Weird customer , what are your thoughts ...

[oz_survival_gear]

Customer buys item ....

Customer receives item .... Her son informs her that its not the item he wanted ....

Customer complains and says it is the wrong item ....

I advise the customer she purchased and received the exact item in the listing description and if she is not happy 

or changed her mind she can send the item back for a refund less original Actual shipping cost.

Cusomer contacts me and says she shipped the item back last sunday and that i should have received the item back by now.

I Advise the customer i have not received the item back as of yet , but when i do , i will inspect the item , then approve a refund 

as discussed if all is well....

Customer starts to panic that i have not received the item , she mentions whe used my original eparcel satchel ?????

I ask her whats the tracking number of the satchel she posted , 

She gives me my original tracking number ?????

I ask her to check her postage receipt for a tracking number on her receipt , and if she is adamant that i should have received this item by now to take the issue up with Australia post. As we are not responsible for her postage to us....

She replys - " Thats not good enuf " 

In conclusion .... 

Ill be honest , it seems like im talking to a 5 year old , and who knows , she may have just put the item back into the original satchel that i posted the item in the first place and put it in a red auspost bin , without paying for postage ... 

If thats the case , which for some reason she wont confirm , Could this item now be lost ? 

What are your thoughts ....

[digital*ghost]

If Australia Post accepted the parcel in original packaging (eg as a return to sender parcel), the original tracking number should reflect this if it has been scanned into the system at all. If it gets picked up as underpaid postage, it should still be delivered but I honestly don't know who'll be pinged for it (i.e. receive the bill - I suspect it will be the original sender, though, which is you, so personally if it came with a bill, I'd deduct the amount you have to pay from the refund as well as the original P&H costs). If it was just dropped in a street box, if it is scanned again at all, it will most likely only be on the day it is delivered to wherever it's going, so it's impossible to say what might happen at this stage. 

Regarding the actual claim that it was sent back in the first place - just like the seller is largely held responsible for ensuring the safe delivery of the item, the buyer is if it's returned. If they wanted assurance that the parcel was received, they should have paid for the postage and got a new tracking number, so IMHO what's not good 'enuf' is their expectation that you'll take responsibilty for their bad choices.... Buyer's aren't prepared, in general, to accept it if they don't get their item - they can't have it both ways and also make the seller responsible if they (the seller) don't receive it back. (That's presuming the item is definitely on its way back to you). 

I would tell her that if she didn't purchase postage for the package, Australia Post may not have accepted it, and that you're not able to do anything about the package because you can only track it as far as the original delivery - as she is now the sender of the article, and by all rights should have purchased postage to return it, she will need to make enquiries with Australia Post to try and find its whereabouts, because all AP will tell you is that it was delivered to her, which you both already know. 

[oz_survival_gear]

Thanks for the reply , 

Yes i fully agree and as a seller i try not to dwell to much and fix things and move on. 

But If she decides to take things further i will fight this ! 

We cannot be expected to bear responsibilty for buyers returning packages without paying for return postage or if their return postage is lost ! 

Who knows it may end up arriving this week , we will see. 

Heres an interesting thing with this particular sale and postage though....

I usually track my outgoing parcels to check their whereabouts and when i can , i inform the buyers their item is awaiting collection etc...

or atleast i confirm the items arrived safely ....

This particular one Auspost failed in their duty to complete the tracking process to "delivered" ( and signed ) ....

Last tracking was processed through Australia post facility 

So I waited to receive a feedback on it , and Lo and behold , I get a message from the customer confirming they received it and then 

admittance that she said her son said she bought the wrong item and wanted to return it. 

So thats when i messaged her to refund will be purchase less original Actual postage cost ... 

And if she wanted to go through for refund , she would have to post the item back to us....

A week later i get a message that she posted it off and where is her refund etc...

[oz_survival_gear]

Just received two messages from her 

Message one >>>.

Going to post office in the morning , you just a liar 

>>>>>

Message 2 

>>>>

you have the item and telling me porkies. Liar

>>>>

[oz_survival_gear]

My reply to her last messages ...

>>>>>

Hello ,

I assure you we have not received the item and
If we receive the item we will let you know.

But as of today your item has not been received by us as of yet.

We will not engage in name calling as we pride our business on honesty.

I hope Australia post can locate this package for you.

>>>>>>>>

[oz_survival_gear]

Update !

Buyer emailed me informing me they have left a negative feedback...

then i get another message from her that Australia post has just delivered the item to my PO BOX (LOL) and they may remove the negative if i refund them ...

Picked the item up inspected it , and approved a refund ...

Honestly this buyer was the buyer from hell , I have no other way of describing them ...

They are an awesome addition to my blocked list !

[character_parties_aus]

That sounds like feedback extortion to me so after you got the neg removed I hope you reported the little bleepers to eBay.