Is this a new seller scam? Recall shipment just before it goes "Out for Delivery"

[peva707]

Waiting for item shipped by seller by FedEx from CA to me in VA.  The day it reaches my local FedEx distribution center, just before it  goes "Out for Delivery", tracking shows it is "recalled by shipper" (meaning the ebay seller).  Seller has not responded to 2 messages from me since order was placed 2 weeks ago due to late shipping.  I sent an alert message to ebay. Their system acknowledged my message and said that they sent a message to the seller and to contact them if I haven't received the item by a certain date.  Then I get an email from ebay saying that the item is on the way to me, shows my address as the destination, due to arrive by Tuesday the 15th.  I check tracking - shows that it got delayed for about a day, then started moving again.

So I'm thinking "OK - someone (probably seller, maybe ebay) contacted FedEx and changed the destination back again to my address.  *BUT* as I watch the tracking over the next couple of days, it moved westward, first to NC, then to MS.  Today, it's all the way back in CA, not delivered yet.

I tried to send a followup to ebay yesterday to let them know that it is still going back to its origin - *BUT* the ebay system won't let me contact them again about this item until the date they told me to contact them if I had not received it by.

So here's what I'm predicting: It will reach the seller, and the seller will hope I'm lazy and stupid and they will try to keep my money.  But, when I can finally contact ebay again, they will realize what happened and refund my money.  The ridiculous thing is that I can see the train wreck happening over a period of days by the tracking, but ebay has locked me out of alerting them to the attempted rip-off until it has been completed.

So, as my subject line suggests, I'm thinking somebody has figured out a way to rip people off (by recalling the shipment just before delivery, and when it reaches the new destination - back to the seller, ebay's system shows it as having been delivered, and falsely concludes that the transaction is successfully complete - except that it was delivered back to the seller) with ebay's unknowing assistance by blocking the buyer from updating them of the continuation of the scam that they were alerted about and that they thought they headed off, but that continued to unfold over a period of days as clearly shown in the tracking.  Frustrating!

I knew this was this seller's first sale (figuring everybody has to start at 0, so might as well help them get started), but notice now that their account name was created 2 years ago.  Is that somehow part of the scam?

[kathiec]

There's no scam. Ebay won't register the package as delivered unless tracking shows delivered to your zip. If it goes back to the seller it doesn't count as being delivered. Not sure what's up with the seller, but all you have to do to get refunded is open a not received case the day after the last estimated delivery date.

[peva707]

You may be correct (that it is not a scam).

However, here are the things that make it suspicious:

1. Seller shipped very late, so I sent a firm but polite message asking for an explanation so I could know what to expect and make work-around plans.  I was willing to listen and accept a credible explanation.  However, the seller *never* responded.

2. The seller shipped a couple of days after I sent my message.  (If the seller was having problems thru no fault of their own, they could have communicated, and we could have mutually agreed whether or not to cancel or finish the deal in a friendly manner.  In short, I can think of *no* excuse for not communicating.  The person was obviously not indisposed (sickness, personal or family tragedy, or whatever) because they did end up shipping a couple of days later.
3. So the shipment wends its way via FedEx from CA to the distribution center in my town in VA, and just when it should have flipped to "Out for Delivery", it changes to "address changed - recalled by shipper", and reversed course back to CA.  I drove to the local Fedex facility, and asked why it was getting sent back - was there a problem with my address or what.  They politely researched it and said no problem with my address - that the shipper recalled it with no explanation.  HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT?  (not yelling - just emphasizing) - and with zero communication to me?  Again - inexcusable. Again - the seller name was created 2 years ago with zero selling or buying activity until now - this is their first transaction.  Nothing "wrong" or "illegal", but combined with no communication and strange behavior with the recall literally minutes before going "out for delivery", is weird like no other transaction I've ever had on ebay over many years.

Note that this is a health-related item that my wife and I depend on, and we ran out of it.  Not life threatening, but a concern.  Fortunately I was able to get 2-day delivery from Amazon so we were only without for those 2 days.  But if this becomes common for buying on ebay, then why buy on ebay.  And I do order things with reasonable buffer time, but not with enough buffer for seller's erratic behavior and no communication (no reply to my message, no notification or explanation for recalling the shipment).

Also - frustrating that ebay was supposedly watching this transaction due to my alert message to them, and when it was obvious from the tracking that it was *not* redirected back to my address, but was definitely heading back to CA, ebay sends me an email saying it was on its way to me with a new estimated date.  *AND* because I had to wait it out until the new estimated delivery date was past, I was blocked from following up to tell them that "No - it is *not* heading back to me - the tracking clearly shows it heading towards the west coast."  I wonder if it was redirected back to me (the tracking showed it "delayed" for a day or two, which I figured was understandable due to the shipment being thrown into reverse), but then was reversed a *third* time (by the seller to send it back to CA?).

[soh.maryl]

Have you not read eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers?

If you'll take a moment to read it, you will see that you are well protected.

