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!

[dbfolks166mt]

     You basically have two separate issues. The first is the chargeback filed by the buyer. stephenmorgan provided excellent advice on how to address that piece so I don't have much to add other than you may not be able to respond to the chargeback. EBay seems to waffle back and forth on whether they request seller response or if they are addressing it internally and the notification on the chargeback you received was just informatory requiring no action on you part.

     The buyer may have "disappeared" if they were using a guest account. 

     As for the shipping issue if you shipped it USPS they are responsible for ensuring the delivery of the item to the shipping address provided by the buyer and updating the tracking. I would suggest opening an insurance claim with USPS for a lost package. Following is the website to do so and below are the timelines which you are rapidly bumping up against. 

https://www.usps.com/help/claims.htm 

[dbfolks166mt]

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.  Why? In most cases it is an unnecessary expense and does little. 

Seller will never be informed of the package being delivered to the buyer personally. I never get notification from USPS for delivery of anything. 

Better protection would be using eBay international shipping program. Seller is protected. This has nothing to do with the sellers current situation. EIS is for international shipping this is a domestic shipment from eBay's perspective. 

[dbfolks166mt]

@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.

     In this case the delivery and tracking is, at this point, irrelevant. EBay is out of the decision loop with regards to the chargeback and the question here is the legitimacy of the charge. I suspect eBay will provide the information to the CC company on what was ordered, the buyers information and the payment details and the CC company will rule on that alone. Seller should win the chargeback without any problem. 

    As for the delivery that is a separate issue and buyer has not raised it yet but the could potentially do so in the future. 

[gwens*4saleitems*]

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

1) this 'buyer' used a stolen credit card, got your widget and disappeared.

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

2) Didn't recognize transaction because card owner isn't the 'buyer'.

You should still contact USPS and get them to pull up the GPS track on your tracking number. They can see if/when/where it was delivered. If not delivered, do a package recall (because the bank WILL win and get your/their money).

[sextons-sweet-deals]

My post is based on experience. 

Shipping to a freight forwarder with signature has never been an issue for me because tracking shows delivered. A little coin spent to avoid my personal time & stress of an open case is worth the expense. 

Sellers need to review their buyers before shipping and make the decision on how to handle the order.

I have no idea of this comment you made to my comment: Seller will never be informed of the package being delivered to the buyer personally. I never get notification from USPS for delivery of anything. 

If you look at your eBay orders, you will see when the item was delivered if you're shipping with tracking.

If you're not, that is the risk you're taking for a buyer to open a case. 

[dbfolks166mt]

My post is based on experience. As is mine.

Shipping to a freight forwarder with signature has never been an issue for me because tracking shows delivered. A little coin spent to avoid my personal time & stress of an open case is worth the expense.  That is the reason I never use the signature option on shipping. 

Sellers need to review their buyers before shipping and make the decision on how to handle the order. Agree for the most part. 

I have no idea of this comment you made to my comment: Seller will never be informed of the package being delivered to the buyer personally. I never get notification from USPS for delivery of anything.  I was simply agreeing but probably poorly worded. 

If you look at your eBay orders, you will see when the item was delivered if you're shipping with tracking. As I always do since I do not leave feedback until after the item is delivered. 

If you're not, that is the risk you're taking for a buyer to open a case. Fully aware I never ship anything without tracking although I know a LOT of sellers do. 

[mam98031]

---

@carebearyfairy wrote:

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.

---

It is normal for Ebay to tell you this when a buyer files a Chargeback using that reason.  Ebay submits the info to prove the transaction to the buyer's funding source.  This is one that most if not all sellers win without any effort on our part.  Just keep an eye on it of course.  But you are likely just fine.

[mam98031]

---

@12345jamesstamps wrote:

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.

---

Was your chargeback for the same reason?  "don't recognize the transaction/didn't authorize"

I think yours may have been for a different reason.

[mam98031]

For sellers that may not be aware, if you use USPS for your shipping, if you sign up for Informed Deliveries, you get an email daily of your incoming mail to your address and also what packages you shipped.  It doesn't tell you when the packages are delivered, but it does give you a list of those still in transit.  So they drop off the list as delivered.  I really like this.

https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

[fashunu4eeuh]

---

@carebearyfairy wrote:

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. 

---

@carebearyfairy It is maddening to hear that you reached out to customer service for help and they incomprehensibly gave you bad advice, multiple times. Sadly, we see this scenario play out on a weekly basis.

My observations have been that when the eBay call centers got closed down during Covid, the quality of rep-training never recovered to pre-pandemic helpfulness. Most of the time the advice given in the forums by fellow posters will be superior to the current eBay phone reps. This lack of accurate advice from customer service should not happen. I am so sorry it happened to you. 

[mam98031]

---

@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

---

@carebearyfairy wrote:

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. 

---

@carebearyfairy It is maddening to hear that you reached out to customer service for help and they incomprehensibly gave you bad advice, multiple times. Sadly, we see this scenario play out on a weekly basis.

My observations have been that when the eBay call centers got closed down during Covid, the quality of rep-training never recovered to pre-pandemic helpfulness. Most of the time the advice given in the forums by fellow posters will be superior to the current eBay phone reps. This lack of accurate advice from customer service should not happen. I am so sorry it happened to you. 

---

I think that is a bit of a selected memory.  We have always had issue with Ebay CSRs giving bad or incorrect advice.  Pre and post pandemic.  The Call Center pre pandemic was just as ill trained as the call back system is today.

The CSRs at the Ebay Social Media accounts are typically the better trained CSRs.

But I firmly agree with you.  Coming here and asking question is more likely to get you the correct information.

[stuff4divas]

@carebearyfairy   u should have gone to the USPS website and opened a 'where's my package' case, at least do it now

u can also find out from there if the package can be intercepted, as @fab_finds4u  posted

the cost is about $17 and not guaranteed, so don't know if it is worth it for u

[mam98031]

I think many of the responses are MISSING the fact that the OP said this is a Chargeback and the reason is that the buyer did not recognize the charge.

The advice Ebay gave them was absolutely correct.  There is NOTHING the seller needs to do.  Ebay will take care of this by sending the appropriate documentation to the buyer's payment source to show that they made the purchase.  The OP and their money will be fine.

The OP reports that the buyer is now NARU'd, so they have no concern over feedback or any other type of claim on Ebay.  

Tracking info is not needed for this kind of Chargeback.

[robbie31415]

"Tracking info is not needed for this kind of Chargeback."  😂

 

When a buyer opens a payment dispute because they didn't receive the item or they don't recognize the transaction

When a buyer opens a payment dispute because they didn't receive the item or they don't recognize the transaction, sellers will be asked to provide:

• Evidence of successful delivery to the address provided by the buyer at checkout, or
• Proof that the buyer collected the item

If eBay determines that the item was successfully delivered or picked up:

• We will not seek reimbursement from the seller for the disputed amount, even if the payment institution decides that the buyer is owed a refund; and
• We will waive or refund the seller's dispute fee

[albertabrightalberta]

---

@mam98031 wrote:

For sellers that may not be aware, if you use USPS for your shipping, if you sign up for Informed Deliveries, you get an email daily of your incoming mail to your address and also what packages you shipped.  It doesn't tell you when the packages are delivered, but it does give you a list of those still in transit.  So they drop off the list as delivered.  I really like this.

https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

---

You can also get "delivered" notifications. 

On the USPS website, when checking the tracking, you can sign up for text and/or email updates. Each time the item is scanned, you get an email.