First ebay sale. Tracking shows delived/signed. Buyer claiming "item not received"

[mecca.19o4]

Hi, I recently had my first ebay sale, item was sold for $850 so it's not something I can just brush off and refund the money to avoid dealing with a claim or whatever ebay does for these situations if the buyer takes it to that extent.  As of right now, he just sent a request asking if I shipped the item because it says delivered, but he hasn't received it.  FedEx site/tracking shows delivered and signed, the signature FedEx has on file also shows the buyers name, I find it odd that he's claiming it wasn't delivered with all that proof.  I mean, what else could've happened?  Did the driver go to a different address and someone knew his name and or looked at the label and forged his signature?  Hopefully it's something that can be solved properly.

I sent a message back letting him know that it was shipped and delivered, that it required a signature, shows it was signed by him and I have proof of all this through FedEx.

Any help/advice on this situation is appreciated!

[slippinjimmy]

FedEx are not collecting signatures at the moment due to COVID-19. The drivers sign for the packages.

The problem in your case is either (a) The Fedex driver "signed" for it and marked it as delivered but hasn't actually done so YET, or b) the FedEx driver delivered it to the wrong address.

In either case you should be covered by eBay.

In the meantime you need to try to assist the buyer in locating the package, you should contact FedEx to see what you can find out, they may try to brush you off by noting the obvious that is shows delivered. Keep at them, they can check their GPS trackers to see exactly where it was delivered (if it was actually delivered).

[mecca.19o4]

Thanks for that info, I had no idea about the not collecting signatures.  I'll be contacting them first thing in the morning.

[femmefan1946]

he just sent a request

Did he send you a Message asking about his purchase?

Or did he open a Dispute in the Resolution Centre?

The first requires no more than polite communication and advice on who to call. If you call FedEX, since you hired them, that would be good customer service.

If he opened a Dispute, that is a formal complaint to eBay and you MUST respond promptly in the Dispute with the tracking and delivery information.

The helpful communication would still be good customer service, but don't get that confused with Response to a Dispute.

Ignoring a Dispute can lose you your item and the customer's payment.

[femmefan1946]

This is why experienced sellers try to convince newbies not to sell anything expensive early in their selling career.

You will mess up. So mess up on something you can afford to lose.

And we all mess up.

Earlier today I shipped a book that I sold for $12.99 including shipping. And put $12.10 in postage on it.

I still made money- I use discounted postage stamps rather than full price labels and the book itself cost me only $2.00- but I was quite annoyed about my mistake.

I've been in mail order for over 35 years.

[mecca.19o4]

I got a message notification stating that the buyer opened a request a couple hours ago and to respond by June 25th.  There was a personal message from him included asking if it had shipped and he says it shows delivered, but hasn't received anything.  I replied to him with all info I have, provided all tracking info even though it's been provided since the day I shipped the product, also let him know I'd be contacting FedEx first thing in the morning.

[mecca.19o4]

Understandable, I know mistakes happen even to the best of us.  I feel I did everything correct, especially due to the price of the item, I was extra cautious from packaging, instantly providing tracking to ebay/buyer/paypal, also providing ebay with my package dimensions/weight to get the right label etc.  Just freaking out a little right now because I've never had to deal with something like this and it's scary to think there's a possibility I could be out almost $2k.  Based on everything I did and am going to do, it sounds like I should be fine though.

[wastingtime101]

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@mecca.19o4 wrote:

I got a message notification stating that the buyer opened a request a couple hours ago and to respond by June 25th.  There was a personal message from him included asking if it had shipped and he says it shows delivered, but hasn't received anything.  I replied to him with all info I have, provided all tracking info even though it's been provided since the day I shipped the product, also let him know I'd be contacting FedEx first thing in the morning.

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You're making the right moves here. As long as your response was within the not received claim and not sent outside of the claim through eBay messages then you'll be covered if the buyer escalates.

[mecca.19o4]

Yes, I sent all messages through the "Continue to case" link in the request.  2 messages through the "Send a message to the buyer" and other under "Add tracking details"

[pburn]

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@mecca.19o4 wrote:

. . . it's scary to think there's a possibility I could be out almost $2k. 

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I thought the item sold for $850? 

[aproudparent2010]

Call eBay and they will close the case right while you are on the phone.

Just  tell them buyer opened an INR case and you have tracking proving delivery.

Had this situation just last week

[bghtrade]

More than likely a scammer got you on your first sale. Saw you as easy. Just contact ebay. If there is a tracking number then you should be ok. The scammer is hoping that you will just give him money back.

[mecca.19o4]

1k* sorry it was late.  If I had to refund this guy, I wouldn’t have the product or money.

[mecca.19o4]

Going to get in contact with eBay first then I’ll proceed to FedEx etc to assist the buyer

[mecca.19o4]

Anyone know how to get a live person on the phone through eBay? Automated message keeps saying they’ll transfer me to a representative, then it rings and brings me to another automated message and hangs up.