Received correct item and bogus item from seller with two different tracking numbers

[kkfx01]

I've had a strange situation occur and am looking into the community for any insight. I've read a bit about issues regarding receiving items from CS@Orangeconnex.com, and I believe some shady business is going on and wanted to see if anyone else experienced something similar to this, or what the end result was.

I purchased an electronic item from a seller and did not receive any kind of tracking information from them for a few days. It wasn't too alarming, but by the third day of no update I had then reached out to them through eBay messages. The seller had provided me with a tracking number and explaining the item had shipped. A day had passed and I had received an official eBay email providing me a different tracking number, one completely different from the one the seller had provided me through the eBay messaging system.

I had followed the tracking number the seller had personal messaged me and received the item I had ordered. No issues with the item, came very well packaged, detailed instructions, no issues whatsoever. I had left a positive review on the seller. A day had gone by and they had hounded me asking for a review, in which I had told them I had already left a review. They in turn left me a positive review. No harm, no foul at this point.

Having forgotten about the different, "official eBay" tracking number, today I had received an eBay email that my item had been delivered, tied to the tracking number that eBay had sent me. Checking my mailbox was a small yellow envelope with a tiny lightweight red rope trinket inside. The only identifier on the envelope was a blue label (containing a shipping QR code and an assortment of unrecognizable numbers) on top of a UPS Mail label which had the eBay tracking number on it, coming from a "CS@Orangeconnex.com", and a logo from "WherExpress". Curiously, this label was slapped over another one, which isn't uncommon from overseas sellers. I carefully peeled back the shipping label to find the original one. The first, original label had the full eBay tracking number on it, along with an item description of "Chinese knot." Certainly not the heavier electronic piece I ordered. Re-checking the box my electronic came in, it matched the tracking number they had direct messaged me.

What baffles me is that it seems like an attempted scam, where the seller sent a completely different item than what was actually sold. Maybe due to the light weight of the item they were trying to avoid paying a shipping price of some kind? But in the end I received the item I ordered and am perfectly fine with it. Why bother with two tracking numbers, of two different items? I'm hesitant to reach out to the seller as they knew what they were doing.

Any insight into this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Note: I reached out to Customer Service prior to writing this and did not receive an answer.

[ga_open_box_llc]

That is really weird. Only thing I can think is maybe they dropped shipped but in order to get seller protection, they had to put in a valid tracking number from the location they claimed they had the item at. Was the address on the first package recieved from the same city the seller is in or somewhere completely different?

[kkfx01]

There was no data provided on the origin of the correct item package. The private message tracking info only specified "Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item" and when it reached the US it went through the USPS system showing movement only in the US until it reached my home. Nothing about customs or the origin country. Conversely, the "official" tracking number containing the bogus item shows movement through their country, US customs clearance and movement through multiple hubs and states in the US until it arrived at my home.

[kathiec · Accepted solution]

It seems that a fair number of people who dropship send out a token item so eBay has a record of shipment that conforms to their stated handling time. That's part of the metrics eBay uses to rate accounts. Then their dropshipper sends the actual item with another tracking number, the one the seller sent you. That shipment may or may not be within the seller's stated handling time, so the first shipment is essentially the seller covering their rear.

Since you received the correct item, and since you easily could have opened a 'not as described' case if you hadn't, it seems unlikely this was any kind of a scam attempt. It's just a byproduct of the increasing number of sellers who are dropshipping.

[rseuqinh]

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@kkfx01 wrote:

I believe some shady business is going on and wanted to see if anyone else experienced something similar to this, or what the end result was.

1. I purchased an electronic item from a seller and did not receive any kind of tracking information from them for a few days. It wasn't too alarming, but by the third day of no update

-- I had then reached out to them through eBay messages. The seller had provided me with a tracking number and explaining the item had shipped.

-- No issues with the item, came very well packaged, detailed instructions, no issues whatsoever. I had left a positive review on the seller.

2. A day had passed and I had received an official eBay email providing me a different tracking number, one completely different from the one the seller had provided me through the eBay messaging system.

-- I had received an eBay email that my item had been delivered, tied to the tracking number that eBay had sent me.

-- Checking my mailbox was a small yellow envelope with a tiny lightweight red rope trinket inside. 

