Buyer who lies

[digupatin]

What can be done with a buyer who asks multiple questions about an item after he's won it, (which I replied to), and within a couple of days of winning the item opens a case withPaypal saying I didn't reply to his emails and he hasn't received the item he won?

I'm in Victoria and he's in WA. He won the auction Friday, I posted the item Tuesday morning, and he opened the case sometime on Tuesday.

Buyer stated he opened case to make sure he isn't scammed and will keep it open until he receives item and is happy with its condition.

Paypal has frozen his payment, I've phoned them twice and they are taking his side and tell me that until the item is delivered they'll hold it.

I do have tracking but I have a horrible feeling he'll next open an INAD case with ebay.

I've blocked buyer just in case but as I'm only a casual seller it won't affect him.

I won't be leaving him any feedback but that won't stop him leaving me whatever he likes.

[lm-entertainment]

it certainly is a crazy system. for that reason i now photograph the front of all satchels / packages i send which clearly show the address and tracking number - and then i couple that with the lodgement receipt from the PO. it's made the difference between winning and losing paypal cases a couple of times. 

[digupatin]

Latest news.  APO attempted delivery to buyer on 23 May. No one home to take delivery of item. Buyer was carded 23 May.

Buyer has made no attempt to collect item from Post Office.

You'd think that they'd be in a hurry to pick up package and have a look at what they'd won, but that would mean they'd have to close INR claim as they'd have to sign to receive item.

Paypal still refuses to release my money and now have a "Claims Specialist" reviewing the case.

I guesss claims specialist is someone who can actually understand English and see what's going on here. 😉

[lyndal1838]

No, a Claims Specialist is one who specialises in finding the button to close the dispute....usually in the buyer's favour.

If you have proof in the form of online tracking that the item is at the PO and has not been collected you should let ebay know....ring them before they actually close the dispute.  The buyer is not entitled to their money back if they do not make an attempt to collect the item.

[bakeandfry]

You have the proof of shiping, contact fos and dispute it with paypal
https://fos.org.au

[digupatin]

I'll phone Paypal again tomorrow in business hours lyndal. That's where the buyer opened the INR dispute.

Most of the 'Agents' I've spoken to so far haven't been too co-operative. I might be lucky next time.

If that doesn't work I'll follow bakeandfry's suggestion.   

Thanks 🙂

[bakeandfry]

According to aus posts t&c's a parcel is deemed delivered once it has been carded.
I would recommend that you contact aus post to see if it has been carded, and try to get it in writing (email)
Use that as more proof against paypal for not releasing YOUR money within a reasonable period of time

[lm-entertainment]

i'm pretty sure you'll have success with PayPal. i've always won cases where i've been able to prove that the item was delivered. 

if you're still able to add notes to the open case in PayPal - i'd take a screenshot of the australia post tracking showing that it's been carded and is awaiting collection and upload it. with a bit of luck anyway, the paypal claims "specialist" should check the tracking number anyway and see that this is the case. also, it might be worth showing the message to them if you haven't already where the buyer says they opened the case just to prevent themselves getting scammed. 

in fairness, i've only had a few cases opened against me via PayPal in 12+ years - but as long as you're thorough and you've included tracking information - paypal are usually pretty good at finding it in your favour (in my opinion). especially, since it's a INR as opposed to an INAD as the buyer has submitted (which it can't be, because they hadn't received it at the time of opening the case). 

[digupatin]

I spoke to Paypal this morning, the upshot of it was I was told that they would be finding in favour of the buyer because the buyer hasn't received the item.

I told her that the buyer had been carded and the item was sitting at their PO but they hadn't picked it up and tracking showed it was there and it wasn't my fault they hadn't picked it up. 

The agent told me that tracking wasn't enough and I needed to produce something from the PO with the buyer's name and address on it proving my claim that I had posted the item to the buyer.

The agent told me that if the buyer didn't pick the item up to wait until the PO returned the item to me (10 days?)

I asked to speak to a Manager and was told that there wasn't anyone available but they would get someone to call me back later.

I told the agent I would be escalating this to the Ombudsman and that was the end of the conversation.

Best case scenario, buyer changed their mind, didn't want phone, and won't pick it up, PO will return it to me, I'll get phone back less postage and tracking fees to WA and ebay fees.

Worst case, buyer gets refund from Paypal then picks up item from PO and I lose - good scam.

[digital*ghost]

Try calling Australia Post to recall it, there's usually a fee involved but it might be worth it to prevent going through the other processes and giving the buyer the opportunity to collect it.