ebay refunding $405 for an item still in transit

[retro-boho-and-co]

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me! This is completely crazy!!

I sold an item (in Australia) listed with air mail delivery but with sea mail as a delivery option in the description.

Buyer (in USA) chose sea mail delivery. This takes 8-12 weeks. Item lodged March 17.

Item is due for delivery May 18-June 18. Buyer was informed of this. Buyer questioned where  the item was in early April and I again explained estimated arrival date is May 18-June 18 and that sea mail takes between 2 to 3 months.

In mid April buyer opened a dispute item was not received. I again explained the item is not due until mid May at the earliest. Buyer indicated they were happy to wait until June 18.

However, buyer did not close the case. I escalated the case to have it closed. Instead, ebay closed it with a refund to the buyer as the item had not been received. This is despite me saying it was not scheduled to arrive yet. Tracking shows the item was lodged on 17 March and on 20th March was loaded at the dock.

Ebay has said - there is no update in tracking (there are no updates in tracking while the itme is in the boat), item has not been received, my appeal was rejected and they will not reopen the case.

So $405 was refunded to the buyer, who will recieve the item in the next week to month.

Ebay has said to ask Australia Post to return the item (this isn't possible) or to email the buyer and request payment. I have emailed buyer with no response.

Surely this is not the only way to resolve this, I can't believe that despite multiple phone calls and emails stating delivery schedule and  date, that ebay has refunded the buyer.

Please help! I was selling things to pay for my kids birthday and I don't want to cancel it. It's incredibly stressful dealing with ebay help as they seem unable to actually use common sense and it appears once a case is closed there in no method to re-open it.

I would not mind if it was less  than $100. This is $405!

[padi*0409]

yes they are......................

[retro-boho-and-co]

I don't know if this was ever updated with the outcome 

But I lodged a case with the financial ombudsman - they requested more information from paypal

Within less than 24hrs paypal had refunded the amount 

I recommend any one who has a refund authorised by ebay (when the item is either still in transit or tracking shows it is delivered), to take it straight to the financial ombudsman and save a lot of time and stress

I don't use sea mail now with ebay (sea mail is currently suspended anyway) 

So the end result was my money was refunded but only after the financial ombudsman requested information on the transaction

[lyndal1838]

I have no idea why sea mail has raised it's ugly head again but it has never been an acceptable delivery method.   It has always been just too slow for paypal to cover it.

For that reason alone I ave to wonder why sellers want to take the chance that their items will go surface mail because of the pandemic.

[retro-boho-and-co]

It is covered by paypal

It's an acceptable method, its an option available

The problem is it conflicts with ebay needing tracking updates (its not updated in transit) and people get impatient as it takes so long

But it is a valid option and is an acceptable method

I sell elsewhere, and use sea mail often. Never had a problem

don't use seamail here any more as tracking is not updated and ebay requires that regardless of postage method

[davewil1964]

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@retro-boho-and-co wrote:
It is covered by paypal

It's an acceptable method, its an option available

The problem is it conflicts with ebay needing tracking updates (its not updated in transit) and people get impatient as it takes so long

But it is a valid option and is an acceptable method

I sell elsewhere, and use sea mail often. Never had a problem

don't use seamail here any more as tracking is not updated and ebay requires that regardless of postage method

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Seems that eBay is not for you.

If your overseas buyers really want your items, they would pay for tracked delivery. Which wouldn't be through Australia Post, as they gave sea mail up as a bad joke years ago.

Maybe your overseas sales, elsewhere, are due to you undercutting your delivered price as against your competitors. I have no experience, as I have never subscribed to racing to the bottom, nor do I subscribe to sales regardless of profit.

Up your prices, choose relevant postage costs and see how you go.

When I increase my prices I often get sales. Says something.

[retro-boho-and-co]

I don't follow you, but in relation to sea mail - its still offered by AustraliaPost. It's currently suspended though due to covid-19 (as is economy air) but it will be reinstated in 2021

[davewil1964]

You obviously haven't read eBay's T&Cs then. You will never be covered by posting sea mail, due to the timeframes involved.

I can't find anywhere on AP's website where they quote sea mail. You obviously know more than me, which begs the question of why you are asking a question you know the answer to.

And why it has taken several years to update your initial whinge.

[retro-boho-and-co]

I just updated the outcome- as in, for people to know to lodge with financial ombudsman in a same or similar case and not bother with either paypal or ebay. So these matters are within the jurisdiction of the financial ombudsman and the outcome is very fast once they become involved

Sorry if that update bothered you

As far as I know, sea mail is still available as an option for postage on ebay. I did send an item via seamail on ebay last year, just before AP suspended sea mail

AP may not currently quote sea mail as it was suspended in April 2020 or around then, economy air is also suspended. That's due to problems with freight currently, it will resume when freight/shipping returns to normal but they currently have no estimated time frame. Priority Airmail is the only service currently available

I use sea mail as the packages I send are often in excess of 10kg. It is tracked (via USPS if sent to the US) - its just not updated frequently as the items are sitting in the hull of a ship and not being processed. So its not updated weekly or so on, it gets logged at the dock when its loaded and logged when its unloaded many weeks later.

As for undercutting prices, the items I am selling overseas are generally very rare or hard to find, so there is no "competitor" to undercut, the prices are as determined in negotiation. But I wasn't complaining about my sales? Anyway, thats not an issue for me.

So yes - sea mail is acceptable I have found for heavy items, I would say above 8kg. I have never had an item go missing and if the buyer chooses sea mail I will use it, but prefer not to on ebay for reasons mentioned above.

[retro-boho-and-co]

Yep - just checked. International postage allows seamail as an option in the drop down menu.

Once its chosen, the time frame for delivery is adjusted.

So its certainly possible and is covered by ebay T&C's. You just have to be very sure that sea mail is offered as an option in the listing, and not offered later. So the buyer must choose it from the postage alternatives offered in the listing options. You can't list the item with air mail but then send it via sea mail if the buyer requests it, thats where I made the mistake with the listing that created problems

[davewil1964]

Your choice, your risk