Used Socks???

[kattinsanity]

I sold a pair of mens socks on 6/13 for $10.00 with shipping included.  They were new in the box and I checked them before I shipped.  They were in a clear plastic envelope in the box.  I took them out for inspection and replaced them back in the envelope and shipped them off.

Monday night I got a return request for these socks saying they were used, had been laundered and had pilling all over them???  What happened to them??  I just refunded the buyer the $10.00 instead of putting another $3.00 into shipping them back to me.

Tracking #9500110439476167037043  showed they were delivered in at mailbox to the buyers zip code a few days later after I shipped them~~delivered 6/18.  Then tracking again showed they were delivered in at the mailbox again on 6/27.  I asked the buyer where these socks were for all those days before he got them.  Why did tracking show they were delivered twice?  Were they mis delivered and someone else used them, laundered them and stuck them back in the envelope??  Is the buyer lying??  I don't know~~I only know they were new when I sent them.

Last night the buyer left me a neutral saying I sold him used socks even knowing they were somewhere else for well over a week before he got them delivered to him.

What are my chances of getting the feedback removed showing the tracking as proof they were somewhere else for over a week before the buyer received them?  I'm super careful in testing everything before I ship it and clean everything before packing etc. so why would I send used socks? 

[brad62853]

@kattinsanity

I only see one delivery to the mailbox when looking at the tracking history. Am I missing something?

[twnpopcards]

Back when Ebay counted Neutrals and Negatives as defects I think you would have had a decent chance of getting it removed.  Now Ebay's stance seems to be that is the buyers opinion and they really just no longer care.  Recently the only feedbacks I have read about being removed have been due to Feedback Extortion or Case related.  

I totally understand your thought process and feelings on the matter especially given Ebays propensity for changing the rules on things and then making those rules retroactive.  Who is to say that the next Fall Sellers Update is not once again going to count feedback as some kind of defect or issue.

David

Twnpopcards

[kattinsanity]

Looking at the tracking number from the transaction (not looking at the USPS site) it shows as having been delivered 6/18 and 6/27.  Both say delivered in at mailbox.

[kattinsanity]

I looked at the USPS site and it shows them as delivered 6/18.  They don't show that they were delivered again on 6/27.  The buyer did indeed get them on 6/27 and filed the return request the same day.

[brad62853]

@kattinsanity

Can you post a snapshot of that?? This is very strange and I have no idea how it could happen but is it possible the buyer is confusing you with a different seller??

[luckythewinner]

OP,

USPS scans are not always accurate. I have had packages returned to me that were marked as "undeliverable" when the tracking showed they were delivered. So the fact that they were scanned as delivered twice is not the buyer's fault. And if the last scan is the correct one, the buyer would have no idea where they were in the meantime.

My guess is they were delivered to the wrong address, returned to the PO, and then delivered to the correct adddress.

All that aside ...

There is no sense in trying to figure out "what happened". Perhaps the buyer simply did not want the socks and did not want to pay return shipping. Of if they were misdelivered, perhaps the person at the first address opened them and repackaged them and the buyer is blaming you for it.

Further, when you asked the buyer "where they were for all those days" he probably interpreted that as an accusation that he was lying, and decided to retaliate with feedback.

IMHO your chances of getting the feedback removed are zero.

Unlucky

[retrose1]

Instead of wasting time worrying about the tracking....the buyer said they got them, so delivery was not an issue - you should have seen that claims of things that you know aren't possible are probably scams and insisted on return for refund rather than auto refunding rewarding the buyer for their potentially false claim. 

The used socks feedback might be a blessing in disguise, as selling used footwear can be profitable.  It's that instant refund comment in feedback that is letting all scammers know that you are an easy mark.  Be prepared to have lots of claims about 'problems' in the future.

Since you auto refunded, it looks like you knew that the buyers claim was valid to ebay.  So you aren't going to get that feedback removed.

[kattinsanity]

[kattinsanity]

The thing is that after seeing the tracking and that the item was delivered on the 18th to someone and then again on the 27th to the buyer he may very well have received them used.  I never called the buyer a liar or insinuated to him that he may be lying.  It was a situation where anything could have happened in that 9 days & I pointed that out to him.  It wasn't my fault and it wasn't the buyers fault but he also shouldn't have said in feedback that I sold him used socks due to the situation.

[kavi1030]

Hi

if it were me, I would have had them returned for refund so you could see what was going on with the socks. it could have been buyers remorse and they did not want to pay return shipping. They might have tried them on, then decided they did not like them etc. (now saying they are used).

[brad62853]

This is definitely weird but at the end of the day I'd have to agree that your buyer took advantage of you and simply wanted a free pair of socks. It takes a real jerk to get a full refund with no hassles and keep the product to then turn around and leave less than positive FB.

As for what happened with the package. I can only suggest going to your local PO with this snapshot and asking them for an intranet tracking report to show why the package indicates 2 deliveries and where it was between each of those deliveries.

[luckythewinner]

---

@kattinsanity wrote:

I never called the buyer a liar or insinuated to him that he may be lying.

---

OP,

We can only go by the information you post here.

And in your original post, you said: "I asked the buyer where these socks were for all those days before he got them."

If that is the case, you asked the buyer a question that he could not possibly know the answer to unless he was lying.

You may not think that sounds accusatory, but that part raised a red flag with me the moment I read it.

Unlucky

[kattinsanity]

I asked him that because I thought maybe his post office may have given him an explanation.  I thought maybe he had seen these had been delivered but not to him and his post office may have tracked them down to where ever they were delivered to on the 18th and gotten them back for him.  I did ask that question only after pointing out to him that tracking showed that they had been delivered to somewhere else on the 18th and then to him on the 27th. 

He gave me no explanation but to tell me thay were used and had been laundered and had pilling all over them.  So...I just gave him a refund thinking he understood that they were indeed new when shipped but had been missing in action somewhere else for 9 days and anything could have happened to them in that time if someone else had them.

In hindsight now I see I should have asked for the return and paid the return shipping.  He recently had left a positive for another seller of the same type of item saying they fit too tight and that was for a pair of socks in lg/x lg size.  The socks he bought from me were med. size.  Maybe it was a size issue.  Too late now though.

[llllady]

Can't help but wonder if two things worked against you on this one.

Unfortunately, you can't do much about what happened with the delivery.  The second thing that he may have used in his favor to gain a pair of free socks is the statement in the listing that starts: "I CLEAN ALL ITEMS BEFORE SHIPPING."

Have you considered changing the wording in that sentence to insert the word USED after the word ALL?