Shipping a high value item, but there's an error with the postcode.....
Oh what to do!
A buyer has placed an order for a high value item, but the postcode is incorrect.
It may be an innocent mistake on the part of the buyer, but I'm meant to ship the item today and the postcode is for a different address entirely. I've been trying to contact the buyer via ebay messages for four days, with no response.
The buyer has 100% positive feedback but only a handful of feedback. The shipping address also appears to be to a B&B / guesthouse. I know not to make any changes to the delivery address, but I'm worried if I ship to the address they have provided, the high value item may get lost in the post and I don't have enough faith in postal insurance that I would be covered.
Ebay is telling me to ship the item to the incorrect address, but this feels risky to me.... I'd rather cancel the order and ask the buyer to re-order with the correct address.
Will I get penalised if I do this?
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoSounds like the buyer doesn't know their address while staying at a B&B guesthouse. And wonder if buyer is listed as an address to received packages there. Need to touch bases with buyer before anything. I probably wouldn't mail it to the buyer...just my own opinion..."high value item".
monica-sells
·2 years agoI do have 2 questions....How did you determine the postcode is incorrect?
(what is a postcode?)
and secondly, it "appears" to be a B&B?
So, I am a live-in owner of a B&B and I am suspicious?
I noticed if you are sending to the US, it is the GSP through ebay...
You are pretty well protected with that program, no?
lacemaker3
·2 years ago@monica-sells,
The OP is in the UK. A postal code or post code is a code similar to a zip code (which is a specific term for the same thing, that applies specifically to addresses in the USA). Since they used the UK term for it, I would assume that the package is not being sent to the USA.
If the post code is incorrect, that is more than enough reason to cancel with "problem with buyer's address". Most sellers would do the same if there was a similar problem with a zip code not matching the rest of the address.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoBy "postcode" I assume the OP is referring to the zip code in the US. Guess it's called post code in the UK.
Don't know how the OP determined that it was incorrect, but if I needed to know or to check a zip code, I would contact the USPS, or maybe there is a way to do it on line. And probably a way to check it in the UK also.
It's now called EIS (eBay International Shipping) and, yes, the seller would be protected if he sent to that address. But this seller hasn't mentioned that, and, in fact, if the seller is in the UK and is shipping to a buyer also in the UK, there would be no reason to use theEIS or any other re-shipper, would there?
a_c_green
·2 years agoYes, and it's even more specific (thanks to using letters as well as numbers for Post Codes). Just now I typed in my aunt's Post Code into Google, nothing else except the Post Code, and Google took me right to her house and her next-door neighbor's house in St Albans, just northwest of London.
So it's pretty easy to verify a Post Code. Alternatively, type in the British address with no Post Code at all, and get the right one provided to you in return.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoYes, but delivery scan has to scan to the postal code (zipcode) provided, if the OP puts in the correct code and it's not what the buyer provided, the bot checking the INR might rule in the buyer's favour.
For a wrong postal code, the OP has cause to be concerned. I had a similar issue where the delivery scan happened at the postal facility before delivery, and eBay told me the bot would rule in the buyer's favour in the INR because the postal code was entirely different than what the buyer provided (which makes it look like a wrong delivery). Canada post was zero help, and although the buyer filed an INR (which I granted to avoid the defect) the buyer did not cooperate with the postal investigation that would grant me my insurance claim.
And I'm in Canada (as was this buyer), so saying postal code in this case was correct.
with US shipments, I go with whatever the buyer provides. Sometimes chit Chats (my shipper) gives me a different zipcode on my shipment and tells me what I have is wrong. I ignore because if the ebay label prints, that's what I go with, I don't make changes.
C.
janet9988
·2 years agoThe UK still uses GSP.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoBy "postcode" I assume the OP is referring to the zip code in the US. Guess it's called post code in the UK.
Don't know how the OP determined that it was incorrect, but if I needed to know or to check a zip code, I would contact the USPS, or maybe there is a way to do it on line. And probably a way to check it in the UK also.
If the seller has the buyers city and state it's pretty simple to google the zip code. I purchase my labels off Pirate Ship and it has the zip codes connected to the cities and states so it is possible eBay does not have that validation. Not sure OP has never come back with any details. Happens a LOT.
It's now called EIS (eBay International Shipping) and, yes, the seller would be protected if he sent to that address. But this seller hasn't mentioned that, and, in fact, if the seller is in the UK and is shipping to a buyer also in the UK, there would be no reason to use theEIS or any other re-shipper, would there?
To the best of my knowledge EIS is not available to sellers in the UK or any other foreign country at the moment.
marnotom!
·2 years agoJust for the record, @dbfolks166mt, UK sellers still have access to the UK version of ye olde Global Shipping Program(me).
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoJust for the record, @dbfolks166mt, UK sellers still have access to the UK version of ye olde Global Shipping Program(me).
That I was already aware of as others have mentioned. But several others mentioned EIS which the UK does not have access to.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoAgain, somewhere here I got the impression that the OP (seller), who is located in the UK, is questioning the shipping address for a buyer, who's also in the UK. Why would he need to use the EIS or GSP or any similar method?
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoAgain, somewhere here I got the impression that the OP (seller), who is located in the UK, is questioning the shipping address for a buyer, who's also in the UK. Why would he need to use the EIS or GSP or any similar method?
Like a lot of postings on this forum the OP never provided some of the critical details so about all you can do is guess and try to cover as many scenario's as possible. OP returned once but has been silent since so I am guessing they did whatever they felt was appropriate.
jerseyboymusic
·2 years agoDon't go with "customer disservice" reps. Cancel citing "problem with buyers address" and relist. Ask the buyer if they still want it to purchase using correct address
soh.maryl
·2 years agoWhy not cancel for now until you're able to contact the buyer?
If you use "problem with address" as your reason for cancellation, you shouldn't get a "ding".
And continue to work on contacting the buyer.
silverthorne
OP2 years agoThat was what I had planned to do, but I'm confused why ebay CS told me to ship the item. It just doesn't feel right shipping something high value, to a address I know to be incorrect from the outset. In theory it should be returned to sender in such an instance, but the longer and item stays in the mail system, or the more complex it's journey, the more chance of getting lost.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoIt's a fairly well known fact on eBay that the CS reps you contact here will tell you just about anything to get you off the phone. You might want to keep that in mind.
broto_64
·2 years agoPlease don't tell me that it was you who deduced the post code was incorrect...
Does ebay allow you to purchase and print the label without error?
If so just purchase and print it, stick it and send it out.
If ebay tells you there is an error then you should be able to cancel for that reason.