PO lost package

[parker_2k4]

Hi, the post office has lost a package.  I let the buyer know and refunded their money.  Now it is showing on my page as unpaid.  How do I clear this - do I cancel the sale or what?  Also, can I get my fvfee back?  Thanks!

[swenson8781]

HOW did you refund their money?  Just through Paypal?  If so, I'm guessing you will get a defect on your account, and there isn't anything you can do about it at this point 😞  Sorry.  

You did the right thing, just in the wrong way to protect yourself.  Next time, if this or something similar happens again (where your buyer is agreeable with the refund), be sure to 'cancel' the transaction, at the 'buyers request' (select that for the reason to cancel) BEFORE you refund their money.  Your buyer will have to approve it, but you will then get your fvf's back, and no harm to your selling account.

And the unpaid item just sits in there, eventually they go away.  I have one sitting there from a refund I did.  There is no way I can find to remove it, so you just have to ignore it knowing that you refunded already.

[parker_2k4]

I viewed the Paypal transaction for the sale, then issued the refund through that transaction at Paypal. 

What is a 'defect' on my account?  The tracking has said 'in transit' for a long time and I've been hitting the PO nearly every day to talk with the postmaster about the package.  She has written the Portland annex station but they have never replied and so she said today it must be lost.

I'm sure the buyer must understand as I've sent them a note every time I returned from the PO.

Should I now cancel the sale?  Isn't there a place where 'lost packages' can be used as the reason?

Thanks for the help!

[siayan]

What is the time frame? Was your customer complaining?

If they didn't open a case it would have been best to wait. The package will probably arrive.

[city*satins]

You can still CANCEL THE ORDER since you refunded in full.     Just go to the dropdown list on the transaction record and select CANCEL ORDER, eBay will already know that you've refunded. 

I can't advise you what reason to give except to say that technically speaking there's appears to be a problem with the address in that USPS couldn't seem to get it to that address.   On the other hand, selecting damaged, out of stock etc results in a defect against the seller.  So.....

[parker_2k4]

No, the customer has not complained.  It was shipped 10-10 and has been bouncing between the portland annex and the portland distribution center until 10-13.  At which point it seems to have stalled and the tracking has said 'in transit to destination' since then.  There is no updated delivery date.

I called the customer service number for the PO and sat on hold so long my cell phone went dead.  

The postmaster did give me more forms to fill out but she has no idea what has happened since they never answered her email.  She didn't sound to sure of them finding it so I issued the refund.

As she said, "You have to remember we handle thousands and thousands of packages">

[parker_2k4]

Thanks for the info. I'll do that now.

[city*satins]

LOL @ a postmaster saying thousands and thousands of packages!  

[siayan]

First a little advice, if the customer isn't complaining don't do anything. It will likely straighten itself out but since you gave a refund it is for the most part over.

Once they complain then you can start the clock. For all you know it may get delivered without a scan, the customer would never say anything and that would be the end,

Now you can file a insurance claim for a lost package but it will miraculously show up.

[fern*wood]

Did the buyer actually tell you they never received the package?  Not every package gets scanned as delivered.  

[parker_2k4]

oh yes city* and she also told me that there was probably something wrong with my printer and the bar code didn't print right and I must know everything is done by machines now .... until I pointed out that they scanned it just fine ... and the regional distribution center scanned it just fine .... so I think my printer is fine.

[a_c_green]

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@parker_2k4 wrote:

No, the customer has not complained.  It was shipped 10-10 and has been bouncing between the portland annex and the portland distribution center until 10-13. 

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Okay, that just means that it was not successfully scanned coming out of the shipping container, and thus the tracking continued to report it via the location of the container in which it was last seen, rather than via a scan of the package itself.

Is it possible that the label's barcode is not clear enough to scan properly? The few sightings of it on-line so far may have been due to someone manually keying in the barcode number instead. 

As others have said, it was really way too soon to go refunding (especially if the buyer hadn't even contacted you about it), and there's some possibility that it was delivered anyway.

[parker_2k4]

siayan, I'll remember that in the future. I feel confident that it hasn't been delivered. The postmaster showed me her printout of the tracking - a LOT more detailed than what I see at usps - and it is stuck somewhere in the annex. I already told the buyer that if it ever shows up, they can keep it. It was a small sale and not worth more of my time or gas in trips to the PO. But you are right .... tomorrow morning it could give me a delivery date.

[parker_2k4]

No, they didn't, but according to the info the postmaster showed me, it is/was stuck in the annex.

[parker_2k4]

Thanks a_c - I'll remember that. It did seem like it was time to refund, especially after the dialogs with the postmaster, but in the future I *will* give it more time.