Package w/Odor – Refund, Recourse from USPS, etc.

[0ysterb0y]

I sold a pretty valuable LEGO set (at least by my standards), and it was delivered yesterday. I woke up to a message from the buyer saying that the box had arrived in a plastic bag when USPS delivered it because of a strong feces odor and that they tried to air it out overnight but the smell lingered and so they threw out the package (including the deconstructed LEGO set and its instructions). They said USPS wouldn't accept it to ship it back because the smell was so bad. 

I have no idea what to do in this situation. I packaged and shipped it myself, and the box itself nor any of its contents had any kind of smell much less one so offensive that it would render the LEGOs unsalvageable. I have no reason to believe this person would be lying, and I feel terrible they had to deal with that, but I genuinely have no idea what they're talking about. I'm fairly new to eBay, but I've been selling old clothes on Depop for a few months and nothing like this has ever happened.

Obviously, I'll be giving the buyer a full refund, but I'm not sure what to do about the lost value of the set. I was going to pay for a return shipping label, but the package and its contents were thrown out. I was looking to raise a dispute with USPS, but I don't know if that's an option because it was thrown out and there is no indication on the Tracking website of this problem having been documented in transit or upon delivery. 

Thank you so much; I really just want to get this worked out for everyone.

UPDATE: I spoke with USPS just now, and the kind employee said that the bag in the picture they sent me is not the bag they use, if the item had been damaged in-transit the tracking website would reflect that, and that this would be the only time in his 30+ years with the Postal Service that he'd seen this. I will be telling the buyer to return the item if they want a refund. Thank you all so much for your input.

[ltldpr]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@bennotbill wrote:

Sounds more like the buyer is taking the urine.

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Show of hands, please: How many 'murricans got the joke there? 😂

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🖐 😎

[jonathanbrightlight]

I did!  I watch/read a lot of things with British humor.

[kalyoth]

Just to clarify - The current USPS may no longer be able to accept this as described due to the enacted Hazardous Materials Regulations. It all depends upon what the contents are & what the chemical nature of the issue is.

I would also mention that I believe this to be a scam attempt more than a harmless incident. As others have mentioned, the process for refunds is defined by ebay - have the buyer initiate a return. Beware: another scam is the return scam where they will return as little as an empty package just to get successful tracking.

[itsjustasprain]

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@kalyoth wrote:

I would also mention that I believe this to be a scam attempt more than a harmless incident. As others have mentioned, the process for refunds is defined by ebay - have the buyer initiate a return. Beware: another scam is the return scam where they will return as little as an empty package just to get successful tracking.

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Very true. If or when that happens please update us here. Ebay may enforce a refund automatically and you will need to appeal by getting a letter from your local post office to say that the returned package tracking number (whatever) was not actually addressed to you. If you did receive the package and there was nothing but a worthless trinket inside then you will need to file a police report and perhaps claim your loss on your tax return at the end of the year. ☹️

[tarotfindsandmore]

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@0ysterb0y wrote:

UPDATE: I spoke with USPS just now, and the kind employee said that the bag in the picture they sent me is not the bag they use, if the item had been damaged in-transit the tracking website would reflect that, and that this would be the only time in his 30+ years with the Postal Service that he'd seen this. I will be telling the buyer to return the item if they want a refund. Thank you all so much for your input.

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Yay!  Congrats.  Keep in mind that your exchange with with this buyer/scammer will be in your messages in the event they try anything further.  If they push the issue, you can let them know that eBay has been apprised of the situation and reiterate that you will process the refund as soon as you have the set in hand.  If you do get an empty package back, you can refuse the refund and list this as the reason why.  

Also, bear in mind that, if the package was in the condition that the buyer/scammer is trying to claim, it wouldn't have been delivered.  You would have received a notice from the USPS letting you know that you either had to 1) retrieve the package from your P.O. or 2) it had been confiscated and disposed of because it contained hazardous or prohibited materials (this is what they do when people try to mail weed). 

