Here's a fun one. What to do?

[joliztoyco]

So I sell this guy an action figure. He used BIN. When I went to make out his address label, I wasn't really comfortable with it. It was the address eBay was providing as the shipping address, but still a strange one. But the buyer did have 9 FB's so he must be receiving his purchases,I thought.
But instead of making the label, I contacted the buyer and wrote: This is the correct address I should ship to?
Crickets
So the next afternoon, I tried one more time.
Nada.
So that night I printed the label and shipped it the next day. (Had to...my "handling" time was up).
So I watched the tracking and breathed a sigh of relief when it showed it was delivered yesterday afternoon. 
And then last night I get this. I didn't edit this...this is what was sent in it's entirety:

"your website would not let me put the new address to were I moved to, I sent three emails saying this my new address. (very upset)
I noticed that on your website you can not leave negative feedbacks. I'm going to talk to my bank about getting my money back if I can't get the action figure and in great shape"


So I wrote back:

"Hello.....please understand... it's not my website. It's eBays. And eBay FORCES us sellers to always ship to the eBay address on record. I tried to contact you twice about verifying your address and you didn't answer.
Here's the tracking for your item:

The item was delivered.Tracking summary:"

And the rest of the post shows the tracking as it made it's way to his "Old" address.

So.....what would you do?

[mam98031]

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@jerseyboymusic wrote:

On my selling account, I added this to all my listings:

"We ONLY ship to your CONFIRMED Ebay shipping address. Please confirm this is correct BEFORE you make your purchase! It is for your own protection as a buyer!"

The buyer can change the ship to address as they checkout. The buyer can have their mail forwarded (for free) when they move.

I think you did all you can do with it.

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I would ask why?  Ebay confirms seller addresses and makes sure their primary matches their financial information, but beyond that Ebay does not confirm addresses nor do you as a seller have anyway to tell if an address has been confirmed or not.

It is also a requirement you can not hold a buyer to.

[mam98031]

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@joliztoyco wrote:

His address went like this:
Name
Last name @ aol.com (???)
Apt 513B
City
State Zip
When I sent his messages,I expressed my concern over the lack of a street name in his address. I also did search online and pulled up his addy which DID show a street. Which I would have been happy to add if he would of confirmed it.
Sadly, it was all wasted effort as the buyer had moved. But the part I really don't understand is not changing his shipping address on eBay. 
Such a simple thing and all of this could have been avoided.

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Sometimes people have a business name they use that ends in .com.  I've had several orders over the years with this kind of address and it has never presented a problem.  With that said, as long as you ship to the address the buyer gives you to ship to and ship within you stated handling time you will be protected against an INR.

Or simply cancel it for problem with the address so you don't get a defect for shipping late.

[mam98031]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

If a buyer makes a dispute with their credit card on a purchase through eBay....eBay will use their money and not take it away from the seller's funds? Is this something new on a certain program with eBay? I thought when there is a dispute with a credit card it's out of eBay's hands and the funds are withdrawn from the seller's account.

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Yes they do and yes they have when a seller is covered by Seller Protection.  The seller protections on INRS is the strongest we have and it is pretty darn good.

No it is not new.  We have had solid seller protection on INRs for many years.

You are correct, it is the Financial Institution that makes the determination if there is a refund or not.  Ebay has no say in the matter.  So if they rule against the seller and require a refund on an INR with tracking that shows delivered, seller shipped to the address on the payment submitted and shipped within their stated handling time, they are covered under Seller Protection.  It has been this way for many years.  This means that Ebay would have to refund the Financial Institution out of Ebay money, NOT the seller's.

Now there has been the rare occasion Ebay got it wrong and the money came from the seller.  On the ones I know about, upon appeal the seller got their money back.

[mam98031]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

@soh.maryl   Does USPS forward parcels? Because Canada Post does not.

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Yes IF the addressee has a proper Forwarding Form filed with USPS.

[duffy4444]

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@joliztoyco wrote:

... So that night I printed the label and shipped it the next day. (Had to...my "handling" time was up)...

And then last night I get this. I didn't edit this...this is what was sent in it's entirety:

"your website would not let me put the new address to were I moved to, I sent three emails saying this my new address. (very upset)
I noticed that on your website you can not leave negative feedbacks. I'm going to talk to my bank about getting my money back if I can't get the action figure and in great shape"

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@joliztoyco:

   No, you didn't have to ship it, and you shouldn't have. You should have legitimately cancelled the order using "Problem With Buyer's Address" (true), refunded the buyer, relisted the item, then messaged him that the address was not sufficient and telling him to provide a corrected address with update on his address at eBay if he is interested in repurchasing it. Or, putting him on your Blocked Bidder List if you saw things were not right. This would have totally prevented everything that followed you receiving the insufficient address.

   I, too, think this smells like a possible scam that is not uncommon. What immediately tipped me off was the buyer not responding to your messages, most likely lying about trying to send you 3 emails, eBay wouldn't let him update his address, blaming your website, and threatening you by quickly going for the jugular by using the cc chargeback threat. This buyer was manipulating you, which equates to a scam attempt, IMHO.

   Cheers, Duffy  

[mam98031]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

You did what you could.  You tried to give them VERY good customer service.  The great thing is you are protected by Ebay Seller protection.  It is the best protection we have on this site.  So if they file a claim through Ebay, you will win.  If they file a Chargeback and if the CCC doesn't agree and refunds the buyer, it would Be Ebay that would have to use their money for the refund because you are protected by seller protection.

And that nice little perk we gain from the retirement of the Power Seller program did you good today.  Buyers can't leave a negative or neutral FB on a TRS with 7 days of the purchase.  That perk was designed to stop just what you describe.  I'm glad it too worked for you

You will be fine in this as will your account and your money.

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@mam98031 @  I wondered if that deal with the feedback had carried over from the power seller days. Good to hear it is still working. 7 day cooling off period 😉

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It was the one and only perk left on the Power Seller program, so they just transferred it to TRS when they finally retired PS.