INR case but tracking shows delivered

[sportsguyer0707]

 

 

I sold a baseball card and shipped it USPS ground advantage and buyer opened an INR case even though the tracking showed delivered. I updated the tracking once I saw the case was opened and now I received this message from the buyer with attached letter from their postmaster. Not sure what to exactly do here. Any help is very much appreciated! Thank you!

[golfingaddict]

How much money are you talking about with this order?

1. Verify the letter with that postmaster, you have the information you need to contact them.

2. File an insurance claim as directed in the letter.

3.  When you get the refund, refund the buyer.

I like to build good will with buyers as much as I can.  It seems like the buyer did the leg work on this issue and while I understand that the seller is not at fault, it sure seems like a great customer that would not just jump to blame the seller.

If it is not a lot of money, I might even refund before I got the refund with the USPS, but that is just a personal choice for me.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

let's think this out. 

Is this letter to you or the buyer?

The USPS letter in post notes 2 tracking numbers. Sounds like you only shipped 1 card. Do either of those tracking numbers match yours? 

What kind of time frame are we talking about here? We all know that USPS is not the quickest, but they are thorough. 

It is true the USPS can use GPS and pin down a package. I cannot confirm if that is true all across USPS, but it probably is. 

[cardxcraft]

100% agree with you.  The seller, beyond pointing the buyer to contact Ebay, has finished his role in this business transaction.  The more the seller chats it up with the buyer, the further sideways this thing will go.  

The seller does not need to play Nancy Drew.  

[a_c_green]

---

@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

Is this letter to you or the buyer?

---

Neither, actually. It's addressed To Whom It May Concern, and is basically a report of how and where they misdelivered the package. The Postmaster actually does a pretty good job of falling on his sword over this, and literally invites the recipient to file an insurance claim with USPS over both missing packages. (One package was sent by the OP; the buyer says that the other package came from a different seller.)

Technically, eBay will not enforce an Item Not Received refund by the seller, because there is tracking proof that the package was delivered to the City and ZIP of the address received with the payment. (Tracking does not list or look at street addresses.) 

The diplomatic thing to do here would be to refund the buyer anyway, then use the letter provided by the USPS to file a claim with them. I cannot imagine them not paying off in this case, given the letter from the Postmaster, although some coordination with the buyer might be required for this, because they're not going to pay off twice for the same tracking number. First one to get a claim in will be the one who gets the refund.

---

@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

It is true the USPS can use GPS and pin down a package. I cannot confirm if that is true all across USPS, but it probably is. 

---

Yes, they use the GPS coordinates logged during the Delivery scan and match those to a local map. I've seen such a report, and it's accurate to a specific driveway, complete with a printed diagram with house number(s). In this case the Postmaster is stating that it was actually delivered to a different mailbox cluster 200 feet down the road. I've had to walk the occasional mailpiece over to my neighbor's box on similar occasions.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I did see that and the 'to whom it may concern' does seem odd. I would expect a name on the letterhead and being blocked out in order to post. 

Why refund the buyer if the letter is addresses to the buyer to file a claim? Would this be almost what I call 'double dipping'? Get a refund from seller and then one from USPS. 

Until the O.P. responds with some answers to our questions, I'm leaning to a potential scam. 

[robbie31415]

A lot of the posts here are extremely poor customer service.

Literally takes a 1 minute to file a claim.

If USPS approves it then be nice and give the buyer a refund.

If USPS denies it then don't refund.

Buyers can't file claims sellers can. Be a decent seller and file the very simple claim. It's actually more money than the original sale because you get full item value plus shipping for lost and eBay refunds their fees.

[a_c_green]

---

@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

I did see that and the 'to whom it may concern' does seem odd. I would expect a name on the letterhead and being blocked out in order to post.

---

No, that's standard practice when putting out an official statement that isn't directed to one person in particular.

---

@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

Why refund the buyer if the letter is addresses to the buyer to file a claim? Would this be almost what I call 'double dipping'? Get a refund from seller and then one from USPS.

---

Right, that's what I was concerned about when I said that some "coordination" with the buyer will be needed here, since the USPS is not going to pay off twice for the same tracking number. If the seller gets the claim paid to them first, then the buyer files the same claim and gets denied, they're going to be seriously honked-off about that.

Thinking about this some more, I think the most direct solution would be to encourage the buyer to file the claim himself, since the seller is already protected against a refund for an Item Not Received claim due to the tracking, even though everyone now knows that the USPS delivered it to the wrong address per their own admission.

[ryry-jj]

Maybe I missed it, but did you state whether you shipped it with an eBay shipping label or did you post it outside of eBay with USPS?

[a_c_green]

---

@ryry-jj wrote:

Maybe I missed it, but did you state whether you shipped it with an eBay shipping label or did you post it outside of eBay with USPS?

---

Tracking data for the OP's package (it's the second number listed on that USPS letter) indicates that it was purchased on-line at home and picked up the next day.

As long as the tracking number was uploaded to the order details one way or another, the purchase of the label itself should not be significant here.

[dbfolks166mt]

A lot of the posts here are extremely poor customer service.

Literally takes a 1 minute to file a claim.

If USPS approves it then be nice and give the buyer a refund.

If USPS denies it then don't refund.

Buyers can't file claims sellers can. Be a decent seller and file the very simple claim. It's actually more money than the original sale because you get full item value plus shipping for lost and eBay refunds their fees.

     Actually either the sender or the receiver can file a claim, at least with USPS. I have done so several times as a receiver but those were for shipping damage claims which are much easier to the receiver to work with USPS since in most cases USPS will want the receiver to bring the item to their local post office along with the original packing to validate the claim. 

     If they approve the claim you generally have a couple of choices the first being they reimburse you for the item up to the insured value and they keep the item and the shipping package. If the damage can be repaired and you have a repair estimate they may offer you that amount and allow you to keep the item and use the refund to have it repaired.