Buyer wants a refund because USPS is late in delivering a package
I sold an item that shipped from NJ to Los Angeles, Ca. It was sent by USPS select ground exactly as stated on the sale. USPS estimated delivery date was May 1st and it hasn't arrived as today. I used an eBay label with signature required. The package is in Los Angeles at the distribution center and in transit. Last update on May 3 was moving through network arriving late. It departed the NJ post office on April 26th. I shipped the very next day after purchase which was at night. As eBay already released the funds to my bank several days ago they are now taking the funds back until delivery because seller requested a refund. The package isn't lost. These delays are widespread and especially in Los Angeles where it's my understanding they are lacking manpower.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoIf you are going to continue to sell on eBay and utilize USPS it would probably be a good idea to open an account with USPS in case you need to file a claim(s). You can do that at the following.
https://reg.usps.com/entreg/RegistrationAction_input
winterpalace25
·3 years agoI have found that when you open a lost package case with USPS, it kicks it into gear.
the_fancy_fox
·3 years agoIf the buyer has requested a refund and the item hasn’t moved in 6 days I would recall it and as soon as I saw it on the way back to me I would refund.
I’ve had packages get stuck before and what I do depends on my buyer. I keep contact with them so they know I am involved.
miyasamaco
·3 years agoUSPS ground is usually the slowest shipping option and right now there are USPS workers on the picket line in some areas, so delays are to be expected.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoAnd lucky us, in July FCP becomes Ground Advantage. What advantage? Higher pricing and slower service?
traditonalproducts
·3 years agoSorry for your dilemma. Shipping USPS select ground is a risk. This shipment is not sent out by itself. It will go to a holding facility and then will be shipped with other select ground shipments thus the cheaper price and longer delivery. I only use select ground within my region since the delivery is the same as everything else. Outside my region who knows when it will arrive. Maybe you can get the shipment back. I would contact USPS now and get that answer before issuing a refund. Good luck out there.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoPriority mail would have been $70. It would have been almost impossible to sell if I wanted the buyer to pay for it. So now the latest update is no movement since May 4th it is now 7 days past the delivery date. What I want to know is at what point will eBay require a refund. Is it 10 days past the day of no update. The May 4th last update is from the USPS site not eBay.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoPriority mail would have been $70. It would have been almost impossible to sell if I wanted the buyer to pay for it.
Sometimes the cheapest service is the most expensive.
trbl13
·3 years agoI would Always Ship items via USPS PRIORITY INSURED MAIL if at all possible...
SELECT GROUND MAIL is always SLOW..especially going across the country...
and it gets NO RESPECT from the USPS...I have learned that the hard way...
If I ever Have to Ship via Ground Mail..I Warn my Buyer that the package will probably Take a Long
Time to Arrive...and to Please be Patient.
spark-chaser1
·3 years agoSpeaking as a long-time buyer:
The buyer CAN open a package research case with USPS. I've done it on several occasions, in none of those cases had the seller done so. And I only did that when my packages showed NO movement after a week and-a-half or more.
I'm sorry that your buyer has no patience. When I have items pass the EDD but I can still see them moving, I give it right up to the deadline of the MBG. Easier than having to re-pay for an item that finally shows up, albeit late.
sextons-sweet-deals
·3 years agoDO NOT REFUND YET!
you shipped with signature required, correct?
what does the USPS website show on tracking? Don't rely on eBay shipping status.
inhawaii
·3 years agoI hope you responded to the INR case and uploaded the tracking number.
Even though "ebay already has it" you still MUST upload the tracking number to the case.
Doing this will buy you some time.
Even if the estimated delivery date has passed, if the tracking shows recent movement, ebay will often make the buyer wait a few more days.
As far as partial refund for being late. Well, that's up to you. It's not required.
Either the buyer wins the INR case and get a full refund -or- loses the INR case and gets nothing (but the item).
P.S.
