purchase marked delivered but not to my address

so as the title suggests .. my purchase was marked as "delivered" by fed ex (ugh) ... no such package arrived ..

contacted seller who suggested to look around outside the house, check with neighbors, etc .. which i had already done .. still no package to be found ..

get the delivery picture from fed ex - definitely NOT my house .. not my neighbors house ... nor does it belong to anyone on my road (I live in a very rural area)

any suggestions on getting my money back ??

whimsyonthewinetrail

388 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

13 comments

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3111 View listings

@whimsyonthewinetrail,

The Fake tracking scam is used for both inexpensive and expensive items. While FedEx has their faults if you call them and give them your address and ask if it matches the one on the shipping label they should tell you yes or no. They can not tell you what the label address is so do not ask for it. Signing up for the enhanced tracking info as I suggested, can let you know if you are getting packages from the shipping agencies or not, and that info can be used in these cases. No notification of a delivery on a day a delivered scan is given, means it was not addressed to you.

whimsyonthewinetrail

OP1 year ago

388 View listings

we did get a delivery notification .... just not the package ðŸ™‚

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3111 View listings

@whimsyonthewinetrail wrote:
we did get a delivery notification .... just not the package ðŸ™‚

@whimsyonthewinetrail,

when I wrote "Signing up for the enhanced tracking info as I suggested, can let you know if you are getting packages from the shipping agencies or not, and that info can be used in these cases. No notification of a delivery on a day a delivered scan is given, means it was not addressed to you".

It means that if you sign up for the enhanced services and do not get a message from one of the enhanced tracking services saying a package is on its way or out for delivery. There was no package addressed to you. You will only receive messages from those services when a package is addressed to you. That is the info can be used as proof of delivery elsewhere.

You will see tracking info for the number you were given if you look it up through a shipper's site or through ebay, but no proof of what the delivery address is.

whimsyonthewinetrail

OP1 year ago

388 View listings

thank you all for your responses ...

i don't believe this is a fake tracking number scam .. the purchase is a relatively inexpensive phone case.

We have purchased from this seller a few times with no problems ...

i truly believe this was a fed ex error ... we have issues with every fed ex delivery - i cringe every time i know fed ex is involved with any purchase i make.

this was purchased on my husband's account and i do not have access to his purchase history (my choice lol) so don't have the item number ...

once i get the info from him i will contact fed ex / ebay as suggested

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3111 View listings

@whimsyonthewinetrail,

"get the delivery picture from fed ex - definitely NOT my house .. not my neighbors house ... nor does it belong to anyone on my road (I live in a very rural area)"

Since you have the photo of the delivery address from FedEx, take screen shot of that info w/ the tracking number and save it. If you can try clicking on the Fedex photo to see if you can get a larger image of it.

Then take another screenshot of your Order details and save it as well. Then use one of the social media links provided by @eburtonlab write out what has happened saying you have been the victim of a fake tracking number scam, and add the two screen shots, and the photo if you can get it separately, as attachments, then tell the rep to do a street level Google map search of your address and compare it to the FedEx photo.

The social media reps know about the Fake Tracking scam, and as actual ebay employees they have the power to issue a refund. As soon as you get the message saying a refund has been approved, leave the seller a negative but only state that the seller shipped the item to the wrong address, and wouldn't help you. Do Not mention getting ebay's help or call the seller names.

For possible future use, I suggest that you sign up for the Free enhanced tracking services available from USPS Informed Delivery, FedEx Delivery Manager and UPS My Choice. They all have info in their messages that can be used to deal with a Fake tracking scam. Also since most of this type scam are pulled by China based sellers check each seller's feedback profile page before buying from one. If you reply giving us the ebay item number of the order, we can tell you if the seller is likely china based or not.

simba6

·1 year ago

2315 View listings

Do NOT file an item not received case, you will LOSE as it says delivered. If this is the fake tracking number scam you must file an item not as described case. Search these board for the fake tracking number scam if you don't already know of it.

pikabo-icu

·1 year ago

926 View listings

@whimsyonthewinetrail

What does the seller's FB look like?

Do you care to share the item number?

There are steps if it's a scam, fake tracking number issue but it could be something else.

titipeo

·1 year ago

714 View listings

Call FX and ask i the packaged delivered to your address, this could be a fake tracking scam, where s small item was shipped to different address but same zip code. Google Fake tracking scam for info on how to solve this. If it was delivered to your address, it was porch pirates, and you are SOL.

eburtonlab

·1 year ago

5545 View listings

If tracking shows delivery, but nothing arrives, contact the shipping service to determine if the tracking corresponds to a delivery to your address.