[12345jamesstamps]

Nothing to worry about. It will either be delivered or you will be refunded by eBay or you can do a dispute with your debit or credit card used(this is as a last resort). Wait to see what happens. Because seller might be new and hasn't sold anything...I say might...seller doesn't get funds for usually 30+ days as a new seller. Seller might be wondering where the money is. Let eBay do the job first if item doesn't show up. Otherwise, the credit card chargeback as a last resort.

[peva707]

I know I will get my money back.  That's not the issue.  The issue is that the weird seller behavior could have been mitigated if I had been allowed to followup with ebay to inform them that it was not in fact on the way to me as their email had informed me.  That could have saved this transaction.

When all is said and done, I may just need to decide that, after 16 years of casual (over 150 transactions) successful buying on ebay, it may be time to part ways.  There are options out there without these kinds of unnecessary games and uncertainties.  The fact that a seller can just willy-nilly recall a shipment for no reason and with no explanation *and* that ebay can't or won't intervene to prevent it - well, let's just say, I don't need the disrespect and aggravation, and I don't ever expect to experience it with the other sources that are available.

[peva707]

Agreed James (if that's your *real* name 😁 ).

I still can't fathom why the seller can't COMMUNICATE.  The good thing is that if this is their typical behavior, they won't - or shouldn't - be around long at all.  I can say that their very first feedback rating - if I'm allowed to give it with a reversed/refunded transaction - will not be favorable.  Not sure what their business plan is.

[kathiec]

What you need to realize is that on any given day there are more than a billion listings on eBay, with millions upon millions of daily sales. Ebay can't monitor the tracking of every single one of them and jump into action with a specialized tracking crew at every anomaly. So they offer a quite comprehensive Money Back Guarantee that makes it simple to get a refund. But if you require the level of personalized service you seem to indicate then you're correct, eBay's probably not where you want to be.

[simba6]

Could be the seller mixed up your package with another?   That happens a lot here.  

Would not work as a scam as the tracking shows what happened. I say a mix up and the seller just found out from the other buyer what they received.

[annadryl]

This is a very isolated incident, I've never heard of this particular one. You got a seller who either goofed up (it happens) or more likely is kind of clueless with how it all works.

You were inconvenienced, which is bad and I empathize with you on that, but you know you will be made whole eventually. If you have to leave ebay (which doesn't affect anyone here) over this one bad experience then that's okay. We all have our threshold.

Glad you were able to get your needed item from another source. This site and that other particular one used to be the only real resources. Now there are thousands. No crisis.

[peva707]

Fair enough.  👍

[peva707]

There certainly could have been a mistake of some sort (though not the one you suggest , since this is the *only* transaction they have done *ever* in their 2 years of existence, i.e. there's no other order to mix it up with), but I get your point that there could have been some sort of honest mistake, which is forgivable since everybody makes mistakes.

What, again, I can't get past, assuming the seller has honest intentions, is the *total* lack communication - not even poor communication, but none, no attempt.  Simple openness to explain and/or negotiate "what do we mutually want to do from here to resolve this" would cover a multitude of sins.  🤷🏼‍

The only other thing that I didn't yet mention is that the item page said it would ship from CO.  Instead, it shipped from CA,  Not an issue in and of itself since people (I think) pull from various warehouses or sources (the product's manufacturer is in CA, so there's that).  So, again, not a big issue, just another discrepancy that, along with everything else, added up to a level of suspicion and annoyance.

Thanks everybody for "listening" and discussing - I feel better.  🤪 😁

[peva707]

I appreciate that.

"You got a seller who either goofed up (it happens) or more likely is kind of clueless with how it all works."

- I go with "clueless" (even if there was a goof up) based on unilateral action (recalling shipment just as it's ready to go "out for delivery")  *plus* zero communication, which to me is a lack of respect.

[peva707]

OK: To finish out this fiasco, even though at this moment, the item is in CA, probably 1 or 2 FedEx tracking steps away from delivery back to the seller or their agent, I just got a message from ebay that ebay has refunded me for this item.

Sincere kudos to ebay for recognizing that the seller was refusing to communicate and had no intention of fulfilling their obligation, and ebay's saving me the trouble of having to explain any further and actually request the refund.

I just completed my feedback on the seller - I was as fair and honest as I could be, but it wasn't at all favorable to them.  Though there may he a credible explanation for their bizarre behavior (though I can't imagine what that explanation might be), with their obstinate refusal to communicate to the point of not replying to my two messages and ebay's urging them to communicate with me with no result, I felt no obligation to give the seller any benefit of the doubt regarding any possible justification for their behavior.

I know everybody probably has their own stories of bizarre ebay transactions, but this one is at the tippy-top of my personal list.  😁

Thanks for everybody's help!

[kathiec]

@peva707 

Just a word of caution: If the seller is savvy enough to know eBay feedback rules, they'll be able to get your neg removed. Feedback policy prohibits mentioning an eBay investigation.