If the buyer receives the item and loses the INR case, they can still file a INAD (item not as described) case and request a return/refund. I hope that doesn't happen.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoAll parties have the tracking number. I had a similar case as a buyer. I bought a watch cap or Winter beanie. It was inexpensive. Only around $15. the seller sent it USPS with tracking. It was two weeks past the delivery date and the seller refunded me. He told me if the cap ever arrived just keep it and was sorry over the delay. In this situation the item was $325. That is a lot of money and it is a collectable. If I had it professionally photographed and more professional ad copy I probably could have gotten $450. For me to refund the money and the buyer to eventually receive item would put me in a bad spot. Sure he would probably lose his eBay account if I showed proof of signature but it's not a big deal. He could just use a relative or friends eBay account as he only has a few transactions. This would be a case where eBay would request the buyer to pay for the item again. But as you said he could file an INAD and then I would have to pay to have shipped back. In so many of these situations the package is eventually found at the post office and it arrives albeit late. Maybe weeks later. I never have had a lost package. The cap eventually was delivered and I offered to return the money back to seller but he said just keep it. With hundreds of transactions over the years both buying and selling they always resolve themselves. Even with UPS I have had parcels arrive several days late. They are much too expensive to use anymore. I think of the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks where at the beginning he is in the USSR setting up a FedEx hub and how he sends a timer to himself and how it arrived late. He implores the employees that packages have to be delivered on time every time. That movie came out in 2000. Things have sure changed since then. There is only one reliable company, Amazon. They employ their own drivers and trucks. I marvel at their efficiency. I wish Jeff Bezos would buy USPS.
lonebuck-books
·3 years agoNo, just no. Jeff Bezos should buy an island and just go away.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoI just logged into eBay and this is strange. The tracking now says May 4 5:46pm Package Research Case Van Nuys, California created which is the buyer's final destination. This is on the eBay site tracking. On the USPS website when I entered the tracking number it says May 4 Moving Through Network Arriving Late. I didn't request the USPS to research case. Did eBay do this. I don't believe the buyer can. USPS never does this on their own. I have shipped many parcels that were late moving through network and many days longer than this. I'm not complaining but normally you have to wait 2 weeks after the expected delivery before USPS will process a loss package request. As a matter of fact I went to my local post office where I ship items from when I had a Priority Mail parcel days late. All the postmaster did was go to his terminal and said he had the same information I did and gave me the phone number of the final destination post office and told me to call them. Pretty useless because USPS rarely answers phone calls. Eventually the packaged arrived.
Advising me to send by Priority Mail which I do when parcels will fit in the particular box wouldn't have helped me here. That is the ludicrous status of Priority Mail. The USPS agents themselves at the Post Office I used told me Priority Mail is no guarantee on the delivery date. That was the old days when they actually delivered on alleged guarantee date. After COVID everything changed.
In this situation because it was a larger parcel that required a bigger box the Priority Mail price would have been around $70.
spreadlovelikefire
·3 years agoThe buyer can open a package research case. In the future it would be wise for you, as the seller, to open one immediately when something like this happens. It reflects to the buyer that you are on top of it and doing everything you can to get the package moving. It takes like 3 minutes to open one up online.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoI wasn't even aware of that. I'm not a professional seller. Just sell items I have around my home occasionally. Only once did I go to the post office and filed a lost item and that was on the registered envelope that I sent to an estate attorney. I wouldn't even know how to open a package research case. I have never seen where that is on eBay. I have also never seen it on the USPS site. Only a lost package tracer and you can't do that after only 3 days late. The seller just sent me message late yesterday afternoon or evening about the package being late. I'm not on eBay every 5 minutes. I check the status of the delivery twice a day to see if USPS has posted any updates. The buyer didn't give me a chance to respond. He contacted eBay about getting a refund. Several weeks ago I sent a parcel to a buyer. I saw that the package was at the post office several miles from his home in Pennsylvania. Somehow the package was delivered to a post office in Rhode Island the next day. Then it was in Massachusetts. It was there for a couple of days. I contacted the buyer as soon as I saw the package was in Rhode Island profusely apologizing to him. I actually messaged him everyday. It got to him a week late. In this case the buyer knows the package is in Los Angeles. The distribution center is 25 miles from the final destination in Van Nuys. The center is 1.1 million square feet. They handle 1/2 million parcels per day and have 2000 trucks. Just staggering!
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoUSPS agents themselves at the Post Office I used told me Priority Mail is no guarantee on the delivery date. That was the old days when they actually delivered on alleged guarantee date
-------------------------------------------
To the best of my knowledge that has always been the case with and USPS mail other than "Express".
Priority, even back in the day when they touted, 2 pounds, 2 days, $2.90 for a "flat rate" envelope, it was an estimate.
Hoping this works out for you, and that your package moves, gets delivered soon, and eBay closes the INR.
fashunu4eeuh
·3 years agoConsider using Priority Mail, in particular for pricier items.
chpgts
·3 years agoHello,
This is in the latest Ebay announcement how protections are in place to protect the seller:
So if you:
caldreamer
·3 years agoIf customer to opened case "did not receive item" you will be forced to give full refund unless you can provide tracking# proving item was delivered (before the deadline).