If you can obtain hard copy documentation that the tracking does not correspond to a delivery to your address, contact eBay via social media and explain that you have a case of "false tracking" and you should be given the opportunity to provide your documentation to eBay via direct message. This is different than the usual "item not received" case which is handled automatically and which allows the seller to win by providing tracking that shows delivery.

https://x.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/ebay

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

You can avoid many issues entirely by choosing to only do business with experienced sellers that have a proven track record of delivering similar items as seen by examining the seller's feedback page, and by avoiding inexperienced sellers, sellers with patterns of negative feedback indicating serious problems, or sellers with large gaps in the selling history or recent drastic changes of seller behavior.

roccotacodad54

·1 year ago

432 View listings

I hate to disagree with responding to a false tracking scam by going to all the bother of getting written proof from the delivery service and contacting reps on social media is still getting bent over.

An 'item not as described' case is the way to go. It was described that one would get what one ordered sent to the correct address. It wasn't so...

The item not being delivered to the correct address isn't what was described.

To those saying "that isn't the way you're supposed to do it". Well the seller didn't do it the way they were supposed to....................

Sorry Eburton. In a fake tracking scam a buyer has no duty to play by the rules. It just doesn't cut the mustard in my world....

glorybells

·1 year ago

1474 View listings

Sorry, @roccotacodad54 , I strenuously disagree. The advice from @eburtonlab and @mudshark61369 was correct. In an INAD case, the buyer is supposed to return the item to the seller, but with the fake tracking scam, they have nothing to return.

roccotacodad54

·1 year ago

432 View listings

They just return what they received...nothing, empty box. Or one could send something they no longer want I guess.

To expect the victim of a false tracking scam to burn their gas, spend their time and jump through hoops to be made whole is just wrong.

One would probably never get the return label anyway if the scammer figures out what is happening, which they probably would and perhaps just refund as to not have to deal with it. Especially if the return label was to some far off land known for such scams and they would have to send funds instead to cover the cost of shipping.

Just my take on it. I despise thieves and would latch onto a scam like that like a bull dog on a meat truck. Almost anything is justified when dealing with the likes of thieves. They deserve what they get.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

but with the fake tracking scam, they have nothing to return.

@glorybells

While that is true there is no physical product, they just return what they got.....SOME AIR. I understand that many people do not like this option, but it is one that works. Basically, it is just beating the crook and the eBay denial bots at their own game.

This same scam can be traced back 15 years now in these forums. eBay still has no public facing policy or procedure on how to deal with this if you are a victim. Many buyers that come here for the first don't even know they are likely a victim of a scam. The Money Back Guarantee becomes a sham. If a victim does not happen to show up here and learn that they do have some options, and how important it is to dump the idea of INR, they will never know.

For years eBay would require a WRITTEN DOCUMENT from the carrier as evidence knowing full well that it was impossible to obtain. The carriers did their job and delivered to the address on the label. You would be lucky to get an email saying the parcel was not addressed to you, but eBay didn't accept emails. Though the agents that handle this through the social media platforms presently seem to be not so strict in the requirements and will actually look to see a parcel was shipped before the buyer even paid. If this is not the seller's first rodeo with the fake tracking scam, the social media reps may issue a refund to the buyer on the spot.

PayPal made a special claim choice "Shipped to wrong address", but a buyer intent on INR (which I think is also first in the dropdown) will likely miss out. INR filed as a credit card chargeback won't work either, since eBay will respond with the same phony delivery confirmation.

While it may be easy to make a value judgement when WE ARE NOT THE ONE BEING VICTIMIZED, I have witnessed years of people being victimized by this scam and simply get thrown under the bus by the venue.

For your reading pleasure:

Jan. 2025

Feb. 2025

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/DHL-Messing-up-shipping-or-a-scam/m-p/34918930#M513039
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-shipped-to-wrong-address/m-p/34918657#M513034
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Tracking-Scam-how-do-I-prepare/m-p/34920656#M513092
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-scamming-me/m-p/34954964#M514849
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-just-got-scammed-and-I-don-t-know-how-to-proceed/m-p/34955823#M514900

March 2025

April 2025

May 2025

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/How-exactly-to-beat-the-fake-tracking-number-scam/m-p/35069031#M520661
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/New-Scam-by-sellers-that-eBay-refuses-to-honor-buyer-protection/m-p/35071532#M520842
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/USPS-lost-items-and-gave-me-proof/m-p/35072152#M520890
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Some-Sellers-Post-False-Tracking-Numbers-And-Get-Away-With-It/m-p/35069517#M520687