Buyer provided the wrong postcode in address?

[patrickxsales]

Hi guys,

Basically I sold an item and as I was double checking the address of this buyer, the postcode they provided didn't match up with the address? That postcode would send me 30 kilometeres away from said address. If I was to google the address+postcode they provided, it comes up with the address, but a different postcode, that I am assuming is the right one? Hope that all makes sense. 

I was confused as to what to do in this situation, my rational thinking was to contact the buyer straight away but I was in the post office already. I asked the service man at the post office what I should do, and he searched the address+postcode the buyer had provided, and agreed to providing the correct postcode on the shipping label (I just wrote it on the box).

Anyhow, the parcel has been sent, under registered shipping + tracking/signature on delivery etc. I can see where it's going within a few clicks, which is good. I just wish I clarified with the buyer beforehand. Now I've just got to hope they end up receiving it. 

[south.coffee]

I get wrong postcodes now and then, but using MyPost for postage it will pick up the error. At the end of the day, the mail centre will generally fix the problem when it comes to parcels.

Letters are machine sorted using the postcode and that's when your letter can go astray, but if the postcode is within the same mail centre sort at the end of the delivery, it will be fixed as well.

Don't sweat over it.

[davewil1964]

I don't understand your issue. You've sent it. To the correct address.

There is no point sending it to the wrong address/postcode; it would be unlikely to be delivered.

Your only option pre-post would have been to cancel and get the buyer to repurchase with the correct address. At the least that would have cost you your Paypal fees. They don't refund them these days.

It is not uncommon for buyers to not know where they live. Whilst it's nice to have Paypal seller protection, it is rarely needed these days - buyers tend to use the eBay Money Back Guarantee, which requires delivery to the buyer, not just proof of postage to a supplied address.

If you generate your postage labels online, through eBay or Australia Post, there is no option but to send to a valid address; wrong susburb/postcode combinations are not accepted.

[shoppingbag*]

I can understand your concern, but I think you have done the correct thing by changing the Postcode. Did it happen to have the same numbers in it, just around the wrong way? Often people with dyslexia have problems getting letters and numbers in the correct sequence. As someone else has mentioned, if you had tried to print a label, it would have told you the address was invalid and you would have to correct it, before you could print the label.