Seller opened an item not received case 5 months after ordering

[kaiss_h]

Is this allowed on eBay? Do I have to refund him? I find it kind of crazy that this buyer decided to open a case on something they ordered in February 

[downunder-61]

DId you have tracking that shows delivered?

If so, upload that into the case, [if the system even allows you to at this stage] if not I would decline the claim.

They could still claim via Paypal or credit card, but only have 180 days for either of those, but I would take the risk on that.

[inhawaii]

Is this a ebay claim or a chargeback?

I thought the time limit to file a ebay claim was 90 days.

[mandisattictoyz]

Is this an international order?  That could pose a problem if so.

[femmefan1946]

Start by uploading the tracking number and delivery date, if you can find it.

Don't refund until you are told to by eBay.  Then refund promptly.

It is unlikely that you will be refunding at this late date if you have tracking.

[lakefor94]

Tracking numbers are only valid for 4 months.  You are close to that cutoff.

What was the exact delivery date?

Is this a payment processor charge back or did the buyer somehow open a case with eBay? If it is an eBay case enter the tracking number that shows delivery.   eBay might also allow you to just close the case without refunding since it is past the 30-day time frame for refunds/returns. 

If it is a payment processor charge back, you are probably going to lose if you don't have the tracking to respond to that case.

[12345jamesstamps]

I had one or two of these. I usually don't suggest calling eBay customer service ... but...and I say but ...when I did call them and I told them the expired time of a item and such they actually closed the case without a refund. It is a suggestion, but you got to be really nice and polite when you talk to CS. Mistakes do happen. eBay is not perfect as we are not.  eBay forgot to bill me for monthly service June and decided to bill me for June and July today as a one hit. I am not sure if he did a credit card chargeback...and if 5 months is allowed of that card. Tracking does help with a credit card chargeback from the seller sometimes.

[a_c_green]

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@downunder-61 wrote:

They could still claim via Paypal or credit card, but only have 180 days for either of those, but I would take the risk on that.

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This sounds like the old scam that came about when the USPS began dumping their tracking info after four months, but PayPal allowed Item Not Received disputes to be filed for up to six months. As far as I'm aware, that's still the case.

The USPS decided to monetize their old tracking data by charging extra if you wanted to keep your tracking beyond the four-month cutoff. The catch is that you have to pay for that service (several bucks per number, depending on how long you want to keep it available) before the tracking info is deleted.

Prior to that, the USPS would archive the data, not delete it, so that if you filed a request for tracking of an old shipment, the data would be restored in about two hours. That's no longer available.

Thus scammers would buy their big-ticket item in the normal manner, wait four months, then slam in their INR dispute as soon as their tracking number was no longer available from the USPS.

@kaiss_h: I would go through the motions of providing the tracking number as requested within the dispute, even if it's no longer verifiable on-line, and hope for the best. Keep us posted on how this goes, please.

[kaiss_h]

Unfortunantely no tracking because I ship these products with postage stamps

[wrong66]

In a First Class envelope?

[wrong66]

This is a terrible situation. Almost forces one to take screenshots of every tracking history if you're selling high value items.

[caseypl]

It's not crazy when you realize some people are desperate to scrounge up any cash they can get. February=Tax season for alot of Americans means cash to buy stuff. Right now.... well, that cash is gone and prices are up 30% across the board.