Using a tracking number twice?

[wolfiniron]

There is a Seller who uses DHL partner shipping. I ordered and paid for an item from them. They shipped it but it never went anywhere. The Seller would not return any of my emails for about a week. Then they responded and said it looked lost and they would ship another one. It got lost too apparently, based on tracking. I noticed the Tracking history showed some kind of International Carrier tag on the tracking from the day after I paid for it. I also noticed the Arrival date had been moved back by a week. I asked them about it and I got a response that ignored the International Carrier thing but states that they used the same Tracking Number. How is that possible? Because the Arrival date somehow got moved back by a week, I can't even file a complaint via Ebay. Can they reuse the same tracking number?

[shipscript]

A tracking number can not be reissued for a different shipment. Each shipment must be unique. If the seller somehow applied the same shipping label (and same tracking number) to a second shipment, that would cause confusion in the carrier system. 

However, most carriers will not charge a shipment until it is either scanned into their system or is scanned as delivered.  It is more likely that a label was created for the first shipment, which never entered the carrier stream (never shipped), and that the seller may have eventually submitted the item, or not, to the carrier.

Without more tracking details, it is hard to guess, but this scenario raises flags.  You have up to 30 days from the last estimated delivery date to open a case on eBay, so keep an eye on that date. 

[wolfiniron]

Yeah, it sounded to me like they printed a second shipping label and shipped it again. Problem is that now it seems to have jammed everything up because the new replacement one is lost too! Plus, as soon as they submitted the second shipment with the same tracking info it caused the arrival date to jump back five days! Now instead of being able to file a complaint with Ebay today, I have to wait until after the new arrival date...the 4th. What a scam!