Getting cussed out

[bigdeals.etc]

When a buyer claims INR for an item that has tracking that shows delivered and you give him tips to try and locate the package, what do you do when he replies back and cusses you out? Continue to help them?

[katzrul15]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

When a buyer claims INR for an item that has tracking that shows delivered and you give him tips to try and locate the package, what do you do when he replies back and cusses you out? Continue to help them?

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Yes.  In fact, this is when I reach out to the phone number on the order.  Usually they calm down and we work thru it.  Last time this happened, called the Buyer and then added the Postmaster for their PO to the call.   Postmaster and I spoke twice before and I had asked them to speak to the route carrier.  Route carrier remembered the parcel and confirmed it was left and where.  Buyer was instructed to file a police report and they did.

Unfortunately the Buyer is out the money and the item.  USPS has so many temp employees...who knows where your crazy parcel is! 

I usually start with their PO and call and try to see what the route CCA knows/remembers and go from there.

Good luck!

[calntom]

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@ca1001 wrote:

I think the problem is that they believe they are being scammed, which may be how you feel as well.  In reality, the package may have been misdelivered to someone who feels as though they are legally entitled to keep it.  I would offer to initiate a trace on the package, since it is the shipper who must do that.  This is entirely a different thing than tracking.  Provide the trace information back to the buyer.  If it was misdelivered, the third-party shipper must honor the insurance.  If not, maybe the package location will come to light.  If it was properly delivered, it may have been stolen.  If so, that is likely the buyer's loss.

If you fail to perform the trace, you may win eBay's resolution of the matter since tracking shows a package was delivered somewhere, but you'll end up with the credit card chargeback when the charge is disputed.  Initiate the trace right away while there's still a chance that the package might be recovered.

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I do not remember seeing a clickable link on the USPS site to initiate a trace. It would be great if someone could provide that.  I have done a 

Help Request Form and a Missing Mail Search Request 

But never a trace. Where is a trace initiated from?

@bigdeals.etc if a buyer cussed me out, they would be ghosted and I would only communicate with eBay as needed for the duration of the debacle. I might send the buyer a message if absolutely necessary but would not be responding to their nasty messages. 

[vintagecraze50]

I always do extra work on these INR cases by calling the destination PO or Fed Ex. Both carriers ESPECIALLY FED EX have GPS tracking devices showing Exactly where these packages are dropped off. I tell the buyer I am investigating and will tell them where this package was delivered, and that they can do the same. Most of the time these packages are found. Continue to be polite regardless of their offensive demeanor.

[calntom]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

I always do extra work on these INR cases by calling the destination PO or Fed Ex. Both carriers ESPECIALLY FED EX have GPS tracking devices showing Exactly where these packages are dropped off. I tell the buyer I am investigating and will tell them where this package was delivered, and that they can do the same. Most of the time these packages are found. Continue to be polite regardless of their offensive demeanor.

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It sounds like it is always a phone conversation to get the GPS info. I have not had to do this yet.  Trying to nail down the process in case an issue arises. 

Is obtaining the GPS info the same as doing a "trace" as another posted eluded to?

[ca1001]

Here's a real life example - I was an eBay buyer in January of two 4-pack packages of Apple AirTags at a cost of $170.00.  Tracking was posted, and the day I saw that it was delivered, I scoured the property around my house looking for the package. It was not there.

I contacted the seller immediately, giving him a heads up that UPS tracking indicated that the package was delivered, but that I had definitely not received it.  He responded, and told me to wait a few days to see if it showed up.  I reviewed the tracking information on the UPS website.  It said it had been delivered inside and signed for someone named "Wheeler", which is no one I knew.  We were home at the time and date of delivery specified on the tracking.  Although tracking on the UPS website (not eBay's website) stated it was delivered to the city I live in, it also had the wrong delivery zip code (I live in a city with multiple zip codes).

I pointed these discrepancies out to the seller, and he said he would send it again the next day.  I thanked him.  After another ten days, I contacted him again and told him I had not received either package.  He had not given me any tracking information for the second package, so I was unable to determine if it had even been shipped.  The seller responded, but still did not provide any tracking information for the second package. 

After another day or so, I filed an Item Not Received complaint with eBay.  There is a waiting period before eBay will step in.  During this period,  I asked the seller to confirm the address he shipped to, and he responded with my correct address.  The seller uploaded a new tracking number to eBay.  Again, the tracking confirmed that the package had been delivered.  There were package weights shown on the confirmations.  The first delivery confirmation listed 6.00 pounds, the second listed 2.40 pounds  The new tracking information said the package was left at the front door.  I couldn't find a delivery zip code this time.

When the waiting period was up, I followed through with eBay.  They ruled against me with their "Final Determination" stating that "the seller provided tracking information that shows the item was delivered to your address", and they closed the case.

Yesterday, I traveled to my local UPS office and showed them the two delivery confirmations.  They looked them up on their database, which provides much more detailed information than what is publicly available.  As it turns out, neither package was shipped by the seller or delivered to me.  The first package was shipped from a company in Minneapolis and delivered to another company in my city in a different zip code.  The second package was shipped from a company in Canada and delivered to another person in my city in still another zip code. 

There is scamming going on here.  The seller has perhaps hacked into UPS records, or is an employee of UPS who has access to tracking records, or has bribed an employee of UPS to give him a tracking number which will show delivery to a certain city.  Researching the seller on eBay shows that in spite of the fact that I searched for items shipping only from the United States, the search results included this seller who registered a year ago in Bulgaria.

The lessons to be learned are : If you are a buyer, do not trust the delivery confirmations, because scammers have found a way to submit someone else's tracking to eBay.  Because there are no real details other than the delivery city listed on the delivery confirmations, eBay accepts false confirmations as proof of delivery.  If you are a seller, since the buyer can no longer trust the delivery confirmations, you need the more detailed tracking information available from UPS.  This is the same information available from the tracing process which the seller can initiate by telephone.