eBay

studiosevenart · ‎10-17-2024

I have a package that was due to be delivered early October to Miami Fl. It was scanned at the Miami distribution center but has since dropped off the radar completely. (Just days “in transit “)

Last week, I initiated a lost mail request and let the buyer know I did this. (They ignored my message .)

I instructed USPS to forward the pkg to the buyer if found .

now the buyer has opened an INR case and is demanding a refund.

over the phone, eBay has told me to “wait a week for USPS to complete their investigation”

however, the INR case says I only have until Monday to take action. What would you do in this case ?

do I need to re-do the lost mail request to cancel forwarding to buyer ?

File an insurance claim? It was about $70 value, so it would be covered under ground advantage.

thanks to anyone who may be able to help !

12345jamesstamps · ‎10-17-2024

Here's the mistake...it might be a 'freight forward' to another country that won't show tracking.

Florida is an area for 'freight forward' to other countries.

Did you check eBay buyer ID in feedbacks to see if it is listed as a buyer in USA or another country?

Telling buyer 'opened a can of worms'...about item lost when it is probably not lost...some buyers will open an INR case.

If item got 'delivered' as address listed in payment then you need to response to claim with tracking number again in the claim.

Just a thought it might be 'freight forward'.

studiosevenart · ‎10-17-2024

Thank you, this was an angle I hadn’t considered. Their account shows as United States.

I’m considering canceling the lost mail request, then filing another one with the package being forwarded back to me. That way I can refund and close this out without hassle. It sounds like filing an insurance case is not a sure thing, but I can do that too.

brightlightbookseller · ‎10-17-2024

That's not how Freight Forwarding works... the FF will purchase a label via whatever shipping service they use (at some point in the process, sometimes only once in the other country after they've taken a large set of deliveries there by ship) and relabel the package. It does not affect in any way getting a delivery scan for your USPS label to the FF.

albertabrightalberta · ‎10-17-2024

@studiosevenart wrote:
I’m considering canceling the lost mail request, then filing another one with the package being forwarded back to me. That way I can refund and close this out without hassle. It sounds like filing an insurance case is not a sure thing, but I can do that too.

I wouldn't cancel the lost mail request. In my experience, opening the request often shakes the package loose from wherever it got stuck.

Respond to the INR case with the tracking number. Ebay will see that it shows movement and may extend the time by which you have to issue the refund.

If worse comes to worst, you will have to refund the buyer and file an insurance claim for the lost package. USPS will see that they lost it (based on the stoppage of scans and non-delivery) and you'll be reimbursed.

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

gamersbaystore · ‎10-17-2024

Its dropped off the radar because its trapped in a warehouse and USPS has no way to deliver anything in many parts of Florida right now. Huge disruptions due to the Hurricanes. Your package aint lost.

This is why I hate ebay, the buyers are almost all scammers, will look for any excuse they can to get your product for free, and ebay will never defend you. Your buyer knows the situation in Florida, and they're clearly taking advantage of it.

If you dont refund, ebay will put a strike against your account and give your buyer a refund while allowing them to keep your product.

In situations like this, once the item is finally received, I contact the buyer and demand payment. No payment, I file a mail fraud report with USPS. They have an obligation to pay for whatever they purchase online, should they refuse, they are committing fraud.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-17-2024

The inr request might be totally legitimate. However, packages do sometimes get delivered without getting a delivered scan so if you did contact the buyer before they indicated that there was a problem you might have just poked the bear. The buyer may not have noticed the package was late and was content to wait longer until you pointed out it was late. Or, they received the package without a delivery scan and hadn’t noticed that until you mentioned that there was no scan. In most cases, that won’t prod a buyer to open a false inr claim but I’ve found that it is best to wait untill a buyer contacts you in those sort of situations.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-17-2024

If eBay does not extend the time that you have to refund, you should do so before the buyer can ask ebay to step in. If they do ask them and there is no delivery scan, eBay will refund, you will lose your fees and receive an unresolved claim defect.

robbie31415 · ‎10-17-2024

Since issues are happening in Florida it's hard to know.

If it is bound for Doral and it disappeared after Miami Distribution center then there is a chance its a missing delivery scan.

Or it could be trapped in a USPS warehouse.

Sadly both are bad situations.

Submitting a missing mail search before doing a help ticket is the wrong move. Missing mail requests take forever, where a help ticket typically gets you an answer within 3 business days. Could be longer since they just got hit.

threelittlelambs · ‎10-17-2024

I had an item going to Tampa that was there somewhere and "in transit" for about a week and a half. Definitely, this was due to the hurricane. My buyer never contacted me, but it was eventually delivered. I would send a nice message asking the customer to please be patient a little longer as the hurricane delayed everything and "if it doesn't show up soon, I will be happy to refund". This may not work to appease the buyer into not escalating it yet, but it's worth a try.

krazzykats · ‎10-17-2024

Seller Protections are in place for sellers impacted by Hurricane Milton (ebay.com)

KrazzyKats • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1998

studiosevenart · ‎10-17-2024

Thanks for this! I had no idea - just submitted a form. Fingers crossed!

sin-n-dex · ‎10-17-2024

@studiosevenart wrote:
Thank you, this was an angle I hadn’t considered. Their account shows as United States.

I’m considering canceling the lost mail request, then filing another one with the package being forwarded back to me. That way I can refund and close this out without hassle. It sounds like filing an insurance case is not a sure thing, but I can do that too.

100% if you sent it to Miami area, it's showing "in transit" for days, and buyer is filing INR demanding refund, it's gone to a freight forwarder and has been delivered. You will not get any insurance money.

Hopefully someone who has more success getting the tracking updated in these (for you to be able to win the INR) will come along with instructions. I didn't get the instructions in time to solve my own Miami issue, but what you're describing happened to me a couple of months ago. For sure they got the item, the filed the INR because they'd know they'd win.

Opening a lost mail case is not helpful in these situations because it alerts the buyer (via tracking) that you don't know where the parcel is. I did this the second time I had a Miami one that disappeared and the buyer contacted me to tell me he saw the package was lost. Thankfully he backed off and didn't file the INR when I explained the freight forwarder thing and that his package would be forwarded to his country soon.

Sometimes they register with the freight forwarder address and pretend to be in the US so they can say they looked everywhere and the package was not delivered like tracking said.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎10-17-2024

@robbie31415 wrote:
Since issues are happening in Florida it's hard to know.

If it is bound for Doral and it disappeared after Miami Distribution center then there is a chance its a missing delivery scan.

Or it could be trapped in a USPS warehouse.

Sadly both are bad situations.

Submitting a missing mail search before doing a help ticket is the wrong move. Missing mail requests take forever, where a help ticket typically gets you an answer within 3 business days. Could be longer since they just got hit.

@studiosevenart

Follow this advice next time. This was the advice I got when I had my issue with a missing Miami package, but I didn't receive the advice soon enough to stop me from having to refund.

C.