Buyer threatening to open "Non Delivery" case--while item is still in transit!

[stephenjf510]

So here's a weird one--I sent an item via Media Mail on 5/12 (exactly one week ago today), and yesterday the buyer sent me a curt message: "Where's my item? Hope delivered on Thursday or filing a case". I looked at tracking and it turns out the item was "missent" and is now at a USPS location further from the buyer's address than a previous tracked location. 

However, it's only been a week and Media Mail can take up to 10 days under normal circumstances, sometimes longer. I (politely) went back and forth with the buyer a bit, with their most recent message (after I suggested they file a claim with USPS if they're concerned) being: "I will file a PayPal claim for non delivery. We will see, give it to Monday."

At this point there's no reason to think that the item is not going to make it to the buyer within the next few days, but it may not get there by Monday, knowing USPS. Can I be forced to pay a refund in this situation?  And if so, what would happen if I have to refund and then the package eventually gets to them? The weirdest thing is that the buyer is also a seller with thousands of transactions, including lots that would probably be Media Mail, so they should understand how this all works.

[a_c_green]

---

@stephenjf510 wrote:

Yeah, I think I know what happened as far as USPS is concerned, without having to go to my post office--it was "missent" to a different PO but not too far from where it should have been sent, so hopefully it won't delay things more than a few days. 

---

From what you're describing, the Missent occurred at the destination sort facility, so it only went to the wrong town, rather than the wrong part of the country (or even the wrong country; I recently had a First Class Package going from Chicago to California turn up at the airport in Reykjavik, Iceland). That destination sort facility is the last leg of the journey, so it only has to go back one step, from the wrong town back to the destination sort, and then out to the right town. 

In addition, I have noticed that regardless of the Shipping method, a Missent item tends to get redirected pretty quick, almost expedited in some of the few cases I've seen. Media Mail normally travels on a space-available basis, with up to three days allowed at each waypoint before it must go out on the next truck, but in this case I don't think they're going to leave it sitting around much longer. Hope not, anyway.

P.S. Regarding the buyer, I think he's just seizing this opportunity to try and bully you into a premature refund. He knows darn well that the package isn't lost, and will get rerouted very soon, so he has only a narrow window of time in which to pry his payment out of you. Just hold out, and don't continue back-and-forth dialogue unless or until you have further news for him. (What does his Feedback Left for Others look like?)

[stephenjf510]

Someone filing a INR doesn't automatically make them a scammer of course (it and other buyer protections exist for good reason), but I think someone filing the claim without waiting a few days after the initial ETA, when tracking can tell them exactly where the item is (showing it's not lost)--especially when they are a big seller and they know full well that mail is often delayed and that by filing the claim they are potentially taking money from a seller's pocket for no good reason--is scammer behavior. And a buyer approaching a seller BEFORE the ETA making threatening noises is suspect enough to make me not want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Of course I'll wait it out and see what happens, but the buyer's behavior so far leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

[chapeau-noir]

(or even the wrong country; I recently had a First Class Package going from Chicago to California turn up at the airport in Reykjavik, Iceland)

That's a hub for