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Your seller intended to defraud you @kkfx01 with a fake tracking scam. It's happened before "I received a yellow envelope with a piece of paper" along with your seller delivering claimed working but not working items, items missing their necessary parts, cheaper versions of items purchased, and so on.

BUT

You forestalled the scam by contacting the seller. We always advise buyers to be patient, not to contact the seller, and just wait until after the latest esteemed [sic] delivery date. Although the fake item was already on its way under shadow tracking, the scammer sensed due to your niche item that you would defeat the scam, and sent your actual item via expedited shipping.

[kkfx01]

While this does sound plausible, I'd be more inclined to believe this was simply a case of Drop Shipping which the above user suggested. My reasoning behind this is that I placed and paid for the order on the 11th and messaged the seller on the 18th, the tracking information (of the real item) they private messaged me showed a label was created on the 15th, well prior to my inquiry.

Tracking provided by eBay shows information for the bogus package had movement as early as the 19th. If this was the other way around I'd likely agree with you, but it seems that the seller had every intention of delivering what I paid for. They just sent an additional nonsensical item to cover themselves of actually sending an item with proof of delivery.

Very risky move on their part as they took a gamble with clear proof of a different item being delivered.

[nenu-5410]

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@kkfx01 wrote:

I purchased an electronic item from a seller and did not receive any kind of tracking information from them for a few days. It wasn't too alarming, but by the third day of no update I had then reached out to them through eBay messages. 

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@kkfx01 wrote:

I placed and paid for the order on the 11th and messaged the seller on the 18th 

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Wondering @kkfx01 which it is: 3 days, or 7 days? Your seller has sent trash yellow envelopes before in the last few months and never shipped the actual item, relying only on the yellow envelope tracking number to prove delivery.

[kathiec]

There is zero indication this was a fake tracking scam, and declaring that it was simply confuses the issue. Were it a fake tracking scam the envelope would have been mailed to another address in the same zip code, not to the buyer's address. And it's obvious from the seller's listings that they're dropshipping. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[kkfx01]

The former, seven full days. I mstakenly wrote three, sorry for any confusion.

[house*of*paws]

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@rseuqinh wrote:

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Your seller intended to defraud you @kkfx01 with a fake tracking scam. 

I hope everyone realizes that you just made that up.  There are several possible explanations for the OP's scenario.  Jumping to the conclusion of fraud ... without actual evidence ... is neither helpful nor friendly.

[xadexane]

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@house*of*paws wrote:

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@rseuqinh wrote:

Your seller intended to defraud you @kkfx01 with a fake tracking scam. 

I hope everyone realizes that you just made that up.  There are several possible explanations for the OP's scenario.  Jumping to the conclusion of fraud ... without actual evidence ... is neither helpful nor friendly.

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The OP

received "a small yellow envelope with a tiny lightweight red rope trinket inside"

with "a UPS Mail label which had the eBay tracking number on it"

so there's the actual evidence.

Aside, that's a fake item tracking scam, a tracking number for a fake item.

There are three types of the "fake tracking scam"

1. a fake item tracking scam,

2. a same zipcode shipping scam,

3. and a scam where the tracking is fake.

[kathiec]

Please stop trying to cast this as a scam. It's not. A review of the seller's feedback does not, in fact, give any indication of it at all. It shows a couple of negs for the first envelope, which could have been left before the actual item arrived. But mostly it shows the typical negs of an overseas dropshipper. Bad business practices does not equate to being a scammer. If this were any kind of fake tracking it would be perpetrated by the stupidest scammer of all time, since all the buyer would need to do is open a not as described case.

BTW, it's considered poor form to use multiple IDs in the forum to defend your alter egos.

[house*of*paws]

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@xadexane wrote:

Aside, that's a fake item tracking scam, a tracking number for a fake item.

There are three types of the "fake tracking scam"

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I am personally familiar with ‘fake tracking scams’ … but no fraud I know of results in the buyer receiving exactly what they ordered.  

Fraud and scams certainly exist … but this OP was NOT defrauded.

[maurice0416]

I bet Customer Service didn’t answer back because they were baffled about what you were saying….that’s my thought as I finished reading your post.