INR opened. Trying to resolve but buyer not responding. SCAM?

[redbirdvintage66]

I have only been selling on Ebay for two years as a hobby for some extra cash. This is my first INR case. I shipped item on April 17.  Sent a complimentary message (I do this with all my buyers to establish communication and rapport) to the buyer letting them know I shipped their item and gave them the USPS ETA. It arrived at USPS in Portland OR on April 21st. Then delivery stalled. The last update was April 25th stating item "in transit". Buyer filed INR without trying to inquire/ communicate with me first. Ebay tells me to refund the buyers money within 3 days. I immediately sent the buyer the tracking info and also a message stating my concern and that I would check with my local postmaster to see if they have any further information. No response from buyer. The next day, I messaged the buyer again letting him know the item is still in transit and to give it a few more days as the PO was experiencing weather related delays. Again, no response from buyer. Did a little research on the address and discovered this could be a potential scam freight forwarding address. 6215 NE 92nd Drive. Portland, Oregon.  When I looked up the company, there are MANY reviews warning that this is a scam across many selling platforms. I contacted Ebay, but they told me to refund the buyer, file a claim with the post office( which is another fiasco) to recover my money. They also told me they will with hold my pay out as a way to "protect" my money... say what? That doesn't make sense. Can any of you advise on how to proceed. I REALLY don't want to pay this buyer, as I am 99.9% sure this is bogus. I hope I am wrong.

[rosszonebricks]

Freight Forwarder has nothing to do with an INR, and doesn't automatically mean this is a scam/bogus.

If it hasn't been delivered to the US-based address of the freight forwarder, that's still on the Seller.  (You).  

Why would buyer needed to attempt communication at all if the tracking says it hasn't been delivered and the estimated delivery date is past?     "Buyer doesn't get package by X date.  Files INR."    Standard procedure, IMO.

[monster-deals]

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@redbirdvintage66 wrote:

Sent a complimentary message (I do this with all my buyers to establish communication and rapport) to the buyer letting them know I shipped their item and gave them the USPS ETA. 

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Ebay already does that and peppering a buyer with needless messages may have a less than desirable result.

[a_c_green]

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@redbirdvintage66 wrote:

It arrived at USPS in Portland OR on April 21st. Then delivery stalled. The last update was April 25th stating item "in transit". Buyer filed INR without trying to inquire/ communicate with me first. Ebay tells me to refund the buyers money within 3 days.

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Unfortunately if there have been no further scans then yes, you will eventually have to refund the buyer, although the USPS' own tracking will show that they lost it (assuming no scans over 15 days), so they will be on the hook to you for up to $100 of value if you file a missing mail claim with them. (Exactly which shipping method did you use? Media Mail travels on a space-available basis and is the least-predictable delivery method, time-wise.)

[tobaccocardyahoo]

You probably contributed to the situation you are in  as @monster-deals suggests.

IMO you should never have provided to USPS ETA since there is an Ebay Estimated Delivery Date. Especially if this is being forwarded internationally. Your buyer may have limited English Language capabilities.

If you felt you needed to do something, you could have attempted to contact USPS to trace the package.

You are now in a box. Refund or Ebay will refund for you and you will get an Unresolved Case Strike.

No good deed goes unpunished and this is often correct when dealing with Ebay buyers. It is unlikely that a foreign buyer would have been tracking the shipment to a freight forwarder, The expect a greater delay.

[kensgiftshop]

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@redbirdvintage66 wrote:

 I REALLY don't want to pay this buyer, as I am 99.9% sure this is bogus.

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If the package hasn't been delivered to the freight forwarder yet, how could it be bogus?

[inhawaii]

There is no need to communicate with the buyer.

Buyers files a INR.

Seller responds to the INR case with a tracking number that shows the item was delivered.

That's it.

The case will close a few days in the sellers favor.

[kensgiftshop]

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@inhawaii wrote:

There is no need to communicate with the buyer.

