My offer got accepted, I paid, but someone else got the item

[gomezpal]

I took advantage of a seller's  make an offer, got accepted and paid.  Next thing I know I am getting my payment refunded and an item I did not order arrives at my house. Seller says she made a mistake and sent the wrong item. So I said can I still get the item I paid for and she says she's "waiting to hear from the other buyer" .

How can there be another buyer when my offer was accepted and paid? Do you think the seller pulled a fast one because someone offered more money? Should I report them?

[mementomoria · Accepted solution]

The seller mixed up shipping labels. She probably printed all of her labels at one time and placed your shipping label on the wrong item you received. The other buyer received your item. That is why the seller has to wait for the other buyer to reply to her message. I made the same mistake once, luckily for me the buyers returned the items to me and I was able to mail them to the correct buyers.  The seller should pay for all the postage related to the mix up. If you don't want to wait for the item, just ask for a refund. Hope that helps.  

[dbfolks166mt]

The seller mixed up shipping labels. She probably printed all of her labels at one time and placed your shipping label on the wrong item you received. The other buyer received your item. That is why the seller has to wait for the other buyer to reply to her message. I made the same mistake once, luckily for me the buyers returned the items to me and I was able to mail them to the correct buyers.  The seller should pay for all the postage related to the mix up. If you don't want to wait for the item, just ask for a refund. Hope that helps.  

     Entirely possible. I have seen a few postings on this forum from sellers who have mixed up shipments. Multiple ways to work a resolution with the two buyers but it would have to be done outside of eBay working with getting the two buyers shipping labels that would allow them to ship and exchange the mixed up items provided they are willing to do so. 

[slippinjimmy]

This has happened to almost every seller given enough time and order volume. First time for me it was just sloppiness, I developed a "fool proof" system to ensure it never happened again. One day a "fool" was doing my shipping and the system failed! Foolproof 2.0 was created, it had double redundancies which of course eventually proved to be insufficient!

At least I can say that it's been many years since the last occurrence thanks to Foolproof 3.0 and even that one was for items I had multiples of both so the fix was simple and quick.

[downunder-61]

Seller error, nothing more, nothing less, we are all human after all.

You were refunded immediately, and the seller kept you in the loop, I see nothing to report this seller for.

[dbfolks166mt]

This has happened to almost every seller given enough time and order volume. First time for me it was just sloppiness, I developed a "fool proof" system to ensure it never happened again. One day a "fool" was doing my shipping and the system failed! Foolproof 2.0 was created, it had double redundancies which of course eventually proved to be insufficient!

At least I can say that it's been many years since the last occurrence thanks to Foolproof 3.0 and even that one was for items I had multiples of both so the fix was simple and quick.

     Also been awhile since I made the mistake and fortunately I had a couple of understanding buyers. I obtained their personal emails and provided each of them with a shipping label outside of the eBay process so they could mail the packages to each other without having to return them to me and then me having to turn around and mail them back to the correct buyers. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@gomezpal wrote:

I took advantage of a seller's  make an offer, got accepted and paid.  Next thing I know I am getting my payment refunded and an item I did not order arrives at my house. Seller says she made a mistake and sent the wrong item. So I said can I still get the item I paid for and she says she's "waiting to hear from the other buyer" .

How can there be another buyer when my offer was accepted and paid? Do you think the seller pulled a fast one because someone offered more money? Should I report them?

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Did the seller send you a prepaid shipping label to return the item sent in error? 

Did you look at the seller's other listings (current and completed) and see a sale of the item you received instead of the one you bought? 

When you received the refund, did the reason show as OOS (out of stock)? If so, the seller already got a ding on her account for the error. However if the seller claimed that the buyer requested the cancellation, you can report that. 

[mam98031]

OMG this brings back memories @gomezpal .  Not good ones, as it was a very stressful time for me as a newer seller.  

I messed up when I went and packaged some items I sold.  I ship buyer's A's item to buyer B and buyer's B item to buyer A.  Same mess you are in.  Sellers are human and we do make mistakes.

What you seller is telling you is that they are trying to retrieve the item you purchased from them from the other buyer and they are waiting to hear from them.  But to be fair to you, this seller is doing the best they could and they refunded your money so you aren't out the money at least.

Personally I just think your seller is human and is trying to make the best out of a bad situation.  

There is NOTHING to report them for.  It was an honest mistake.  Most make those from time to time.  It is what we do about the mistakes that tells you what kind of person you are dealing with and IMHO you are dealing with a responsible seller trying to do they best they can in a bad situation.  I would hope you'd have some empathy in this situation and won't take it out on their feedback.

I know you are likely disappointed about not getting the item you wanted.  But there is a chance the seller might be able to recover it from the other buyer and then let you purchase it again.  Fingers Crossed.

[mam98031]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

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@gomezpal wrote:

I took advantage of a seller's  make an offer, got accepted and paid.  Next thing I know I am getting my payment refunded and an item I did not order arrives at my house. Seller says she made a mistake and sent the wrong item. So I said can I still get the item I paid for and she says she's "waiting to hear from the other buyer" .

How can there be another buyer when my offer was accepted and paid? Do you think the seller pulled a fast one because someone offered more money? Should I report them?

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Did the seller send you a prepaid shipping label to return the item sent in error? 

Did you look at the seller's other listings (current and completed) and see a sale of the item you received instead of the one you bought? 

When you received the refund, did the reason show as OOS (out of stock)? If so, the seller already got a ding on her account for the error. However if the seller claimed that the buyer requested the cancellation, you can report that. 

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I'm not sure about the highlighted statement.  Why does the seller have to state OOS on the refund?  How does a seller get a defect if they refund an item stating it was OOS.

Are you confusing this with the Cancelation process?  The OP should NOT cancel the transaction as the transaction exists.  They simply need to refund the buyer, no cancellation is necessary.

[luckythewinner]

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@gomezpal wrote:

I took advantage of a seller's  make an offer, got accepted and paid.  Next thing I know I am getting my payment refunded and an item I did not order arrives at my house. Seller says she made a mistake and sent the wrong item. So I said can I still get the item I paid for and she says she's "waiting to hear from the other buyer" .

How can there be another buyer when my offer was accepted and paid? Do you think the seller pulled a fast one because someone offered more money? Should I report them?

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The seller sold two different items, and got the two packages mixed up. He cannot send your item to you unless the other buyer returns it to him first.

[gomezpal]

okay, thanks. I didn't know what to think! In all the years I've been on here this has never happened.  I thought it was fishy, but if you guys know about it, I'll take your word for it. Thanks!

[gomezpal]

That's what I don't understand, why not just say that there will be a delay in getting my purchase instead of just killing it. She didn;'t even ask if I'd be willing to wait...

[gomezpal]

plus it was instant -

[fern*wood]

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@gomezpal wrote:

That's what I don't understand, why not just say that there will be a delay in getting my purchase instead of just killing it. She didn;'t even ask if I'd be willing to wait...

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 When you say the refund was instant, do you mean after you contacted them about the incorrect item?  They should have clearly explained what happened if the labels were switched.  If that is what happened, there is no guarantee you will receive what you paid for because the other buyer might keep it.   Some sellers will immediately refund when they see they messed up to hopefully cool off the situation and try to avoid bad feedback. 

[deltilogical]

I don't think the seller is doing anything other than trying to pick up after an error.   I have made this mistake as a seller unfortunately a couple of times over 10K transactions and there is no guarantee the mis-shipped item will come back from a buyer.   The right thing to do is immediately refund the correct buyer who won't get their purchase - although there may be exceptions to this.   Hopefully your seller will get the item back and can sell it to you later.