eBay

photoart-f64 · ‎08-09-2023

I'm posting this on the selling forum because most sellers are also buyers, and the seller forum is likely to have more traffic.

I recently purchased a vintage Leica camera with three lenses and a few other accessories. The seller shipped the package via USPS Priority Mail 1 Day Express. I anxiously awaited the delivery. USPS Tracking showed the package out for delivery on 8/5/23. When the US Mail truck arrived at 1:15 PM on that day, I personally observed that only letter type mail was delivered when the carrier moved on. No package. I immediately checked the delivery status in my USPS Informed Delivery service online. Tracking showed that the package was delivered in my mailbox at 11:40 AM on 8/5/23. I then made a Proof of Delivery request. They eMailed me a sheet showing the package was delivered at my address on 8/5/23 at 11:40 AM. It showed that the package weighed 2lb-2oz. (impossible given what I purchased) and was printed with the eBay/Pitney Bowes Label service. I went to my Post Office later that day and spoke to the Delivery Manager. I explained what had occurred and showed him the Proof of Delivery that I received. He went back to his office and checked. When he returned he told me that the package was physically labeled with a delivery address different from mine. He said that by law he could not give me the address.

This morning I sold an item on eBay. To my surprise, I found that using the eBay shipping service I could edit the buyers delivery address before printing the label. So I did exactly that and printed the label. Afterwards, I voided the label and printed one with the buyer's correct address. But it showed me how easy it is for a fraudulent seller to create a shipping label with a delivery address in the same city and zip code as the buyer's, attach it to small light weight box and ship it. Tracking will show that the package was delivered, and the buyer cannot prove to eBay that it was not delivered. EBay humans are virtually impossible to reach and communicate with. And I because Tracking shows the item delivered, eBay won't make good on their Money Back Guarantee.

If anyone out there can offer assistance or advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Message me. photoart-f64

a_c_green · ‎08-09-2023

@photoart-f64 wrote:
I went to my Post Office later that day and spoke to the Delivery Manager. I explained what had occurred and showed him the Proof of Delivery that I received. He went back to his office and checked. When he returned he told me that the package was physically labeled with a delivery address different from mine. He said that by law he could not give me the address.

You have a pretty good handle on how that scam works. It's too bad that the Delivery Manager hadn't heard about it sooner.

Unfortunately eBay will not refund you in an Item Not Received dispute because the item was supposedly delivered to you. You'll need to appeal the decision by obtaining a letter from the Delivery Manager on USPS letterhead to certify that the package with your tracking number was addressed to someplace else within the same City and ZIP code. Contacting eBay for Business via their Facebook account will get you knowledgeable contacts within eBay; telephone Customer Service will not. Good luck.

stuff4divas · ‎08-09-2023

@photoart-f64 yes, the edit button for eBay shipping labels has been available for years, sometimes bc the buyer requests it and or the address characters are too numerous and have to be pushed onto the 2nd line and or other reasons, but if either ship to or ship from is changed to a completely address, buyer/seller protection is lost.

If this is how the seller changed the address, then eBay can look it up.

As @a_c_green said, contact eBay's social media platforms

Contact eBay via their social media sites with a private message:

https://Facebook.com/ebay

AND-OR

https://Twitter.com/askebay

Great customer service on both

dhbookds · ‎08-09-2023

@photoart-f64

Good advice........but I'm curious. You can't name the seller on this forum......but is he/she from the US? how does their feedback look? Big seller or newbie?