eBay

shiraikimiaki · ‎01-25-2020

I shipped an item as normal, and have never encountered this issue before. The tracking says that the package was "forwarded" in the buyer's city. It has been a week and the buyer still says they have not received the item.

Asked the buyer to check with their local post office, and they told me that they didn't know where it is either.

So this is the predicament, now the buyer wants a refund. Why would a package be marked as forwarded? I feel like there's nothing much else I can do except wait for them to open up an item not received case and hope that eBay doesn't screw me over...

orangehound · ‎01-25-2020

@shiraikimiaki wrote:
Why would a package be marked as forwarded?

There are a few reasons:

The most common is that there is a forwarding order in the USPS system, and the package was legitimately forwarded according to that order.
Sometimes a postal worker makes a mistake and applies the forward order of a different address/recipient to the package.
Sometimes a postal worker scans the package with the wrong setting on their scanner.

This is where customer service now comes into play. You can call up the local post office where the package was forwarded from and ask to speak to the postmaster. Tell them the situation with the tracking and details of the address, and ask if they could look into what happened. They can't tell you the address where it might have been forwarded to, but they can tell you if it was forwarded properly or if the forwarding was a mistake. You might have to call several times.

shiraikimiaki · ‎01-25-2020

Thanks for the info. Tried calling today but got an automated response, and they never returned my call. Gonna try again Monday.

lja440 · ‎01-26-2020

I'm a mail carrier.

When a person puts in a COA it usually takes about 10 days to 2 weeks for mail to make it through the COA system. A letter is sent to the old address in the persons name and with the 'or current resident' notation. This gives a heads up in case someone is diverting a persons mail. (it does happen).

After that if no one challenged the COA, it takes around 5 business days to be delivered to the new address.

So give this information to the buyer and let them know they should wait awhile before panicking. Also suggest that they change their eBay and PayPal to reflect their correct current address.

lja440 · ‎01-26-2020

@shiraikimiaki wrote:
Thanks for the info. Tried calling today but got an automated response, and they never returned my call. Gonna try again Monday.

Best times to call is after 9 and before 3. Before 9 they are getting the days mail out and after 3 the window gets busy and the carriers are returning with outgoing mail to get ready for dispatch.