Tracking reads delivered, but seller has opened up and paypal have sent my account in arrears $320

[thestrawthatbrokethecamelsback]

I sent a wii U by regular post, boxed, and with tracking to another suburb of Melbourne.

I followed the Trackng and it was delivered 2 days after I lodged it with the post office.

The weekend passed, and for all I thought the buyer was spending the weekend playing the games and console, as I was waiting to see if they were going to give me feedback.

After the weekend pased the buyer contacted me and said that the parcel did, not arrive, even though the tracking reads it was delivered, and they proceeded to open up an invesitgation through Aus Post.

The thing that worries me is, I have only have ever had issues with those in WA for items "delivered" and "Not received", and I do gage that many Aussies in the bulk are integrity based people, and honest.

Is this buyer taking advantage of the fact I did not register the parcel?

How do I know if they have received it, or whether Aus Post is responsible for a C*** up?

Lesson learned...Register everything. it was only travelling 30km away from me, in the same city.

Left an even more taste in my mouth than I had before... Seller protection is a myth.

So let me get this right. The payment I got for the Wii U is frozen, the Wii U (? Who knows where it is, or who has it) and I will have to pay the fees on the auction...

I think this really is the last straw for me. Just selling stuff now, to get my paypal balance back in the positive, and then I think i am done with this site, once and for all...

If anyone has been in asimilar situation or has advice so I can go about not being completely stuffed over would be appreciated.

Thanks 🙂

[thecatspjs]

As AP is under the pump at the moment, I certainly would not be blaming the buyer without any evidence that they have actually received the item.

If you have proof of addressee details, and the tracking shows as delivered, then you will be covered by seller protection.

However, I have to note a couple of things, the first is that if you are sending higher value items through the post without extra cover insurance and signature on delivery just to save a few dollars, it was only a matter of time before that cost saving habit caught up with you as it has.

The second thing is, your post seems to be more concerned about your losses - rather than that the buyer may not have received their goods, and given that you have not sent it with appropriate insurance coverage in the event it was damaged or lost, you are not coming across as the most responsible seller - sorry if that sounds harsh, its just how it appears from your post to me.

As far as seller protection goes, I am not sure how eBay or Paypal can protect sellers from themselves.

Have you confirmed with AP that an investigation has been opened by the buyer ?  That would be top of my list.

Is there anything in the buyers feedback received or left for others that indicate they may have tried this on before ??

[curraone]

Don't panic yet - if the buyer has opened up a dispute with Aust Post it would have nothing to do with paypal surely.

Do you mean they have opened up a dispute through ebay or paypal for "item not received"?

If so, all  you have to do is provide details of tracking - no problem.

[thecatspjs]

The OPs funds are frozen, so Paypal is involved.

[thestrawthatbrokethecamelsback]

Thanks.

I know it was negligent to not register the parcel. But I have sent it, and I have in no way approached the buyer with anything but attempted understanding and sensitivity on their part. I have had one thing myself that I didn't receive as a buyer this year, and I was too perplexed by the 'deliver' status, after not having received it. I didn;t open a paypal dispite though. I just took it as a loss, and moved on, byut I paid $60. Not $320. I know it is my own stupid fault. I sort of resented paying $9 as it was, when AP can be slow with service times, and couriers charge as low as $4 to post a box in my same city.

I sabotaged myself it seems. As I said (And Cat, it is a but harsh) I think i have to put this down to a lesson learned. AP invesitigation is opened- Here is the tracking details: 63203113799093 

Apparently, AP are still invesitgating, and the buyer has been really patient, and they only opened up a dispute in paypal yesterday I think, as I went to pay my fees for the month to discover I no longer have funds in paypal to do so... 😕

*sigh. 

Thanks for putting your time to this anyway. I think I just have to use this a sound board, and let every ensuing response resonate that it just has to be a very expensive lesson learned 😞

Ta

[thestrawthatbrokethecamelsback]

And I did check feedback of the buyer, and I assume they haven't received it. 

It is speculative either way really, it is hard to tell though for sure. They have been really patient, and waited near 4 weeks to open a dispute. If they were eager to rip me off, I think they would have opened it sooner. The buyer even sent an apology, but they really dont have any recourse.....

*double sigh*

It is hard to know who to direct all my frustration at..... 'I guess the swallow hard' thing will have to do 🙂

[collect247]

First of all Op does have seller protection through PayPal as he sent item with a tracking number,also if an item goes missing or doesn't get delivered then the buyer can open a dispute for it but the seller is the one that needs to contact AP and find out what has happened to it and needs to correspond with the buyer through PayPal.PayPal will investigate the problem and after a while will make their decision which should be in favour of the seller as proof of postage has been provided.But what will happen if AP don't find the missing parcel is that the seller will only receive the postage cost back because there was no insurance taken for the item.PayPal will then need to under their own descretion refund both buyer and seller.

[curraone]

So all is not lost - it is not your fault.   You sent the item via a tracking method.    Wait to see what happens.

[thestrawthatbrokethecamelsback]

It is the paypal 'discretion' thing that worries me.

And I had a buyer last year claim something I sent with tracking did not arrive.

They were in WA, they made contact with AP, and apparently received compensation from AP, and I did nothing, but call to establish that there was an investigation underway.

I called AP after Christmas and they confirmed that the buyer was compensated, after paypal closed the dispute the buyer had raised in my favour after being informed by the buyer that AP had compensated them.

But for $320 I am think AP probably wont compensate. I shld be more proactive, but in the past when I have kicked and screamed at AP they have been unhelpful. Just a very frustrating situtuation to be in, as funds are tough, and I need to get my paypal in the positive and pay my fees so I can sell next month I guess..... 

I have contacted AP, and there was no need to open my own invesitagation they said, as that would just involve double handling of the case, so I am just seeing where it goes.... I was hopeful they were going to resolve it, after I read on these discussion threads that AP were having issues with a new sorting system, which apparently effected QLD, NSW VIC postal deliveries during the time I sent the package??? Does anyone have any insight on that, as apparently the AP management were doing their best to not disclose the issues they were having??? I will ahev a dip back in the threads and see if I can find it, as it might be relevent.

Ta

[thecatspjs]

---

@collective05 wrote:

First of all Op does have seller protection through PayPal as he sent item with a tracking number,also if an item goes missing or doesn't get delivered then the buyer can open a dispute for it but the seller is the one that needs to contact AP and find out what has happened to it and needs to correspond with the buyer through PayPal.PayPal will investigate the problem and after a while will make their decision which should be in favour of the seller as proof of postage has been provided.But what will happen if AP don't find the missing parcel is that the seller will only receive the postage cost back because there was no insurance taken for the item.PayPal will then need to under their own descretion refund both buyer and seller.

---

A seller only has protection if they have some proof to Paypal that they sent to at a minimum the postcode of the address of the buyer - so a lodgement receipt, or some other proof.

Online tracking alone will not always win a case, nor should it or shonky sellers could pull off all sorts of scams.

I feel ya pain OP, I have made some expensive mistakes in my time on eBay too