USPS item stalled in system and buyer wants refund

[goldrushfinds]

What to do. A pair of shoes was sent via USPS on July 21st. Tracking shows it made to a distribution 30 miles from me on that same day. No additional tracking info. since then. It was a Priority Mail Package (which I know is insured) and the post office told me since it was a Priority Mail Box that it is highly unlikely to be lost, but is just being rerouted. Would you refund the buyer and file a claim (pain in the you know what). What if I refund the buyer and tomorrow it shows up as delivered?

[vintagecraze50]

Do the best you can to stall the buyer by telling them you are filing a package search with USPS. It is called missing mail. This process will get the package identified and moving.  Tell them that. As far as I knew back during the worst phase  of the pandemic ebay was able to assist with stalling the time frame until they would allow for a buyer to file a claim. Call ebay and see if you can still get an extension on the time frame for delivery. 

[vintagecraze50]

I suspect that despite their somewhat better delivery service currently that Christmas this year might be a problem again so I am poised to switch everything back to Fed Ex Express when Christmas comes this year again. I still do not trust their service 100 percent yet. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     Because of the issues in 2020 I now simply shutdown everything starting about mid November and do not start back up till around February provided everything seems to be somewhat back to normal. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     If and when eBay ever figures out that they are NOT a part of the logistical process, with a few exceptions, and fix the problem with bogus INR's because of postal delays I may consider selling through the holidays. Until then I prefer not to deal with shipping issues or wasting my time. 

     The problem I have always had with using UPS and FedEx at least purchasing the labels through eBay is the  shipping costs are only estimates and subject to unilateral charges by UPS and FedEx. Way too many horror stories on this forum about some of the excessive after the fact charges sellers have had simply taken from their bank accounts. When I use UPS or FedEx I go through Pirate Ship or deal directly with a store. At the store I pay in cash to prevent any unilateral charges to my CC. Pirate ship offers protection against unilateral charges. 

[rugerskick]

Like fedex and ups the usps is lacking staff.  They are trying to go new people in which itself brings issues with it, like mistakes from new people....

My post office is down to one person, they normally have two but one is out from a traffic accident.  For awhile they had three people, but the third transferred because of higher pay at the other location.

[mam98031]

I would not rush to refund the buyer.  Nor would I contact the buyer yet unless they have contacted me expressing concern.  When I have this type of problem brought to my attention, this is what I do.

First I go to https://www.usps.com/welcome.htm  call up the tracking number and then I sign up for updates on this tracking number as entries / movements get recorded on the tracking.

Then I go to https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/ to file for a trace on the package.

If the buyer has contacted me expressing a problem, I will email them and let them know I have a trace on the item.  When I get any additional information on the package I will share it with them right away.  I will continue to do that until we come to a resolution that works for both of us.

If at some point you and your buyer decide a refund is in order, because you filed for the updates on the tracking, you will still get notified if it does finally arrive one day after you have refunded.  So if the buyer doesn't contact you, you can contact them and let them know you are aware that their package finally arrived.

I then ask them if they want to keep the item or return the item, their choice.  If they want to keep the item then they need to repay for the item, which you have no ability in Ebay to do that.  So get their email address and invoice them through PayPal.  If they no longer want the item and you want it back, send them a return label so they can easily get it back to you.

Over the years this has served me well.  USPS often, way too often, has a hiccup in their processes.  For me we have a major USPS hub about 65 miles north of us.  That is where most of my packages will sit for sometimes an entire month.

I've had lots and lots and lots of these problems over the past three years.  Or should I say since Dejoy took over the USPS.  Granted the Pandemic was a real issue, but it is not getting better it is getting worse.

With that said, with all the packages that I've had significantly delayed only one or two have been actually lost.

[quicksilverdiecast]

DO NOT REFUND and simply let it run its course, ebay brought this on themselves by letting buyers think that it is a delivery date and that we, as sellers have any control whatsoever over any of the carriers and how they run their business! I had one similar and when I checked the tracking history, the parcel had 23 entries (USPS) back and forth between the same two depots! So if they open a case supply the tracking number to the case and then call ebay and let them figure it out, 9 out of 10 times I had this happen they refunded the buyer out of EBAYS pocket(not yours). So the buyer ends up getting the item(s) and his money back, and you keep the money from the initial sale, and ebay loses. It is also a good idea to explain this to the buyer, so he knows it is not your fault. Awhile back when they started this mess I contacted USPS about the delivery date deal and explained to them how ebay was marketing it, and the Postmaster laughed and said "then tell ebay to start delivering the packages themselves!" and that is exactly what Amazon did LOL and to boot the Big A even takes a picture of it at your address, leaving no doubt as to where and when it was delivered!