Expensive Sketchy Return

[southbendsales]

I shipped a piece of 88 pound medical equipment on a pallet. 29 days after it had been delivered the buyer is sending a picture of the item damaged severely in a very worn out box. The buyer opened by saying hi we are foreign shipping company and one of our customers ordered this and showed up damaged. He is claiming he did not send the package yet but noticed the damage when checking for model number before shipping (there is no model number) I asked how it arrived damaged like that on a pallet without noticing. He claims the neighbor got the package by mistake and brought it over and it did not come on a pallet. I added pictures and receipt of my ups purchase along with tracking. They are claiming ups took the package off the pallet and also altered the box and label. I believe they got the item, shipped it off the pallet out of the country to save money and when it arrived to their customer 28 days after they had received it their customer received it broken. 

[dentalsales4u]

I would have them contact UPS to find out why it was delivered this way.
They have all the information UPS would need as you gave that to them.
Tell the buyer that UPS would need to verify this information and inspect the delivery to be able to investigate and for you to be able to file a claim as this is not how it was shipped.

[m60driver]

Yep, claiming that a neighbor signed for an 88 pound box by mistake is a stretch of the imagination, not to mention a UPS driver not knowing his/her route to make that mistake.  But you are only responsible for the domestic freight and so just ask them to return the item for a refund.  If your suspicions are correct they will balk.

[southbendsales]

He is also trying to get us to contact him at a number and with a name different than on the order. Saying we need accept the $200 return shipping on a $500 item and take it up with UPS. He has not asked ebay into help and this case has been ongoing back and forth about 10 days.

[southbendsales]

Even if they did not already ship this item out I do not think this smells right for a valid return, do I have any hope of Ebay blocking this return or do I just have to risk the $200 return shipping on top of the $500 hit? I do not have any interest in paying another $200 to get this item I packed so well back completely destroyed. 

[sharingtheland]

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@southbendsales wrote:

Even if they did not already ship this item out I do not think this smells right for a valid return, do I have any hope of Ebay blocking this return or do I just have to risk the $200 return shipping on top of the $500 hit? I do not have any interest in paying another $200 to get this item I packed so well back completely destroyed. 

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Has the buyer been communicating through ebay messages?

Has the buyer opened a SNAD through ebay returns?  

Of course it doesn't smell right, because it's a scam.   

[orangehound]

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@southbendsales wrote:
He is also trying to get us to contact him at a number and with a name different than on the order. Saying we need accept the $200 return shipping on a $500 item and take it up with UPS. He has not asked ebay into help and this case has been ongoing back and forth about 10 days.

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10 Days of discussion + 29 Days after delivery = 39 days.  The eBay Money Back Guarantee is only valid for 30 days after delivery, so he can not file a MBG claim on this item ... even if he files a return request, you can deny it.

I agree with all your suspicions.  Kindly inform the person contacting you that you are sorry for their situation, but (a) you can only communicate with the buyer and (b) eBay returns/claims must be done within 30 days of delivery.  However, the good news is that a buyer can file an insurance claim with UPS, and should the buyer need help with the claim, you would be happy to supply the buyer with whatever information they need to file the claim.  Any other communication is pointless, and I would respond with the same message (above) over and over and over.

[ittybitnot]

I shipped a piece of 88 pound medical equipment on a pallet.

I did not know UPS made "pallet" deliveries.   Has the buyer filed a claim with eBay yet, or are you just getting messages?  Are the messages in your email or ebay messages? 

This whole story stinks like a fish.  

[marinermikes]

Another example of a freight forward company trying to file a claim for some thing they shipped overseas!
According to most users here this never happens. 

If the buyer files a eBay snad claim they may lose. If they then file a Pay Pal claim they most likely will win. From my experience, to prove to Pay Pal that it was shipped over seas you would need the tracking info from the frieght forward company showing it was shipped abroad.

First you need to prove to ebay that this was a frieght forward company and make sure that they look at the messages. If you win that, then you need to hope that they don't file with Pay Pal!

Sorry this happened to you

[orangehound]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

I shipped a piece of 88 pound medical equipment on a pallet.

I did not know UPS made "pallet" deliveries.

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UPS has a separate freight division ... big box trucks with lift-gates.

[myboardid]

"However, the good news is that a buyer can file an insurance claim with UPS, and should the buyer need help with the claim, you would be happy to supply the buyer with whatever information they need to file the claim."

With UPS, only the person who shipped the package can make a claim.  The recipient cannot do so.   

[myescape]

The freight forwarder may be the purchaser of record who buys for an overseas client.If so and he staes he has not forwarded you may lose a return request for not as described if it way opened before the end of the 30th day

[orangehound]

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@marinermikes wrote:

If they then file a Pay Pal claim they most likely will win. From my experience, to prove to Pay Pal that it was shipped over seas you would need the tracking info from the frieght forward company showing it was shipped abroad.

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Yes, they could very well win a return case on PayPal.  However

• PayPal does not have a seller protection on re-shipping an item like eBay ... PayPal cautions against shipping to a re-shipper address.   So, it doesn't matter whether or not you can prove to PayPal that the item was re-shipped.
• The buyer would need to pay for freight shipping back to the original seller's address.

[orangehound]

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@myboardid wrote:

"However, the good news is that a buyer can file an insurance claim with UPS, and should the buyer need help with the claim, you would be happy to supply the buyer with whatever information they need to file the claim."

With UPS, only the person who shipped the package can make a claim.  The recipient cannot do so.   

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Not true.

Click this for a UPS video showing that either the sender or recipient can file a claim for a regular UPS package ... they also allow representatives to file a claim.

For UPS Freight, the claimant can be either the recipient (consignee) or the shipper.  But, for a shipping damage claim,  if you read this page, you will note that all of the interactions with UPS are taken by the consignee (recipient) of the goods ... including the filling out of claim paperwork.  I suppose the shipper could also do it, but when I've had trouble with a shipment (as a recipient), I've been the one doing the claim.

[southbendsales]

They are on "half pallets". The weight on delivery even says around 110. I posted the product details to the thread of the item being 88 pounds and the complete delivery being the receipt with it being 30 pounds over the product weight because of the added weight of the pallet