"Item Not Recieved" scam
I sold a MacBook Pro to a buyer in early March. He paid on the 9th, it was delivered on the 11th. Over a month later I received notice that he had started an Item Not Received claim against me. He claimed he didn’t receive the computer even though USPS tracking confirms it was delivered to an individual at the buyer’s address, a business. Because I could not provide the signature eBay required I had to refund the total amount to the buyer, my payment plus eBay’s cut. So now he has my computer for free and I had to pay $150.
This is very frustrateing because I used eBay’s label service and I am certain I checked the boxes for both signature and full value insurance. I asked eBay to bring up the page where I made those selections to verify my intent but they never indicated they had even tried. I contacted the business owner next door to the buyer’s address and he maintained that he has only seen one individual working there - it is essentially a one-person shop. I feel I am the victim of a scam yet there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it. I am especially perturbed that, since I was using eBay’s label page and the value of my item was over $750 (which requires a signature be collected), that the signature requirement was not automatically added.
I doubt I have any recourse whatsoever, so I am mostly venting. But I want to warn everyone using eBay’s label feature to double and triple check that the signature box is checked before printing the label. As for myself I don’t plan to sell anything of more than minimal value on eBay again.
7 comments
onlinecentral
·1 year agoThe create labels screen is the only screen that does not have eBay stuff along the top and bottom.
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Maybe it is, in reality, a USPS screen. The USPS software might not consider at the dollar value of the merchandise and not automatically check the Signature Required checkbox for over $750 dollars. That enables sellers to forget to check the box.
Sorry for your loss.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoI write all my addresses by hand and cross check them in my inbox of my general emails.
No shipping labels used here.
The addresses can be wrong sometimes where an apartment number is with the street address or as well as other errors.
Then there is a buyer name with a company together on the same line.
The errors are endless.
International addresses...I see the province before the city vs. it being the other way around.
Imagine an address Paris, IL and if you don't have IL your package goes to Paris, France...LOL
We have too many cities in the USA which have the name as other cities in other countries.
We tend to use only two or three letters for a state...not good.
gurlcat
·1 year agoBut you get tons of 'return to sender' whereas most of us using labels rarely or never get those. Maybe the buyers actually do know their addresses better than you do? And if you use eBay's shipping labels they can't say it was your mistake.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoI google addresses of 'return to sender' returns...most are not real addresses...one was an alley, another a car wash, a valley between 2 hills, and so on.
I explained in the past about some who might be buying cheapo stamps from me to see if those people can buy something with a stolen credit card(s).
If I was making an error why don't buyers ask for a refund or where is my item?
I end up with my item(s) back plus the profit.
I also have a lot more sales every month than some buyers who sell maybe 10 or so items.
Wouldn't a buyer want a refund for item(s) not received?...'get tons of "return to sender"...
'can't say it was your mistake'...who exactly?...not the buyer(s) since they don't contact me.
Posts here comments...there are a lot about 'items not receive'....every hour on the hour here...LOL
gurlcat
·1 year agoFor what it's worth, I used to buy vaping device filters from a website that required an added shipping charge for Adult Signature for every item they sold, whether it contained nicotine or wasn't even made specifically for vaping devices (like 18650 batteries for example). And they even charged a buck MORE than what I knew USPS to charge for required signature add-on. So this company literally profited off it.
The kicker: no USPS carrier ever knocked on my door to get my signature, just plopped the package into my mailbox every time.
I love the USPS, lord knows I do, but I have heard SO MANY stories of them not doing required signatures. The fact that it's a PAID add-on feature makes it particularly unacceptable.
bdmh-enterprises
·1 year agoNo, the sig conf isn't automatically checked even when required. I'm pretty sure that if you paid for the sig conf then the carrier is forced to put a signature to scan it delivered (even if it's forged by themselves).
That said, it seems pretty messed up that not having the sig would lose a "delivered" INR claim. Hopefully someone with experience with this kind of thing can offer some help.
gone.c-33
·1 year agoIt’s been SOP for at least 10 years to have signature confirmation to be protected against claims of non delivery for items over $750.