INR case - Item still in transit

[jaks_thingz]

On my main selling account I've just had an INR case opened and the item is showing as still in transit.

It was posted on Thurs 7th Dec & then a week later the customer lodged an investigation with Aus Post without bothering to contact me. I also opened an investigation which resulted in the item finally showing it had moved to the buyers state. Sadly the items tracking has stalled again - hence the buyer opening the INR. I have to respond to the ebay case by 27th Dec.

As Aus post won't resume deliveries until the 28th, what's the best course of action as I haven't responded yet?

[lyndal1838]

There is not much you can do now except to respond to the case and point out that the Post Office is closed now for the Christmas break and you cannot do anything more until it reopens next Wednesday.

It may not be ideal but it is the truth and the buyer will just have to be patient.

[chameleon54]

Was the item valuable ? The risk with not responding with a definate answer is that the buyer may escalate the case and ask ebay to step in on the 28th. If this occurs, ebay will almost certainly side with the buyer, as tracking shows the item has not been delivered. Ebay will then deduct the selling price and postage cost from your account and refund the buyer. That is bad enough, but what may be worse is that ebay will give you a defect for having the buyer escalate the case. Two or more of those particular defects and your selling account can be restricted. Basically THE END !!!.

I would be contacting the buyer to see if they are prepared to wait while Australia Post investigates again. If they are not prepared to wait, or dont respond to your messages, it may be more prudent to go to the case and refund the buyer and then try to get the money out of Australia Post ( and good luck with that one...   )

Unfortunately the way ebay have the system set up at the moment, if there are any problems with a sale, the seller almost always loses. I include an extra $1.00 on my postage costs as self insurance to cover against all of these eventualities. That way if there is a problem, I have the money available to cover the cost and just move on.

I just got shated by a buyer a couple of days ago. I was going to contest the case, but got caught away from home and the internet and had to phone the missus to just pay the guy out. It hurt, because the buyer was definately in the wrong and was pretty rude to boot, but for the sake of twenty bucks, it just wasnt worth the risk of a defect on my selling account. If we choose to sell on ebay, we have to adopt a pretty low care factor to all of the morons and carp that goes on. If we take it too seriously it just becomes too stressfull to continue selling here..

[jaks_thingz]

The item is worth $150 and I took out extra cover as I have heard of parcels going missing this time of year... I didn't add signature on delivery though.

Anyway I have uploaded the tracking details to the case and politely explained to the buyer their item is still in transit but is now in their state at their local delivery centre (a bit of googling) & will most likely be delivered after the xmas hols when the posties start delivering again.

Fingers crossed Aus Post do actually deliver it ....

[justkidzbiz]

This is where the dispute process falls to pieces for sellers. eBay need to put on hold the dispute if tracking shows the item's delivery process is in progress, but no, they just refund buyers because it asNot delivered within their timeframes. They don't take into account public holidays, weekends, or holiday periods when there are longer delivery times. So much for seller protection.

A similar story where buyer escalated a claim, tracking showed as "in transit", not good enough In eBay eyes so they refunded the buyer. The seller then appealed when tracking showed "delivered" and eBay told them to contact the buyer for payment. Now as if a buyer, who was too impatient is going to then pay for the goods!

[ivak245]

I had a buyer email me the next day after winning a $4.00 item asking where his item is. I had a 3 day handling time, and had not even packed it yet. I was going to explain all this to him, but if someone is really that stupid, there is no point. So instead I told him that unfortunately the post office wont let me move my computer in there, so I can mail stuff quicker., it's on its way.
You can never please some people, especially if they are ebay buyers!  

[chameleon54]

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@jaks_thingz wrote:

The item is worth $150 and I took out extra cover as I have heard of parcels going missing this time of year... I didn't add signature on delivery though.

Anyway I have uploaded the tracking details to the case and politely explained to the buyer their item is still in transit but is now in their state at their local delivery centre (a bit of googling) & will most likely be delivered after the xmas hols when the posties start delivering again.

Fingers crossed Aus Post do actually deliver it ....

---

The problem you have is that if the buyer escalates the case on the 28th it is possible ebay will simply refund them as the item has not been delivered on time so you lose.

When you go to AP to complain, they will say tracking shows the item will be delivered in the next day or so ( it is the holiday season you know ) and so no claim with them You lose again.

There is very little comon sense or justice involved. The buyer is always right and the seller gets shafted. The only way I have found to cover the risk is to spread it across all buyers with the extra $1.00 self insurance added to the postage cost of every sale. Its a bit like B & M shoplifting. The shops jack up prices to cover the loss and so all buyers pay extra as a result of the actions of a dishonest few.

The biggest problem with current ebay buyer protection policies are they are actively encouraging the blatently dishonest and even slightly dodgy buyers to rort the system and steal from sellers, pushing up the frustration levels and total costs for everyone involved.

[enigmabear]

I had one who bid, refused to pay and after the non payment dispute was closed(they also ignored the dispute) (about a month later) messaged and asked why I had'nt sent the item  

I replied and said it is not going to be sent because they did not pay..........................their reply "But I was the winning bidder"

Nice try given they had been on ebay over 5 years at the time 

[jaks_thingz]

A big thanks to all the responses & advice.

I have an UPDATE.... Logged into ebay this morning & have a message from ebay...

Thanks for working to resolve this issue. The buyer has closed this request. You don't need to do anything else.

That, I did not expect. 

Just on the off chance Aus Post DO lose the parcel, naturally I will do the right thing for my buyer & refund them. I wonder how easy it would be to claim the compo from Aus Post? I've never had to claim from them before...

[padi*0409]

If it was an eBay MBG dispute they opened, just be aware that they can still open a case in Paypal for "item not received".