[tinsoldierunderground]

@rfmtm 

Buyer claims they threw item away, how is the buyer supposed to open a return request??  Or accept a partial refund if they want to keep it?? 

[bashort]

I would just respond  return for refund and repeat as necessary

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Although I will usually default to believing the buyer and taking their description of a problem as honest and accurate, I do not sell LEGOs or other products which include in their target demographics buyers who are likely to watch TikTok or YouTube videos on how to scam sellers.

If the buyer threw the LEGOs away, they will lose an Ebay MBG claim and will need to involve their credit card issuer. Make them work to steal your money, and make them build up a history with Ebay and their bank to make continued fraud become risky.

You are going to have some losses due to fraud. The more popular the items you sell are, the more often you will see fraud. Your pricing and margins should reflect this.

[jonathanbrightlight]

@tinsoldierunderground  I would consider that the buyer's problem to solve at this point, not the seller's.  If the buyer cannot return anything because they threw it away, they cannot get a refund either.

[pikabo-icu]

@0ysterb0y 

You received excellent advice from a variety of very experienced members.

I'm glad to read your update..

So I will just add this: You are a brand new seller and scammers look for sellers like you.

Legos is a high scam category as are video games, computers and many others.

Try to read through the guides for new sellers here:  https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/start-selling-ebay?id=4081 

And here:  https://www.ebay.com/help/selling#getting-started-selling 

You'll also learn a LOT from reading these boards when you have spare time.

AND Please come back to the boards and ask for advice or help if you have questions.

The members here are MUCH better at solving issues than eBay's phone reps. In fact,

the phone reps are notorious for giving BAD information.  

Good Luck and Happy Selling.. 

[a_c_green]

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@tinsoldierunderground wrote:

@rfmtm 

Buyer claims they threw item away, how is the buyer supposed to open a return request??

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That of course would be the buyer's problem. I don't think any long-time sellers here seriously believe that nonsensical story from the buyer.

At this point the buyer has kind of painted himself into a corner with his ludicrous claim, because the Money Back Guarantee does not force the seller to refund without getting the item back first, if that is the seller's choice. Thus he would need to actually return something, either the original purchase (which he obviously wants to keep for free), or a fraudulently swapped item, and/or a fraudulently misdirected package.

After one or two rounds of "I'm sorry that you are not satisfied with your purchase. You may return it for a full refund," he might (might) give up and go away. The smelly-package/I-threw-it-away story is just ridiculous, but is part of a standard scam script that will sometimes work on new sellers.

[ifyouloveit]

Buyer claims they threw the item out last night so it's likely still in their trash can. Not that I believe a word of their story, the more I read through this the more it is clearly a scammer.

So they can collect it from their imaginary trash can and send it back.

Return for refund. Hopefully they go away after they realize their scam is not going to work on you.

Never do partial refunds, it's also usually a scam. Tell buyers to return for a refund. You will be surprised how quickly they disappear when they know you know what they are up to.

[rfmtm]

@tinsoldierunderground 

Well if buyer threw it away and can't return it, then no refund for them.

[a_c_green]

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@rfmtm wrote:

@tinsoldierunderground 

Well if buyer threw it away and can't return it, then no refund for them.

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Ayup. It's kind of academic at this point, because nothing else in the buyer's story rings true anyway.

@0ysterb0y : If you've sent him your short-and-sweet note to return it for a full refund, then just leave things be. However, if he does file a Not As Described claim, let us know here, and be sure to carefully select the Return for Refund option. He will get a return label from eBay. Do not ignore a return request, because blowing the deadline to respond will cause eBay to enforce a total refund and then collect those funds from you.

Don't select the straight Refund option, because refunding him now will simply ensure that you will never get the item back at all.

[slati_2013]

Use Google and use the zip code of the buyer's address to find the local Post Office which delivered the item. One of the amazing thing about the mail guys is they remember where they left everything and I can assure you if there was a delivery that smelt that bad, they would remember.