Item I sent to possible freight forwarder lost in mail, buyer filed "not recognize transaction"???

[carebearyfairy]

So item sold Oct 19th and buyer paid right away. I shipped Oct 21st and tracking was provided in ebay. I did notice when shipping that the buyer location on their profile said China, but the shipping address was in NH, but I didn't think too much of it as I have heard of overseas buyers using freight forwarders, so I assumed that's what was happening here.

So I bought the shipping label in ebay and shipped to the NH address exactly as listed. On the 22nd tracking said it arrived at a distribution center of my city, but the next few updates over the next few days just say in transit to next facility. The last update was on Oct 26th and says in transit/arriving late, nothing since then. I had been keeping an eye on it so did notice it had stopped moving, but heard nothing from the buyer so was just going to keep waiting to see if it eventually would update again.

On Nov 1st the funds were paid out to me, though tracking still not updating.

Nov 5th I got a notice that buyer had filed a payment dispute. Still no messages from them though. But apparently buyer didnt dispute to eBay directly, they filed with their payment institution. But the reason they gave was "did not recognize the transaction". Not INR as I would have assumed would be the reason. Why transaction not recognized?

Then I noticed when clicking on their username again in ebay now it says they are no longer a registered user. I googled the shipping address and it exists but appears to be maybe a condo/apt or residence converted into a business suite. It looks kinda like a house but has 3 units. But no freight forwarding business name coming up in google connected to that address. So idk if any of that means anything but seems fishy to me.

In my account it was asking me to either agree with the dispute and the funds would be deducted from me and refunded to the buyer or to counter with documentation. I didn't know what to do as I didn't agree with them saying they didn't recognize the transaction but also wasn't sure what it meant by documentation, all I had was the post office tracking receipt which was already in ebay. So I didn't click anything and with much effort figured out how to get someone at eBay to call me.

She agreed with me that seems odd and that I had done all I was supposed to do as a seller and assured me I get to keep the funds and told me I didn't need to do anything further and that eBay would be going to bat for me in the payment dispute. I was surprised bc I did explain to her that the item does look lost in transit and not showing as delivered, and I had read that seller protection only applies if item shows delivered. I also asked if I should contact USPS or the buyer or click a response in ebay and she insisted I didn't need to do anything. So I didn't. After that call I did notice the dispute continued to ask for my response by Nov 10th and said the funds were on hold, even though it had already been paid out to me on the 1st. Now that it's past the 10th it just says we're awaiting the dispute outcome and they'll let me know when they hear back from the buyer's payment institution.

Does what the rep told me sound right, that I def get to keep the funds and don't need to do anything? Is it fishy that the buyer is no longer on eBay and claimed to not recognize the transaction and the shipping address doesn't really look like a freight forwarder? If I could get the item back I would gladly refund, but who knows where it is. I'm surprised the rep told me I didn't need to contact USPS. She didn't really say she'd seen this scenario before, but just that she could see I'd done all the right things and that eBay would be siding with me and I get to keep the funds. She didn't comment on the buyer no longer being on eBay. I'm just half expecting that what she told me ends up wrong and I will have to refund and then file a claim with USPS. I just hope this dispute doesn't take forever. Any thoughts or experiences with this? Im not a frequent seller. TIA!

[fab_finds4u]

Payment dispute saying they did not recognize is same as unauthorized which means you will be refunding.

If tracking shows it hasn't  been delivered yet try using USPS Package Intercept to have it returned.

[carebearyfairy]

So like I was afraid of the eBay rep was indeed wrong then? Ok thanks, I will look into intercepting, though idk how they would if it's lost, it hasn't moved since Oct 26. Why didn't buyer just say item not received as their reason? And isn't it strange that suddenly they are no longer a registered eBay user? I'm willing to do whatever I need to do, I'm just unsure if all this is normal or odd or what. 

[stephenmorgan]

As for does not recognize charge, upload a copy of the Transaction Details to the case.  eBay should back you up because they are the one who determined the card was ok and accepted the charge then told you to ship the item.  You have no way to verify anything about the payment as that Is eBay's responsibility to you.

A item not received claim would be your responsibility to prove item was delivered. If you can not prove item was delivered then you should issue a refund.

[albertabrightalberta]

@carebearyfairy 

This is a tricky one because tracking doesn't show delivery. 

If tracking showed delivery, you would win the "unauthorized transaction" dispute as long as you shipped to the address shown on the ebay order. 

But without delivery confirmation, I'm not sure how ebay will handle this one. 

I do believe that the CS person you spoke to gave bad advice. 

Normally, you would counter the dispute with documentation showing shipment to the correct address and delivery confirmation. 

You should NEVER ignore the dispute. (Even for INR - item not received - you need to respond even when the label is purchased through ebay. The dispute doesn't "see" the order and you need to paste the tracking number.)

