Ordered 2 items from different sellers. Items shipped to another name/address in my home community
Summary: ten661 experienced an issue where items ordered on eBay were delivered to a different address in their community, despite being assured of delivery. They suspect a potential scam involving the shipping label provider or a local USPS issue, leading them to report the incident to the police. While seeking a refund, they emphasized the importance of sellers verifying shipping labels to prevent such issues. This incident follows a past encounter with a 'brushing' scam, leaving them considering further actions with eBay.
I have the opposite problem from that described by a seller who sent out items to a buyer and received acknowledgement the items were delivered and the buyer claims to have not gotten them. That happened to me this past week. TWICE !! In all, I have had 3 items ordered that were delivered to someone else in my home community. Something tells me this was not a 'coincidence'. In discussing this with the local post office, I was told USPS can look up the name and address on a package with a pre-paid, printed shipping label. She did say some people buy the pre-paid shipping labels through USPS. Many e-Bay sellers do not. What I wasn't told was who these other shipping label sellers are and whether or not they are reputable. I was then told my items were shipped to a completely different name and address than mine, and it wasn't even close. USPS would not give me the name and address on the shipping label. I was told this was likely a seller issue, that the seller didn't check to see the name/address on the printed label matched the name/address of the actual buyer. That initially sounded plausible. But, giving it more thought, something had to be wrong with the shipping label provider. It wasn't one item mistakenly delivered to someone else where I live (city of 7,100), it was THREE ! The odds of someone else where I live ordering the exact same items I did are astronomically high. I had to wonder if the shipping label provider was hacked and names/addresses substituted. Was it an inside job with USPS in my city ? Was it innocent and the seller didn't check the shipping label to make sure the order was going to the right person ? Did the seller provide me with the wrong tracking number ? Did someone turn in a change-of-address form in my name to change delivery to where my 3 items went ? I have no real clue. I don't think I was given the wrong tracking numbers. I contacted e-Bay to get a refund on the item I didn't get yesterday, yet it showed it was delivered. The e-Bay rep said some sellers try to save a few bucks going with any pre-paid shipping label site other than USPS. That still doesn't explain how a name/address was switched after the label was printed. I elected to drop this whole mess into the police department where I live to see if USPS would cooperate with them and give them the name and address where my stuff went. This all doesn't pass the smell test, and I'm thinking whoever diverted the delivery could be running some kind of scam out of their house. The items I lost weren't big or costly - it's the principle of the thing. I canned Amazon.com after I was involved in a 'brushing' scam and got 5 packages of crap I didn't order. Now I might need to can e-Bay for not delivering to me what I did order. Two weeks earlier I ordered some high ticket items and did receive those. I'm not sure what kind of shipping label service they used and wrote one seller to inquire. So before sellers think buyers are ripping them off, I sure hope they are cross checking their orders/sales with the names/addresses that appear on the shipping labels they print out.
