Got an interesting INR case still open in the resolution center. Thought I'd share an interesting story of how things unfolded.
1. The item shipped via USPS First Class Mail. However, USPS mistakenly scanned the package as "delivered" instead of "accepted" in the origin zip code.
2. The buyer opened an INR case within one day after the item shipped. eBay very likely sent the buyer an automated "Your item has been delivered!" email. The buyer reacted to that email by opening an INR, because he obviously had not received the item yet. He thinks it must have been sent it to the wrong address. Within the case, I sent the buyer an explanation of what happened.
3. Within a week, the item apparently gets delivered to the buyer. He left positive feedback, saying "Satisfied!"
4. Meanwhile, the latest tracking scan shows only "Arrival at Unit" in the buyer's city/state. There's no final delivery scan to the buyer's zip code, only the original erroneous delivery scan in the origin zip code.
5. The buyer neither escalated, closed out, or responded to my messages as of this date. The latest message I sent said "Thank you for your positive feedback. I take it your item has been safely delivered, and I'm happy to hear that all is satisfactory."
6. It was over a week since the buyer left the positive feedback, so I figured I'd try my luck at calling CS to close out the case in my favor.
7. I called CS yesterday, March 16, and the agent I spoke with (a US-based agent) ultimately said she could not close out the case, based on the technicality that there is no final delivery scan to the buyer's zip code. Even though the buyer left positive feedback, and has taken no further action on the case, she said "Well, the buyer could have left the feedback by mistake". Finally, she said the best option at this point is to let the case time out (on March 24). The only other way the case could be closed out in the seller's favor is by either getting written confirmation from the buyer that he received the item, or for the USPS tracking scan to show correct delivery to the buyer's zip code.
8. I'm not going to bother contacting the buyer again just to confirm that he received his item. I think it's pretty obvious since he left positive feedback. I'll let the case time out. On a positive note, if the case times out, the buyer's positive feedback will still remain -- I think. On the other hand, if the case were closed in my favor, the positive feedback would be removed. So perhaps the best thing is to let the came time out.
It would be nice if eBay offered a "motion to quash" the INR case in the first place, considering it was inappropriately opened due to a USPS scanning/tracking error. The automated "Your item has been delivered!" email only served to alarm the buyer. If that email had not been sent, the buyer probably wouldn't have even noticed anything unusual with the tracking, nor would he have opened the INR in the first place.
Funny thing, I had 5 other buyers who were also affected by the mistaken "delivery" scan that same day. Three of the buyers messaged me to ask what was going on. Two of them didn't contact me. And of course, one buyer opened an INR case. Eventually, all of them left positive feedback, even though none of their packages showed a final delivery scan in the destination zip code. For all packages, the last scan that showed up was "Arrival at Unit" (in the destination zip code).
