Missing Item, Advice Needed

[cwilk]

A buyer has opened an item not received case against me.  The item shows delivered. Left in mailbox as of 9/30.  In his message he said he is missing other packages lately.  It's a fifty dollar item.   I wrote back immediately and suggested his forst step should be to work with the post office where he lives and try to find his packages.  What would you do?

[brightlightbookseller]

Just make sure the tracking information is in the case (you used to have to upload it there separately, but for the last few I've handled I couldn't have if I wanted to because it was already there and uneditable). If it shows delivered, it'll close in your favor.  Not your responsibility if he has a porch pirate or other thief.

[wastingtime101]

Confirm the tracking number in the INR claim. After a few days you'll see an option to ask eBay to step in. Do that. The claim will close out in your favor because you have tracking confirming delivery.

I'd suggest to the buyer if a lot of their packages are going missing, they should report the mail theft to their local police and local post office, and look into other secure methods for delivery such as a PO box.

[cwilk]

So, I've had perfect feedback since 1999.  Should I be prepared for my first negative?

[lakefor94]

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@cwilk wrote:

So, I've had perfect feedback since 1999.  Should I be prepared for my first negative?

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It is possible to get a neg.

Can't remember if those are automatically removed if you win the case.

Anyone?

[a_c_green]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

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@cwilk wrote:

So, I've had perfect feedback since 1999.  Should I be prepared for my first negative?

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It is possible to get a neg.

Can't remember if those are automatically removed if you win the case.

Anyone?

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I thought they were removed, yes. @cwilk , what does your problem buyer's Feedback Left for Others look like?

Make sure that your tracking number is showing in your Order Details, and that you have uploaded the tracking number to the Item Not Received case where indicated. It should eventually time out and close in your favor, assuming that the tracking shows Delivery in the City and ZIP of the address you received with the payment.

[golfingaddict]

I'm surprised at the number of customers that will go directly to the seller about stolen/missing packages but will not first contact the Post Office and Law Enforcement.

I do like to take care of my customers but if I think my mail is getting stolen, you can bet if it were my packages being missing/stolen, my first call would not be to the seller.    I would then figure out a more secure way to receive packages.

Fortunately, to some degree, eBay will now protect the seller.  It wasn't always this way.

[cwilk]

It was shipped with an Ebay label and the case says I can't change the tracking number on an item that has been delivered.  My feedback left for others is all about the same.  I already left this guy feedback when the item showed as delivered.  The item could have been misdelivered.  It could have been stolen after delivery.  Or the guy could be scamming me, which, I doubt.  Or maybe the package will show up in a day or two.

[mam98031]

@cwilk 

When an INR is opened, Ebay will allow the case to remain open as long as there is some kind of movement on the tracking within the past 7 days.  

The best protection for a seller when a buyer files an INR and the package has not yet arrived, even if tracking shows it has, is to do the following.

1. Upload the tracking number to the INR the buyer opened.
2. Go to the USPS site and call up the tracking number to view the tracking.
3. From that page  sign up for email updates for any entry made to the tracking.  Oddly enough often this simple act gets the package moving.  I do not know why, but it happens more times than not.
4. Go to the link below and file a Trace on the package.

https://usps.my.site.com/emailus/s/package-inquiry

Then inside the case, send the buyer an email letting them know what you have done in an effort to get that package moving and let them know that you will keep them informed as you see movement.  

Once a case is opened, make sure any communication with your buyer you may have, you do it from inside the Claim so that all info is in one place for Ebay.

[mam98031]

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@cwilk wrote:

So, I've had perfect feedback since 1999.  Should I be prepared for my first negative?

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That would require us being able to read the buyer's mind.  Maybe yes, maybe no.

However in a case of an item being received per tracking, if the buyer leaves FB that says they didn't receive the item, it can be removed.

[mam98031]

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@cwilk wrote:

It was shipped with an Ebay label and the case says I can't change the tracking number on an item that has been delivered.  My feedback left for others is all about the same.  I already left this guy feedback when the item showed as delivered.  The item could have been misdelivered.  It could have been stolen after delivery.  Or the guy could be scamming me, which, I doubt.  Or maybe the package will show up in a day or two.

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Why would you have the need to change the tracking number?  

None of what you said makes you responsible to the buyer.

[pickapaper]

@cwilk 

Has the buyer actually opened a claim or has he just messaged you about the missing package?  

[a_c_green]

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@cwilk wrote:

It was shipped with an Ebay label and the case says I can't change the tracking number on an item that has been delivered.

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I don't understand your comment about changing the tracking number; I just wanted to verify that you have uploaded the tracking number to the Not Received case. I assume that it's already showing a Delivered status to the City and ZIP of the address you received with the payment.

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@cwilk wrote:

My feedback left for others is all about the same.

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No, no, I was referring to his Feedback Left for Others, not yours. Go to his feedback page (you'll need the desktop view, not the Mobile app) and click on the Left for others tab to see if he's a chronic complainer, or shows any other comments to indicate that he's had similar delivery problems in the past.

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@cwilk wrote:

The item could have been misdelivered.  It could have been stolen after delivery.  Or the guy could be scamming me, which, I doubt.  Or maybe the package will show up in a day or two.

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All are possibilities, yes, although I think a late show-up is a bit unlikely, as it was scanned as Delivered somewhere. Your buyer can go to his post office and ask them to check their in-house intranet system (not visible on their public-facing website), which logs the exact GPS coordinates where the Delivered scan occurred, and can help to determine whether it was misdelivered or actually left at the correct address.

[a_c_green]

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@mam98031 wrote:

3. From that page  sign up for email updates for any entry made to the tracking.  Oddly enough often this simple act gets the package moving.  I do not know why, but it happens more times than not.

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I really really wish that you would stop saying this, as it has absolutely no basis in reality, period.

Signing up for either text or email notifications for any new entries to the tracking log has absolutely no connection to the physical movement of the package, or lack of same. What it does is to set a database flag on the tracking record so that when there is an update, a text or email is sent to you. All you are doing is speeding up your notification of an event that was going to happen anyway. 

This notification option does have its benefits, in that the package is essentially reporting to you; you don't have to keep going to the website to see if there's anything new. But if you do want to try nudging a package into movement, file a Missing Mail report on it, as that does attempt to spur people into action to see where the package might be.

[mam98031]

It may not be your experience, but that doesn't make it inaccurate.  I have never said it happens every time.  It has been my experience and that of others.  I respect that your experience is different.