EBAY policy stinks because when your item gets delivered at a later date "you will never be paid". This policy allows customers to get item "for free" if delivery is delayed.
yuzuha
·3 years agoThis is not true. If the tracking has shown movement within the past ten days, the case will automatically be extended to give the package a chance to be delivered, but you HAVE to respond to the case by uploading the tracking number.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoOnce again eBay has the tracking number. It was their label. I sent it to them again even though they can see it and they have all the shipping details since it was shipped on the 26th of April.
kensgiftshop
·3 years agoYes, they have the tracking number but not the department that needs it now.
Respond to the case and enter the tracking number.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoYes they have the information but they insist the seller jump through hoops inorder to protect their rights. So give them the tracking # again. Remember, ebay let's buys item not received cases even though the item was delivered and even the Ebay system says DELIVERED! To the poster, respond to the case and make sure you fill in the correct tracking #.
chpgts
·3 years agoThis is in the latest Ebay announcement how protections are in place to protect the seller:
So if you:
jokeman84
OP3 years agoSo what is my recourse if the customer signs for the parcel because I paid for signature required. I have no problem if eBay holds the money until the package is delivered. What are sellers supposed to do. Block bidders and buyers in California. If someone purchases an item who lives in Los Angeles should you just cancel the sale because you are on the hook because of delays. I sent the package promptly.
lonebuck-books
·3 years agoIf you do what people have already told you to do, you will be fine. You bought the label through eBay and the tracking was uploaded in time. If USPS shows it has moved in the last 10 days, they don't consider it lost and ebay doesn't either. Just reply to the claim, make sure to include the tracking number and just wait it out. No need to cancel orders from CA. That will do more damage to your metrics than dealing with this small hiccup.
On a side note, if you have a long track record of fast shipping you are actually penalized because eBay calculates shipping times partially on your shipping history. So if you list with parcel select, the buyer choses it but you decide to ship priority (I do that a lot) because it is essentially the same price, the buyers are thrilled that they get their package a few days earlier than expected but eBay also puts that into their shipping speed calculation so those times when you actually do need to use parcel select as the buyer ordered, you can run into this problem. You would think that eBay could figure this out but no, they have found a way to penalize good service.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoSo what is my recourse if the customer signs for the parcel because I paid for signature required.
Do you mean if they sign AFTER being refunded?
First,we are fairly sure that by showing the parcel is moving that they will not win the case
If they do not sign, effectively refusing the parcel, it becomes Undeliverable,and eBay does not require the seller to refund anything.
But if they are refunded and still sign, you could appeal to eBay through social media (avoid the phones, the social media have transcripts keeping them honest.) And then cross all your fingers and toes.
dnasilver
·3 years agoWhat deadline?
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoWhen you do that, be sure to put the tracking information into your reply, even though eBay already has it.
Just do it.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoI did. I sent the information to eBay again even though they already have it. It's their label. In addition the buyer has it too. He knows it delayed in transit. As I said the package is Los Angeles and the buyer lives in Los Angeles. This is what USPS has become. I sent a car title to an executor of an estate 20 miles from my home in NJ to Philadelphia by registered mail several months ago. It took almost 3 weeks to be delivered. It should have arrived in 24 hours. It was sitting in the Philadelphia distribution center for weeks.
dhbookds
·3 years agoI presume you mean buyer has filed an item Not Received case........ I would call ebay and request an extenuation of the time period for delivery since it is still moving in the system.
Do reply to the case in some manner.......with the tracking number at the least. If you just ignore it and hope the item makes it there......the buyer may be able to escalate the case which would be then found against you ....since you did not respond.
dirk12955
·3 years agoWhat was the supposed delivery date provided by ebay. Is the package actually late?
Never mind, I see they opened a case. Maybe try to put an intercept with USPS.
jokeman84
OP3 years agoUSPS doesn't consider a package lost because it is 3 days late. Not only are extensive delays in Los Angeles this is happening in the whole country.
dirk12955
·3 years agoThe fact that LA has USPS issues does not help you at all. Follow the above advice and respond to
the case and add the tracking info. Then take a breath and step back. Maybe he'll get the package today
or tomorrow and you'll be off the hook. You have a window of time between when the case was filed and
zero hour.
You've made many, many purchases on ebay. What would you think in this case, if you were the buyer?