Is There some Kind of INR scam going on from buyers for old orders?

[weezir]

INR=Item Not Received

In the past week, I have had two buyers contact me to inform me that they never received their item.  One was from a sale that was over 13 months old (at least), and the other was from a sale that was 5 months ago.

Is there some kind of scam that dishonest buyers are now using to claim that they never received items that they bought months ago?--Like going through their Purchase History to find items showing as not delivered (that had no tracking), to then say that they never received them, and now they want a refund?

I sell small inexpensive items and send them as a USPS flat/large envelope with stamps for postage.  I use LetterTrack Pro for tracking for this kind of shipping.  It does the job for me with hardly any problems; it is cheap  and I save money using it compared to the very few INR cases that I get from not using the more expensive USPS tracking.   But that is beside the point that I am trying to get more information on...   I found and sent along the LetterTrack delivery notice "Delivered in mail box" for the 5-month old case, but couldn't even find the sale record for the older case to look it up.   

I know about the time limits for buyers to request an INR case, and plus they can't leave negative/any feedback with a time limit also...  So there was no way I was going to refund them.  In both cases, I told them to pretty much forget about a refund with the sale records being so old, etc.  (in more polite words of course)

Is this a new scam, or an old one that is being resurrected (and new to me!), or is it just a coincidence for these two...?  Thanks!

[gator08041971]

I probably wouldn't respond to one that's over 6 months ago, but the 5 month one, can always ask why they didn't message you during the first 30 days after it was shipped.  Not sure you need to do anything.  Doubt they can even leave feedback at this point.

[12345jamesstamps]

Some buyers will open an item not received after months...eBay has to allow it. Doesn't mean these buyers will win. 

Can these disputes be with credit cards from the buyers or items not received?

Disputes with a credit card can happen 120 days from delivery  of item. I had one dispute from 260 days as a dispute and won it because I told the bank after the 120 days dispute is in question and too old. I responded to the request through eBay.

A buyer can open an item not received a day after "expected day of delivery" on the item in 31 days. After that it's hard for a buyer to collect any refund except maybe from a dispute on buyer's credit card.

If there are not "funds on hold" in "payments" in your account it's just a buyer hoping you give them a "goodwill refund"...or you didn't do your research to the dates.

I don't contact these buyers but I do block them ASAP.

[dannydigital76]

Yeah. I deal with these scum all the time. Ebay doesn't do anything about them.

[packitup23]

Yes, I’ve had this a few times. They file an INR after months… they hope the tracking number is no longer valid electronically so that you can’t provide proof of delivery or that you don’t have a copy of it.  They should never be allowed to do this after so long and why it’s allowed is beyond me. I’ve had this happen a few times. I keep a big filing cabinet of my shipping receipts and screen shot all my my tracking numbers and keep them for several years to be safe. It’s came in handy more than once. 

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.