USPS misdelivered my buyer's order
and I need some advice on what to advise the buyer.
She opened an INR which of course was closed when I uploaded tracking showing delivery.
She contacted her local PO who told her it had been misdelivered to another address by a substitute carrier. Next day the carrier attempted to retrieve the parcel but the folks at that address claimed they didn't have it.
She had also contacted ebay who told her "not to worry, if the USPS won't reimburse you, we will refund you". Which of course was a bald faced CSR lie and when USPS wouldn't or couldn't help her and she called ebay again they (not surprisingly) told her tracking showed delivery and they wouldn't refund.
I've seen threads where the buyer has been refunded either by ebay as a courtesy or by the PO, and just wondering how they achieve this. What steps should I tell her to take?
I feel bad for her,but USPS has admitted they made the mistake and I don't think either of us should be out the $$.
wastingtime101
·3 years agoI helped a few people in that situation where the resident at the address denied having the mis-delivered package when the carrier tried to retrieve it.
Wrote a letter, described the outer packaging material & size, the contents of the package, the date/time it was delivered, the tracking number and the name on the label. Said that USPS checked the GPS coordinates on the delivery scan and confirmed it was delivered to their address. Asked them to turn the item over to the carrier within 48 hours by leaving it in their mailbox. Included contact info in case they'd prefer to have the item picked instead of leaving it in their box for the carrier. Brought that letter to their house and placed it in their mailbox. Gave the carrier a heads up and a physical description of the item that was in the package.
In all cases except one the carrier brought back the item within a day or two.
Your buyer might be willing to try something like that.
iart
·3 years agoPut yourself in the buyer's spot. They went through everything they were supposed to and got nothing in return except a hassle calling USPS, calling eBay, messaging you. All they should have had to do was sit back and wait for their item to arrive, as described.
Yes, you also did what you were supposed to do. But as a seller, you are held to a higher standard. Not just by eBay but by common sense.
Most of your items are priced really cheap. All of them under $25. Refund, thank the buyer for their patience and spend your time putting up more items rather than dwelling on this.
toomuchstuffagain35
OP3 years agoThe sale wasn't on this ID, but it was under $20.
But regardless, I'm not refunding when it wasn't my mistake.
soh.maryl
·3 years agoSo the PO knows it was delivered to the wrong address. Why isn't it the USPS' responsibility to get it back or to compensate the buyer?
m60driver
·3 years agoThe issue is between you and USPS and not between you and the buyer. You must refund the buyer and then deal with USPS, but good luck with that given there was no insurance. Having a carrier lose a package is just an ordinary risk of online retail. If the item is valuable then better to send priority with some insurance, but you don't sell such items and so just take the loss and move on.
dentalsales4u
·3 years ago@m60driver, I totally disagree with you.
I would not refund. I shipped to the requested address and it shows delivered.
It's not the sellers fault that USPS misdelivered the package.
That's between the PO and buyer.
This happened to me about a month ago.
I worked with my post office regarding the misdelivered package.
They were finally able to finally retrieve the package for me, although it took several weeks.
This is between the buyer and their post office.
I do agree that the seller could contact their post office and/or the buyers post office to get more information and find out what really happened with the delivery.
rschissler
·3 years agoThe OP said this: She contacted her local PO who told her it had been misdelivered to another address by a substitute carrier. Next day the carrier attempted to retrieve the parcel but the folks at that address claimed they didn't have it.
dhbookds
·3 years agotoomuchstuffagain35
OP3 years agoI was wondering if I should call her PO and find out what happened and ask what they intend to do about it. I paid them to deliver it to the buyer's address, not somewhere else.
I was just wondering how some buyers get ebay to give them a courtesy refund when they state they didn't get it even though tracking shows delivered.
dhbookds
·3 years agoNo way to know...........and no way to know if they denied it because of too many repeated claims........
spreadlovelikefire
·3 years agoI'd message her and have her try eBay again. I've had a couple customers over the years get a refund from eBay when something like this happened. Not that they will do it but it's worth a shot. She may have called once and got someone who wouldn't do it.
toomuchstuffagain35
OP3 years agoMaybe wouldn't or couldn't.
For now, I've told her about asking the reps on facebook and see what they can do, if anything.
dhbookds
·3 years ago@m60driver
You must refund the buyer
Disagree with that:
Tracking shows delivered
Buyer "says" not received and USPS admits miss delivery
At this point there is no verification that what the buyer says is true.......I don't think she's lying.....but I would NOT refund at least prior to trying to get USPS to do a retrieval......
silverstatetreasureboxes
·3 years ago@toomuchstuffagain35
That's to bad that this happened but you did your job. This is between your buyer and her post office now.
dhbookds
·3 years agowas there insurance on the package?
toomuchstuffagain35
OP3 years agoNo, it was FCP 4 oz.
dhbookds
·3 years agoNot much you can do........I doubt USPS can /will refund even tho it's their fault since no insurance.......but I would probably go to my local PO to check (or call the receiving PO) and be sure since their PO admitted they were at fault.........I have heard (more than once) of the PO sending the postman to try to retrieve the item from where it was miss delivered. (and getting it back)...........
buyselljack2016
·3 years ago^^^^^^^^^^ had that happen (not my item)
Postmaster told them that the USPS "postal inspection service" would be contacting them.
The item seemed to then turn up rather quickly.