Need some advice about "broken" items that I sold

[the_wondering_turtle]

Hi, I was wondering if anybody could help me? I sold an item about a month ago and Australia Post lost it, so I refunded the buyer. I tried to get refunded by Australia Post but was unsuccessful; however yesterday for some reason I checked the tracking info again and it said the parcel had been delivered. I then contacted the buyer and he said that the items were infact delivered a week ago but they were all broken so he threw them away. I'm just a little bit suspicious as he never contacted me and he doesn't have any proof of the condition of the items. My question is can I do anything about getting my money back from the buyer? or am I in the wrong and I should just leave it? Thanks in advance for all your help.

[kopenhagen5]

Nothing you can do against the buyer.

It is common AP open parcels for random inspections hence the delay and they may have broken due to it having been opened, repacked etc.

In future you can get insurance for items of value posted.

[clarry100]

Insurance will cover you against total loss.
However, it's extremely difficult to get a payout for damage as AP will just insist it was insufficiently packaged.
In any case to assess it they need the receiver to take the damaged item and the packaging into an AP outlet. If the buyer does not have it because they claim to have discarded it then your claim will be denied.
I'd say in this case you are pushing the proverbial brown stuff uphill with a pointy stick.
It seems your buyer has gotten away with a freebie in this case.

[collect247]

My guess is that the buyer has lied about it being broken and indeed got a freebie and their money back,very nice scam IMO.

[zanadoo_56 · Accepted solution]

---

@collect247 wrote:

My guess is that the buyer has lied about it being broken and indeed got a freebie and their money back,very nice scam IMO.

---

Or Australia Post really did lose the item (or more likely didnt update tracking), then the item was found and finally sent on its way.  It may have been broken or it may not.  If not, I'm guessing the buyer might not feel inclined to pay for the item after all the palaver.

If you think my version of Aust Post's part in this incident is improbable, I've encountered it at least three times over the years as a buyer.  Luckily for me I eventually got my items - undamaged - and I repaid the seller if I'd received a refund. 

Mind you, in one incident (not eBay) the seller sent another package one month after the first went missing.  Would you believe it, both arrived on the same day (franking proved the first parcel had been posted a month earlier).  I contacted the seller and offered to pay for the second parcel but she said not to bother.  She had got so disenchanted with AP that she was closing the business.

[the_wondering_turtle]

Thanks so much to all of you, I really appreciate all the advice.

[digital*ghost]

I had something kind of similar to this recently.

I sent out two orders but accidentally mixed up the contents, so buyer A got buyer B's items, and vice versa.

I sent the correct items to both buyers via express, and included a postage-paid satchel in each one so that they could return the other items to me (I don't always bother, but both orders were $40+ so it was worth me getting them back).

One buyer returned the items immediately (they were a regular, and a great buyer). The other buyer... Well, a week after the express package was marked as delivered, I contacted them and just sent a friendly enquiry, since the satchel I included hadn't any tracking updates at all, but being fully aware that I had made the error and re-packing the other stuff and getting it in the post may not have been their highest priority.

They replied by saying they haven't sent the stuff back yet because the replacement package hadn't arrived, and told me to send another one.

Needless to say, i was quite surprised by this, because they were made fully aware the second package was sent express, and I gave them the tracking number, so why radio silence if the package was never received, which would have meant they still don't have the correct item after 2 weeks since buying it. 

Long story slightly shorter, the problem with this particular claim is that by saying they never got the second package, unless I had undeniable proof of otherwise, it put me in a really difficult position of either having to accept their word or call them out on it. I attempted the latter....  I advised them to lodge an equiry with Aus Post, then send me the case number, and I'll take things from there. Never heard from them again, and the tracking for the second parcel never got a "customer enquiry lodged" update (I kept an eye on it for several days), which (to me) verifies they did indeed receive their original order, and decided to be opportunistic thieves. Heaven knows why, they were very different types of items. Like, I might have a customer buy both sorts of things once or twice a year, at best. 

I had to write it off, well, I didn't have to, but it was better for my sanity not to pursue it without anything but strong suspicion and minor supporting evidence (which is not proof). At least I could cancel the postage label on the return satchel I sent to get a refund of that.