This is the second time in the last month we have seen this same scam from different buyers. They have a high-end gaming laptop shipped to to an an address in New Castle, DE, and the eBay tracking will show the item as delivered. This is the eBay seller shipment tracker in its entirety.
Then the following day the tracking will show the item was picked up in South Carolina and will begin transit to PA where it eventually gets delivered to a random address. The only way I know this is by putting the tracking information into a 3rd party provider such as aftership.
The kicker is that the official UPS website only shows the delivery information post-second pickup in SC. This is the UPS website tracking for the same tracking number in its entirety.
I lost the original case as the buyer was emphasizing the package was delivered to PA.
When deciding in the buyers favor the customer service rep initially claimed 1) I did not purchase Signature Confirmation (which we did!) and 2) That the item was delivered to the wrong address then it my responsibility to open a case with UPS. The granted both the original case and appeal to the buyer and gave them a full refund. I am currently out $600 for my buy-cost of the laptop and all associated selling / shipping / advertising fees on a $1000+ sale.
Any and all advice is appreciated. Does this scam have a name? Have you guys seen it on your accounts?
This is a astrange situation indeed. I can't explain how this happened, but perhaps this will be helpful.
The UPS does show the full scanning history on their website, if you log in and view it from an account. You can create a My UPS account and do this, if you don't have one already.
@oakcitydistributors wrote:
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The kicker is that the official UPS website only shows the delivery information post-second pickup in SC. This is the UPS website tracking for the same tracking number in its entirety.
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On that page that you showed in your screenshot above, click on one of the links at the bottom, and either log in to UPS, or sign up for a UPS account and log in to it. Then click to view the "Shipment Progress" tab, and you can see the full history:
https://www.ups.com/track?loc=en_US&tracknum=1ZAC9818A829173628&requester=ST/trackdetails
It's the two scans that I highlighted in red that are the problem, aren't they. How could the package have been signed for in Delaware, and then picked up in South Carolina less than 35 hours later?
That doesn't make sense. I would contact UPS, and ask them to investigate this tracking history for potential fraud. The only thing I can think of is that somehow, the scammer created another UPS shipping label, with the same tracking number but different shipping address and return address, and arranged for the second label/package to be shipped the day after the first package (your package) was signed for.
If UPS can update the tracking history, then that would give you good grounds to appeal the decision, because then the tracking history should stop in Delaware.
You may need to file a claim with UPS to get them to investigate this. I would try just reporting it and talking to the agent first, and see where that gets you. I have not done this myself (haven't heard of this situation before) so I can't advise you from experience.
To file a UPS claim, click on the "File a Claim" button on the tracking website (link in my reply above).
On the next page, the tracking number will be filled in. Did you purchase the label yourself, or through eBay, or a shipping app? If you bought it through eBay or a shipping app, click the box for "Did you ship this package through a third-party eCommerce site?"
If you need the shipper account number, it is the 6 digits following the 1Z in the tracking number. (I did not proceed with this claim, because I have no skin in the game, obviously. This is just to show you how to proceed.)
You will need to provide an email address (associated with the third-party app) and the eBay Help Page says that it is important that you use the same email address for your My UPS account that you use for your eBay account. So you may need to create a new My UPS account, using the correct email address.
https://www.ebay.com/help/shipping-items/shipcover/shipping-insurance?id=4643#section3
Please let us know how this turns out.
This is a astrange situation indeed. I can't explain how this happened, but perhaps this will be helpful.
The UPS does show the full scanning history on their website, if you log in and view it from an account. You can create a My UPS account and do this, if you don't have one already.
There are two issues to be resolved here. The first is the eBay issue and the claim. If this is in fact a FF, which it appears to be, all the seller should have to do to have the claim ruled in their favor is to:
1. Provide proof to eBay that the address they shipped to is a FF which is easy to do.
2. Provide a copy of the delivery signature when the item arrived at the FF.
3. Provide proof that the package was forwarded by the FF, information the seller already has.
The second issue is between the buyer and the FF to resolve. This is one reason eBay drops the MBG buyer coverage once the item has arrived at the FF. Neither eBay nor the seller has any idea what type of arrangement, shipping address information....... that the buyer has with the FF. Only the buyer and the FF have that information.
It's the two scans that I highlighted in red that are the problem, aren't they. How could the package have been signed for in Delaware, and then picked up in South Carolina less than 35 hours later?
Very possible depending on when the UPS truck, or plane, departed Delaware and arrived in SC. Depending on what part of each state it's only about 600 miles and 8 hours drive time, less by air.
That doesn't make sense. I would contact UPS, and ask them to investigate this tracking history for potential fraud. The only thing I can think of is that somehow, the scammer created another UPS shipping label, with the same tracking number but different shipping address and return address, and arranged for the second label/package to be shipped the day after the first package (your package) was signed for.
The other possibility is that the FF just forwarded the package with the original shipping label. Nobody knows for sure other than the FF and the buyer.
If UPS can update the tracking history, then that would give you good grounds to appeal the decision, because then the tracking history should stop in Delaware.
From the eBay policy perspective and the FF situation the tracking does show the delivery to Delaware and that should be eBay's only focus and concern. The MBG buyer protection ends there. I agree the rest of the tracking gets really strange but that is between the buyer and the FF.
