyer as much as I could but encourage them to do the chasing.
Did you pay for any extra cover insurance? If so then that should kick in and pay you for your loss thus enabling you to refund your buyer, but this could take some time to resolve. If you do have insurance then I would refund the buyer so they don't have to wait.
Is there anything you feel might suggest the buyer is telling porkies?

[curraone]

My question now is, if I go to my local post office and give them the tracking number will they be able to tell me the exact address the package was delivered to?

I would not go to the local PO :  I would ring up the Aust Post helpline - I have found them very helpful.

(I would put the number here, but I got smacked yesterday for doing that)

[allfixelectrical · Accepted solution]

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@kimbooley89 wrote:

My question now is, if I go to my local post office and give them the tracking number will they be able to tell me the exact address the package was delivered to?

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Aust post won't deal with the sender regarding items that have already been marked as delivered due to privacy reasons.

If you are sure it was addressed correctly as per the details supplied by ebay, then it is the responsibility of the buyer to chase it up with Aust Post.

If the buyer then authorises with Aust Post that you too can make enquiries about the case that is opened by them, then and only then can you contact Aust Post about it.

Many scanners have GPS facilities now so if an item has been misdelivered the post office may be able to determine that from the delivery scan details stored in their system.

Basically the buyer will need to call 131318 and lodge an enquiry.

[imastawka]

Just a thought, but have you actually checked with the buyer about

their address?

They may not have updated their details.

[kimbooley89]

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@clarry100 wrote:
This sounds like a delivery error by Australia Post.
Since the tracking is showing delivered you should win any INR case the buyer might open, as long as the tracking number can be linked to the buyer's address.
However, that does not help the buyer to get what they paid for. I think if you ask AP about it they will say it's now up to the recipient to chase it up themselves. I would try to help the buyer as much as I could but encourage them to do the chasing.
Did you pay for any extra cover insurance? If so then that should kick in and pay you for your loss thus enabling you to refund your buyer, but this could take some time to resolve. If you do have insurance then I would refund the buyer so they don't have to wait.
Is there anything you feel might suggest the buyer is telling porkies?

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I didn't pay for any extra coverge and I'm sort of regretting that decision right now.

I originally thought the buyer might be lying (she through the word pensioner around in all three of her emails, including the one where she asked for free postage because she's a pensioner and couldn't pay the $3 it would cost for postage on a $10 t-shirt). She also told me that she tried chasing it up with AP herself but they said they couldn't tell her anything because she wan't the sender.

Either way I think I'll just go ahead and refund her and hope that she doesn't leave neg feedback.

[kimbooley89]

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@allfixelectrical wrote:

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@kimbooley89 wrote:

My question now is, if I go to my local post office and give them the tracking number will they be able to tell me the exact address the package was delivered to?

---

Aust post won't deal with the sender regarding items that have already been marked as delivered due to privacy reasons.

If you are sure it was addressed correctly as per the details supplied by ebay, then it is the responsibility of the buyer to chase it up with Aust Post.

If the buyer then authorises with Aust Post that you too can make enquiries about the case that is opened by them, then and only then can you contact Aust Post about it.

Many scanners have GPS facilities now so if an item has been misdelivered the post office may be able to determine that from the delivery scan details stored in their system.

Basically the buyer will need to call 131318 and lodge an enquiry.

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Ah, well she was actually telling me differently. She told me that AP told her that as she wasn't the sender, that they couldn't tell her anything. I thought that was rather strange but since I've never dealt with anything like this myself, I didn't question it too much.

Yep, I'm certain it was addressed correctly - I always double and sometimes triple check address details to make sure it's the right one - including contacting the buyer and making sure that it's correct; she said it was the right one.

So when a package is marked as 'delivered', do they scan it at the address where it's delivered or do they scan it as 'delivered' when it arrives at the local post office neartest the suburb it's to be delievered to?

Also, she was quite adamant about her displeasure with Aust Post and how they have been needing to "pull their socks up for years" so I'm kind of trying to avoid having to tell her that she needs tov deal with it. But with the phoner number that you provided me with, do I just tell her that she can lodge a complaint for a missing item that way?

[kimbooley89]

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@imastawka wrote:

Just a thought, but have you actually checked with the buyer about

their address?

They may not have updated their details.

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Yep - as I'm just a casual seller and don't sell a whole lot of items, I always have the time to contact a seller before posting their item to confirm that their details are correct, as I know a lot of people are guilty of forgetting to update details.

She confirmed that her postal address was correct and I double checked the address when I wrote it on package and it was the same as she'd given me.

Her address suggests she lives in an apartment building so I was thinking either the possibility of it being stolen (even though she said she was home all day on the delivery date - and how she remembers a date three weeks ago I have no idea) or that she's just flat out lying.