Suspected scam: buyer claiming item missing. What are my chances?

[amcamari]

Buyer bought 2 items. Both were postage together. Buyer is claiming that only one was in the parcel. I know that both were definitely sent. Has anyone experienced this situation? 

[kopenhagen5]

Yes, the sorting machine ripped the bottom of the envelope and I only received some of the coins.

I have also sent items overseas, they arrive with some missing and the package having been tampered with.

Ask if the buyer can send photos of the package as it must have been tampered with.

Then let them know AP may require a stat dec in order to pursue a case of possible stolen item from the package.

And the police may need the packaging as evidence.

You may not hear back from them. Or it could be genuine.

[lyndal1838]

How were they paid for?   Did the buyer pay for each item seperately or were they paid for on the one invoice.?

How did the buyer pay....paypal or bank deposit?

Were they sent with tracking?

[amcamari]

Paid for together via Paypal. Sent with tracking. Buyer hasn't said anything about the parcel arriving damaged... or anything to suggest it's been tampered with. My gut feeling is they are just trying to get a freebie.

[digital*ghost]

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@amcamari wrote:

Has anyone experienced this situation? 

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All the gosh-darn time. 😞

I sell craft supplies, so people often buy various items, and it also means people often have a use for multiple quantities. Unfortunately, this leads to some people attempting to acquire those multiple quantities deceptively and I frequently get messages saying that they didn't get all of the quantity purchased, or that there was an item missing entirely.

I should stress that not everyone who messages me about missing items is being deceptive - I can make mistakes (and most definitely have), so if someone messages about this kind of issue, I give them the benefit of the doubt to start with.

However, because this was starting to become a serious problem for me, I started taking some measures that would help me, and now keep meticulous records of everything, including weight of items, weight of package, photos of contents etc, so if I get a message and I look up these records, I can see straight away if I missed anything when I packed the order. 

If I did not miss anything from their order, I reply and provide assurance to this fact, referencing (and in some cases, supplying) the records that I keep. I then ask a few clarifying questions regarding packaging, condition on arrival etc, and outline the steps that need to be taken if the package was tampered with. So far, 100% of the time where I have not missed out any items, and I have responded in this manner to the buyer, I either hear nothing further or they message back to say they found the missing items. 

[lyndal1838]

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@amcamari wrote:

Paid for together via Paypal. Sent with tracking. Buyer hasn't said anything about the parcel arriving damaged... or anything to suggest it's been tampered with. My gut feeling is they are just trying to get a freebie.

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It definitely sounds like that.....you have done everything right.

Have they opened a dispute yet?

[amcamari]

No... no dispute yet, but I'm expecting it. They have left some unpleasant feedback for other sellers in the past... of which some responded that they were scammed by this buyer.

[clarry100]

We get this sometimes too....

In order to combat this issue I have considered putting a surveillance camera above our packing table.

It only has to be a time lapse capturing at say 2 frames per second or something like that.

Then if someone complains about this I can deny their claim and show them the footage if they still don't believe me.

Not too sure how/if such evidence would stand up in a formal claim tho.

[transport-posters]

In order to win against eBay or PayPal, I think the camera would have to be clearly shown the finished packed parcel with the name and address on it, and also a "postage paid" stamp.  You can buy the stamp from AP for about $35 as they tried to sell me one before for this reason.

Once I sent a poster to WA and the tube arrived undamaged but inside the poster had been removed, completely scrunched up and wrecked, then put back into the tube and sealed again like nothing had happened.  You can imagine how ridiculous this appeared to my buyer and how pee'd off I was!  Very bizarre.

[everard6920]

Send them something like this. The following was taken from the US boards some time ago - the link doesn't seem to work but I saved the text. The buyer claimed they received an empty package and this is how the seller dealt with it:

BUYER:

I got a empty package so can u please give me my refund ?

 
SELLER:

Hi

This is theft. I'll need to make a police report. Please give all the details you can, and send me a picture of exactly of what you received.Also, what's the telephone number if your local post office- they're not supposed to deliver tampered packages without making a report, so your postman has some explaining to do. I'll file with the postal inspector too.

Thanks for letting me know of this.

This was delivered 8 days ago, why are you just now telling me?

 

BUYER:

It wasnt tampered witn it had papers and one motor

 

SELLER:

Oh, it was certainly tampered with, because I sent an entire kit. Is the link below your local police department? batesvillepd dot com / I'll report the theft to your local police on Monday, and open a case with the postal inspector. They'll likely be in contact with you shortly.

 

BUYER:

No dont worry about it

 

SELLER:

If someone has stolen from me, or my customer, if I don't report it, it's like me being an accomplice in the theft. Please send me all the info you can, pictures, contact info to the post office and other.

 

BUYER:

I ordered 2 package 1 from u and another seller I have yours now that I am reading the labels i contacted the wrong seller thanks for your concern and sorry to bother u