Buyers files a INR.

Seller responds to the INR case with a tracking number that shows the item was delivered.

That's it.

The case will close a few days in the sellers favor.

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The package hasn't been delivered.

The last scan was April 25th.

[inhawaii]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

There is no need to communicate with the buyer.

Buyers files a INR.

Seller responds to the INR case with a tracking number that shows the item was delivered.

That's it.

The case will close a few days in the sellers favor.

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The package hasn't been delivered.

The last scan was April 25th.

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Sorry, I missed that.

Still kind of nothing the seller can do except respond to the INR and upload tracking.

Ebay will refund the buyer if/when they decide enough time has elapsed.

[tdl_collectibles]

Just to give you some hope, I recently had a box go missing and within 3 days of investigating USPS reimbursed me $100 plus the $14.38 I paid for a medium flat rate box.  The item sold for $120 so I got most of it back.

The box is still missing and no idea where.  Tracking stopped updating on April 15th somewhere between PA and CA....

But as others said, i'd stop with the "i sent your item" messaging.  As a buyer that annoys me.  When it pops up as an alert on my phone, I assume it's the seller (or a buyer) alerting me to a problem. The automated shipping notifications are fine.

[caldreamer]

Anytime a customer opens a case against you EBAY will immediately hold your payout.    With INR case Seller has 3 days to provide tracking# proving item was DELIVERED.   If cannot prove that...you must refund customer otherwise EBAY will "do it for you" (take your money and you will get a "defect" on your account for losing the case.

Anytime, you ask EBAY to "step in to help you" and lose your case (you get a "defect" on your account).  Better to handle it without EBAY intervention. 

[ebooksdiva]

eBay already posts that information in the buyers order details as well as confirmation eMail when they purchase and when you ship.  Sending more messages to buyers about when they should expect their item is too much information IMO.

USPS is never on time anymore and there are often transit delays.

It's best to just upload tracking into the INR and hope eBay delays the closing of it due to the item still being in transit. 
Good luck.

[mtgraves7984]

@redbirdvintage66 

Since you're (kinda) new, I'll throw you a bone and tell you that @caldreamer just hit on a good point. It's never a good idea to reach out to eBay with questions on how to handle your business. Become (and remain) proactive and work through this/any case through the case itself.

Granted, there may be a reason to actually reach out at some point in time, and I hope you never experience that... because that means a transaction has gone totally sideways. Work through this one, adding a tracking number and (possibly) issuing a refund. All we sellers empathize, but if you're here for the long haul... heads up to protect your seller metrics. Good luck.

[tsme35]

I had a problem with Portland OR freight forwarder last year, had 2 packages scanned in Portland then nothing. My buyer didn't open a case but email me about it being stuck and if it doesn't move they'd open a claim. So I open a mail inquiry then a missing mail report, I got a call from the Portland PO, she told me they have thousands of packages delivered to that freight forwarder and they can't scan them all, some just get thru. I informed her that will cost them a lost package claim, didn't bother her none.

 I then let my buyer(he's bought alot from me over the years) know about the PO response and give it a couple days and if he didn't get the items let me know BUT if both were lost I'd have to block any orders going to Portland. These were $90 reels and 1st class wasn't insured then but a week later I got positive FB on both.

[dbfolks166mt]

Just to give you some hope, I recently had a box go missing and within 3 days of investigating USPS reimbursed me $100 plus the $14.38 I paid for a medium flat rate box.  The item sold for $120 so I got most of it back.

      I have had 4 lost package claims with USPS in the last 8 or so months. All claims were settled and closed in a matter of days and I received checks in the mail about a week later. 

The box is still missing and no idea where.  Tracking stopped updating on April 15th somewhere between PA and CA....

But as others said, i'd stop with the "i sent your item" messaging.  As a buyer that annoys me.  When it pops up as an alert on my phone, I assume it's the seller (or a buyer) alerting me to a problem. The automated shipping notifications are fine.