eBay

bcharmah · ‎08-11-2020

Hmmm. I purchased an item on Sunday. It had not shipped yet (at least, eBay had not sent me a notice that a label had been created, or that it had shipped, like they usually do). I was not expecting it to ship until tomorrow, or so, because the seller asks to allow three business days for shipping.

Tonight, Tuesday night, I get an email from the seller saying they were contacted by the carrier that the item was "lost in the mail," and that they were giving me a refund. How is that possible? I've shipped a lot of items myself (not just from eBay), and have had lots of things get stuck in the mail system, but I have never been contacted by a carrier to tell me that the package is lost... especially not after one business day. And lately, almost everything is taking an extra long time, so it would be extremely unusual for a carrier to tell the shipper that something was lost. Case in point, I ordered a used DVD on July 20. I still don't have it. It's been stuck at one distribution center, 3 hrs away, for 11 days. I haven't heard one word from the carrier.

So, this particular situation is baffling.

Anyone have any idea how this could happen?

Thanks.

pburn · ‎08-11-2020

Just my opinion, but it sounds like the seller was probably lying. Not all that unusual on eBay these days, unfortunately.

mudshark61369 · ‎08-12-2020

@bcharmah,

Either this is a very new seller or they are out and out lying to you. Did you check their feedback profile before buying to see if they are new to selling or haven't sold in over a year? Do they have issues with items not being delivered or sent? If this is a new or returning seller, they may have run into PayPal's 21 day hold on new or returning seller's first few payments, and don't know how to deal with it.

At this point you will have to wait until the last estimated delivery date then file an Item Not Received (INR) dispute the day after that. If the seller cannot prove with a tracking number the item was sent or delivered, you will get a refund. If you file a dispute only accept a full refund as a solution.

An inexperienced seller may not upload a tracking number, which is not required by ebay. If they did not ship with tracking they would not be able to be notified by a shipper that an item was missing, and honestly none of the shipping agencies I've dealt with over the year ever admit to items being lost, unless someone asks them to track it. Even then a package would not be considered lost after only two days.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

bcharmah · ‎08-12-2020

Thank you for your responses. This was not a new seller (over 140,000 transactions), with mostly favorable feedback.... maybe 10% negative and 10% neutral). So, there were no real red flags there. They are an experienced seller. They have over 4000 items for sale in their store.

Since they refunded my money, there's really nothing I can do, and that's fine. This was not a one-of-a-kind item... it's just a pair of capri leggings that I've been having a hard time finding in my size. I can find another. I can't file an "item not received" since I did get a refund.

I was just shocked at the story given for the refund. Maybe the item wasn't really in stock after all, which I could understand, if they have a large inventory. I could have accepted that... but to make up a story about it being lost in the mail, made no sense. Even IF it was shipped the very next day (doubtful, since they state three business days), nothing can get lost that fast, and certainly no carrier would contact the shipper after one business day. Like I mentioned, I'm still waiting on a DVD that I purchased a month and a half ago, and even with that, I wouldn't expect the carrier to admit it was lost in the mail, unless I filed a missing package report. Someone mailed me a music book from the east coast, media mail, and it took two months to finally get here. No mention at all from the post office about that. I just had to wait. So, yeah. Fishy story. Too bad people can't just be honest.

simba6 · ‎08-12-2020

Selling an out of stock item gets a seller a very serious NPS defect. Those can lead to a life time suspension from selling. Sellers try to find ways to avoid them.

bcharmah · ‎08-12-2020

Aha... I did not know that. That could be the reason for the "lost in the mail" excuse.

Thank you.

bcharmah · ‎08-12-2020

I just read more feedback on this seller. They are based in the UK, but sell items that are located in the US, and from what MANY buyers have noted, the seller buys items from Amazon, and sells them to the buyer. Items arrive with Amazon paperwork. That could be what happened to me. The item that I wanted was listed on Amazon for a higher price, but now they are out of stock. Wow... if that's what is going on, that's pretty shifty. 😞

monster-deals · ‎08-12-2020

@bcharmah wrote:

Anyone have any idea how this could happen?

Thanks.

Yeah, I've had a trailer go up in flames and the tracking says "call blah blah blah"

Of course when I told the buyer their item was a puddle of molten slag they thought I was lying too and I got a nice fat red donut for my troubles.

bcharmah · ‎08-12-2020

Upon reading more feedback, it appears many other buyers had the same thing happen. Seller canceled the order, due to item being "lost in the mail." I see a pattern here.

pburn · ‎08-12-2020

I suppose it would be redundant for me to point out that it's better to check feedback before you buy. 😊 (You were refunded, so I guess it all turned out okay.)

As far as getting that exact item in the future, you could use eBay's "saved search" feature." If constructed correctly, you'll get an email alert if and when another seller lists that item.

If you can't find it on eBay, you could add it to your Amazon wish list even if it's currently out of stock. It may come back into stock in the future.

monster-deals · ‎08-12-2020

@bcharmah wrote:
Upon reading more feedback, it appears many other buyers had the same thing happen. Seller canceled the order, due to item being "lost in the mail." I see a pattern here.

Yeah maybe. My instance was a semi trailer filled with packages all coming from a tri county area...so I had 6 packages destroyed in one go. If I got negative feedback for everyone of them it most certifiably would look like a malicious pattern.

I'm not saying it isn't the seller....but ins't ALWAYS the seller.

bcharmah · ‎08-12-2020

Of course it isn't always the seller. No argument there. I sell, too (just my own stuff... not a store, and I don't do it for a living, at all). What happened to you was a fluke. A terrible fluke, but probably easily explained to your buyers. In this case, though? After one business day, the carrier contacts the shipper to say the package got lost in the mail? Very unlikely. They would barely have had time to load it on a truck and go to the next destination. Also, there was no evidence that the item ever shipped. But looking at feedback, the same exact thing happened to many buyers, over a period of time, not just in one shipment. I realize that packages DO get lost, like I've mentioned above... but not after one day. And in this case, there is history there in the feedback. Many "lost in transit" complaints to go with the Amazon drop-shipping complaints. So it does look like a pattern, in this case.

Also, yes, I do use the handy saved searches feature on ebay (for many years... it's great), same with Amazon. It's not really about not getting the item. It's more about the apparent shady practice of using Amazon for their inventory, then claiming "lost in mail" if the item is unavailable. Oh, well. Just thought I'd throw it out there to see if this ever happened to anyone else.