I just don't know how ebay will handle a non-delivery unauthorized claim.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, @carebearyfairy  in case you have not seen eBay’s policy on how to handle a payment dispute, here is the link:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/handling-payment-disputes?id=4799

[mam98031]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

Payment dispute saying they did not recognize is same as unauthorized which means you will be refunding.

If tracking shows it hasn't  been delivered yet try using USPS Package Intercept to have it returned.

---

@fab_finds4u 

This is not necessarily correct.  Usually this happens as a reason on a Chargeback.  And Ebay usually steps in and takes care of it by submitting the info to the bank showing the buyer made the transaction.

The reason that they don't recognized the charge is not a reason available when filing an Ebay claim.  It is however available if filing a chargeback with their payment source.

[mam98031]

I apologize, but I did not read your original post.  My eyes have issues trying to follow a wall of text.  

If the reason for the claim is they didn't recognize the charge, you are dealing with a Chargeback and not a claim filed in Ebay.  

You should have received an email from Ebay telling you of the Chargeback and that they would take care of providing the info to the bank that the chargeback was filed with.

Did you get any emails from Ebay?  If so, what did they say?

A Chargeback for this reason is usually the easiest to win.

[reallynicestamps]

I shipped Oct 21st and tracking was provided in ebay....

the shipping address was in NH,....

appears to be maybe a condo/apt or residence converted into a business suite.....

The forwarders we hear about are usually commercial enterprises with thousands of customers but there is nothing to prevent (or usually worry about) if it is someone's auntie doing a family member a favour

The last update was on Oct 26th and says in transit/arriving late, nothing since then.

What was the last estimated delivery date and was there a revised last date?

Nov 5th I got a notice that buyer had filed a payment dispute....

But the reason they gave was "did not recognize the transaction".

clicking on their username again in ebay now it says they are no longer a registered user....

all I had was the post office tracking receipt which was already in ebay. So I didn't click anything

Rookie mistake.

Sigh.

get someone at eBay to call me. She agreed with me that seems odd and that I had done all I was supposed to do as a seller and assured me I get to keep the funds and told me I didn't need to do anything further

She didn't tell you to put the tracking number in the dispute?

After that call I did notice the dispute continued to ask for my response by Nov 10th

And you ignored it?

Sigh.

If you still can PUT THE TRACKING NUMBER INTO THE DISPUTE.

[carebearyfairy]

Sorry, I just edited it to insert breaks. No, I just was alerted to the payment dispute right in my eBay account. I wasn't sure how to respond so got eBay to call me and then the rest is as I said in my post

[carebearyfairy]

Thanks for the condescending sighing, but I did exactly as the eBay rep told me to do. I didn't ignore anything, I was unsure what best response would be as I've never had this situation so I talked to an eBay rep and more than once she told me to do nothing further. I mentioned to her that I hadn't clicked any option  yet in the dispute and she still said I didn't need to do anything. I did think the whole thing odd, hence posting here to see if others have experienced this. Thanks for your input. 

[sextons-sweet-deals]

If I decide to ship to a freight forwarder, I will pay for the signature fee to show it was delivered to the freight forwarder.

Seller will never be informed of the package being delivered to the buyer personally. 

Better protection would be using eBay international shipping program. Seller is protected. 

[carebearyfairy]

She didn't tell you to put the tracking number in the dispute?

No she didn't. She literally said do nothing, we'll take care of it from here. She saw the tracking info as she was on the line with me and kept saying no need to do anything else, even after I specifically mentioned that I hadn't clicked a response in the dispute. I figured they took the phone convo as my response to the dispute and would be submitting whatever documentation needed of the transaction to the payment institution as that's what she indicated. 

[carebearyfairy]

Thanks, you're probably right. But not sure how that would have helped me any in this specific case, where item is apparently lost in mail before even getting to the forwarder, but buyer disappears from eBay and does a chargeback saying they don't recognize the transaction/didn't authorize when they did. And eBay telling me to do nothing.

[12345jamesstamps]

I did win such a dispute last Christmas.

My buyer was also no longer a registered user...which means nothing.

Basically, you are dealing with the bank where eBay steps aside but is still there.

Outcome can take a few weeks with bank/eBay and you.

Documentation...what to upload...I had nothing to upload...so I put a photo of my wife's Barbie and Ken photo of Christmas in documentation. Have to put something in documentation for the response to go through.

I did respond...I wrote a 1000+ word in a business form with my reply.

    In transit/arriving late...I have some that say that since last year...they just didn't get scanned as 'delivered'...which means a refund only if buyer requests.

USPS can't do anything in this situation...as well as customer service...and I wouldn't listen to what CS saids.