Who should take responsibility for items that arrive late/slowly?

[spacetomatoes]

Hi guys. I sent off 3 letters around 1.5 weeks ago from NSW to NSW (both metro locations) and the buyer reports they haven't arrived yet.

So...I guess Australia Post hasn't delivered them yet and hopefully they haven't gotten lost.

The buyer has messaged me saying they are upset because they needed them by Friday 13th i.e. yesterday since they're going on a holiday. They then asked me to confirm when the refund was done...

I replied and asked them to mark the envelopes Return to Sender when they did arrive but would give them a refund right now in good faith. Is this the way to go?

I'm also considering giving them a call (since they're not replying much to Ebay messages) and asking if they could RTS after they get back from their trip before I refund them. Hoping to get some advice, thank you 🙂

[harley_babes_hoard]

sounds suss to me that all 3 didn't arrive. I could understand one but all three ..............not likely.

[spacetomatoes]

haha, I know what you mean but I guess they could all be late as well right? I'm just hoping I can get the envelopes back at least though 😮

(Assuming the buyer decided to get the items somewhere else for their holiday)

[dazzledayz · Accepted solution]

It does sound like you've been touched by the buyer.

As Harleybabe says, it's unlikey 3 would go missing unless their mailbox was raided.

I had one similar a while back that had been collected by a relative and did turn up later.

Unfortunately, as there was no tracking, you just have to wear it.

eBay/PayPal will definitely side with the buyer in a case like this.

The worst thing is that, even though you do a refund, the buyer can still neg you out of spite!

eBay seems to assume that any carrier you use is part of your staff.

You will thus be held accountable for actions outside your control.

I post the day payment is made but still get the occasional low DSR for postage time!

In short, if AP stuffs up, you get the slap.

[spacetomatoes]

It is a bit of a shame that we're held accountable for AP's delivery times. Guess I'll give them a call and let them know a refund is happening then. Thanks for the advice 🙂

[bruce-linn]

Hello all,

I sell Stamp Albums on CD. these are packed in a paper sleeve and a padded envelope. I put my return address on the back. I post with no tracking as it is just not worth the money.  Occassionally, I get a case opened to say item did not arrive. I immediately give a full refund, it is not worth discussing or worrying about. This closes the case in a very short while. Next, I block the bidder; again, just in case they are trying it on.

If the buyer says (usually by email) the disk has arrived but does not work; it is replaced immediately without question.

Best wishes

[harley_babes_hoard · Accepted solution]

If it were me I would put the wind up the buyer by informing them that seeing as though it highly unlikely that all 3 letters would have been lost in the mail there must be a thief or the postal delivery worker is not doing there job and as such you are going to get australia post to do and investigation into the problem and let them know you are having issues. Wait to see if the letters by some sheer freak of nature turn up very shortly after you message.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

To answer the question about who should take responsibility about late arrival... Unless a seller personally guarantees delivery by a certain date, there is no responsibility to take, IMHO. Fluctuating delivery times is one of the pitfalls of shopping online, and since that sort of thing affects buyers more than it affects sellers, it's the buyer's responsibility to ensure they order in enough time to meet their deadlines - sellers don't have to meet a buyer's deadline just because the buyer happens to have one, especially if the first time they mention it is in a message after it's already too late. They could have easily requested express, registered, bought at a B&M store, asked about local pick-up etc etc.  

Personally, I would not refund unless the items were returned to me in the same condition as when sent - if they're on holidays, who knows what is happening to their mail in the mean time, or if/when the items will be returned. The downside of that is that it might make a dispute more probable (and as unregistered envelopes, probably not defendable), but I'd follow the same protocol no matter what as I find the trend of attempting to take no responsibility for anything whatsoever from some buyers rather disturbing. 

Definitely alert them that you will initiate a missing article investigation with Australia Post - I let buyers know that I have to pass the addressee details onto Australia Post so that they can conduct the investigation (as well as enable AP to contact them for further info if needed), and that they'll attempt to locate the article(s) as well as look for any common patterns or flaws in their processing system to help prevent the same issue from recurring. (All of which is true, and non-accusatory).

As harley says, you may be surprised how many people suddenly find their parcels when they don't get an insta-refund and realise that someone (i.e. AP) will look at the claim with a little more 'official' scrutiny.

[phorum_junkie* · Accepted solution]

For one unregistered letter I would just refund as I would only send a cheap item unregistered so not worth arguing over.

In this case with three having gone AWOL this is the email I would send:

Dear XXXXXX

I am very sorry that your items appear to have gone missing, I obviously cannot guarantee the time it will take AP to deliver mail but if the items have not been delivered within another 7 days I will instigate an investigation with Aus Post because the chances of 3 letters going astray without interference from someone within the postal system is slim to none. I will of course give you a full refund and hope that should the goods arrive eventually you will re make the payment.

[clarry100 · Accepted solution]

Hi DG,

When buyers report items not received (ours are all large letters) we always include non-accusatory text in the message pretty similar to what you said about reporting to AP.

We also find that about 50% of reported missing items suddenly either show up mysteriously or we never hear any more from the buyer.

So this tends to sort out the men from the boys.

In the rest of cases we end up sending out a replacement item.

We had one just recently where we sent out a replacement item and then got another report a couple of weeks later that it also had not showed up. Pretty sus! The buyer had validated a correct address.

We refused to replace a 2nd time and got a NEUTRAL for our troubles.