Buyer cliaming received different item, which I didn't have.
I sold a 10-volume book set, which was more than 10 lbs. Now the buyer claimed that they received the wrong item, and said they received a bottle of Lifecell anti-aging supplement.
1. I do not sell any supplement, and I don't have any of these.
2. The set of books is pretty big, and the package shows I paid Ground Advantage Cubic 0.60. I wouldn't pay that much for a small bottle of supplements that would weigh only a few ounces.
From the picture they sent me of the package, it does not look it's tampered with.
Now they are returning it, and I just received confirmation of returning. I am afraid that I would received that supplement, or something totally different.
I don't know what to do, and how to responding them. Help is appreciated.
16 comments
irishmichael4585
·2 years agoSince you shipped USPS file a criminal complaint with the Postal Inspector for mail fraud. See if the jerk still tries to claim nonreceipt.
dreambooks
OP2 years agoI am doubtful that USPS will do any actual work.
Here is my communications with the buyer. They sent me about 10 messages while filing a return request. I only replied with one message (the form letter from ittybitnot). Notice that I never mentioned refund, but see their reply.
CUSTOMER:
Hello, I received the wrong item…
MY REPLY:
Dear buyer,
I am so sorry to hear that the ten book set did not arrive to you and was replaced with some supplement. I know this is very disappointing and I will do everything I can to help you recover the set that you purchased. The only thing I can think is that the contents got mixed up in transit. Since I have your name and address I will start by filing a missing /rifled/stolen mail report with USPS, as well as a case with the US Postal Inspectors on your behalf. Do you have a daytime phone contact number for me to include with the reports? It is not necessary, but may help to speed up the process.
It usually takes only 24 hours to receive a case number from the Postal Inspectors, and I will certainly forward it to you so you can be kept informed of the progress on a daily basis. Again, sorry for the inconvenience, and hope your book set can be recovered soon.
Sincerely,
Yours
dreambook
CUSTOMER:
I didn’t want a refund I just wanted the books please. Is this possible?
carolynnq
·2 years agoThe tracking shows that package was sent May 17 (and that's also what the label shows) and that it was delivered July 3. That's 6 weeks. It reached the
MEMPHIS MAIL PROCESSING ANNEX
May 18, 2024, 1:24 pm
and didn't have another scan until June 30.
It's possible that this USPS delivery delay could have led to some confusion on the part of the customer.
mike_jayroe
·2 years agoMemphis, again? They held up two of my packages for weeks a long time ago (2022 or 2023) and I refunded both orders. Then days later the packages got delivered.
dreambooks
OP2 years agoI am 1 hour from Memphis, and all of my packages go through Memphis. It is a nightmare here, especial during the Covid period. It's unusaul this customer did not complain before it finally arrived
dreambooks
OP2 years agoIt's possible. I sent a message asking to double check with whoever was receiving packages.
r_lresale
·2 years agoThat product is a mail order company in california called South Beach Skincare. It almost reminds me of a MLM.
ittybitnot
·2 years ago@dreambooks
It is very unfortunate that we can no longer see what a buyer purchases. In the days that we could it was a simple matter to point out that the 'supplements' were purchased from xxxxx on xxxxx date, and that is not you. A friendly reminder to the buyer, and a message to customer service would typically take care of the issue.
Not any more. The system is less transparent and automated. Whatever the buyer says is taken as fact the minute they choose a not as described reason from the dropdown menu when filing the claim. At that point, the item becomes whatever the buyer says, even if it not what they purchased from you. Nobody will look, eBay customer service can no longer intervene, and the case rolls forward with the very predictable outcome of the buyer getting a refund no matter what they send back. It is part of doing business on eBay.
Over the years that I sold here I had some of these as well. This is what I did, and it worked out real well.
Dear buyer,
I am so sorry to hear that the ten book set did not arrive to you and was replaced with (insert product here). I know this is very disappointing and I will do everything I can to help you recover the set that you purchased. The only thing I can think is that the contents got mixed up in transit. Since I have your name and address I will start by filing a missing /rifled/stolen mail report with USPS, as well as a case with the US Postal Inspectors on your behalf. Do you have a daytime phone contact number for me to include with the reports? It is not necessary, but may help to speed up the process.
It usually takes only 24 hours to receive a case number from the Postal Inspectors, and I will certainly forward it to you so you can be kept informed of the progress on a daily basis. Again, sorry for the inconvenience, and hope your book set can be recovered soon.
Sincerely,
You
Of course this sort of thing does not work for an out of US or freight forwarder sale, because people in other countries are not concerned with US Feds or law enforcement. When I used this sort of procedure in the past, I only had to actually file with the Postal Inspectors once. The buyers all paid back within a day. Not going to say that this sort of thing will work, but doing nothing and losing the money isn't any fun either. eBay will not help you, but you can help yourself. There are things that you can do, and this is only one of them. Good luck!
dreambooks
OP2 years agoI sent them your form letter, and see what they will say. Thanks.
farmalljr
·2 years agoFalse claim, yes. But until you receive it back, there is no telling if they are scamming you out of the books, or just the shipping.
If you are TRS+ and allowed to deduct money from the refund, you should. But also report the buyer in either event.
dreambooks
OP2 years agoHere are two pictures they sent to me. First one is the package, 2nd one is the item that they claim that they received.
1. Notice that the package is pretty big, 0.60 cubic feet.
2. Notice that item is pretty small and light, picture taken on laptop.
I would probably receive that small item back, which is useless to me.
dreambooks
OP2 years agoPictures they sent to me
dreambooks
OP2 years agoJust look at the 2nd picture. On their laptop screen it shows health related website. So this item was obviously theirs. It's a blatant false claim
farmalljr
·2 years agoEither the buyer is making a false claim to return the books, because they didn't want them and did not want to pay shipping, or you have just been scammed if you receive something different than you sent.
Welcome to selling. This happens sometimes. You'll have to refund the buyer. I would report the buyer to eBay in the least if the send back a scam item. But I would hold NO hope anything will be done about it.
"It's a cost of doing business" are famous words from the CS of this platform. It's your loss, not theirs, so they have little incentive to even care.
inhawaii
·2 years agoWait and see what's returned to you.
My guess is that you wont received the same books back.
You will be able to report the buyer to ebay, but chances are you will still have to refund the buyer.
If you report the buyer, and if the buyer has a history of doing this, hopefully ebay will take some action.
Good luck.
dreambooks
OP2 years agoI remember that the set of books weighed about 15 lbs, and the GA Cubic postage was much cheaper than Media Mail. Since they claimed that they received different item, I would not get back the books.