What would you do?

[theleyline]

I sold a $20 item to a person, tracking shows delivered but they ended up claiming they never got it. I politely suggested they rule out the simple possibilities like checking to see if the package fell somewhere around their house, and checking with family members, and I also told them I'd open a case with USPS just to make sure it's not in their possession still somehow.

They opened an item not received case and angrily were accusing me of sending it to the wrong address, I uploaded tracking and explained to them how eBay's shipping labels work. I figured that they might get a refund from eBay once the case was escalated, because that's what I've seen happen in the past in these scenarios, and I've never had an account defect so I wasn't worried about it.

They sent me another message saying their daughter was really upset over not getting the item, and I asked them if they'd like me to send them something similar for free as a replacement, however I didn't have the same exact item.

Fast forward several days later, I haven't gotten any response from them, I checked the case and noticed I could actually escalate it myself (is that new?), so I did and it was immediately closed in my favor and I was notified that the buyer did not get any refund at all.

Sooo, I'm torn between feeling bad for them and wanting to manually refund, but also feeling slightly concerned that they may be trying to scam and they actually do have the item.

Also, if I were to manually refund them entirely in Paypal, that could potentially give me an account defect?

[emerald40]

You met your obligation.

By refunding you could actually do harm to your account.

Selling is a business - not personal.

He tried to scam you one way, and is now playing on your sympathy.

Do nothing further but maybe block this buyer.

[hillbillymedia]

I always ask them to take the tracking number to their local post office and ask them where their item is. Occasionally I will call their post office and ask for them if they can`t inquire for themselves. 9 times out of 10 the usps finds the item or it just mysteriously materializes somewhere at the buyers address.

[dbmm-media]

do not give your money away.......

 if the buyer was concerned about "non delivery" she could contact her local post office to find out where her package was 

[theleyline]

okay, thank you everyone 🙂

[reallynicestamps]

Women are socialized to be nice to everyone.

Some take advantage of this.

It's not personal, it's business.

EBay is very hard on members. Their kids get sick, thier dogs run away, they can't make grandma's bail, they live on military pensions from their civil war service.....

The more touching the sob story, the less likely to be true.

[gopetersen]

If thieves steal from mailboxes or porches, it is NOT your responsibility to right all the wrongs of the world. It is the buyer's responsibility to report mail theft to USPS and to the police and it's a good idea to let them know that.

I have only had one instance of a package delivered to a porch that was apparently stolen but I gave the buyer the USPS link for stolen mail to help them out.

Do NOT refund incidents like this. If it turns out the buyer is lying, then you have REWARDED bad behavior. If it turns out the buyer is telling the truth, then the buyer needs to provide a secure place for mail to be delivered.

[yuncreations]

You are good. If they want refund they need to deal with ebay or USPS. You should be in the clear.

[bigdeals.etc]

I agree with everything everyone above said. EBay will also tell you that you did everything you could. I get this many times and I always do what you do OP... help them rule out the possibilities... neighbors, tenants, fmaily members, landlords, etc. And finally I tell them to ask their mail carrier or local PO with the tracking in hand to at least ask about why they scanned it.

Some take my suggestion and end up finding the item. Others either tell me they don't have time to do something like that and insist I solve their issue for them (refund or replacement), or they tell me that they tried all that, got no info and just want a refund.

There is no reason to refund those people because if they don't have the time to help themselves and check for the package, then you really have no reason to help them as well. If they ARE scamming, you don't want to encourage that behavior too.

[bigdeals.etc]

Oh btw. USPS should have GPS locations for when the package was scanned. I always tell the buyer they can ask the USPS for that location.

[moondogblues]

"I always ask them to take the tracking number to their local post office and ask them where their item is. Occasionally I will call their post office and ask for them if they can`t inquire for themselves. 9 times out of 10 the usps finds the item or it just mysteriously materializes somewhere at the buyers address."

Eight or ten times this year I have gotten my neighbors eBay stuff, and mine have gone astray. It always except once got straightened out but it makes me not want to buy anything pricey on-line any more. Once the PO had to use GPS to find the package that had been misdelivered ON MY STREET. The people that got it had not opened it, but they did not get it to me. After 3 days. You'd think they'd walk down the street but no.

The packages we got that belonged to others ( 4 or 5) we delivered ourselves.

I have called the post Master several times about this problem, and always hear "new carrier". OK, but don't you train them? I worked the 2010 census and 80% of the people who took that test failed. It was hard, all addresses and numbers and streets. What kind of test does the PO have? They can't tell my address from someone elses?

[moondogblues]

That's how the last two 'lost' packages of mine were found.

[hillbillymedia]

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@moondogblues wrote:

Eight or ten times this year I have gotten my neighbors eBay stuff, and mine have gone astray. It always except once got straightened out but it makes me not want to buy anything pricey on-line any more. Once the PO had to use GPS to find the package that had been misdelivered ON MY STREET. The people that got it had not opened it, but they did not get it to me. After 3 days. You'd think they'd walk down the street but no.

The packages we got that belonged to others ( 4 or 5) we delivered ourselves.

---

This happens to me all the time as well. I buy so much on ebay I guess who ever sorts sees a package and assumes it`s mine. 2 years ago on Christmas eve around 7 oclock.....pouring rain outside. We hear a horn blowing. Someone was in our driveway. A nice guy from a few towns over got 1 of my packages and delivered it in the rain on Christmas eve. He thought it might have been a gift. He went way out of his way to get that to me.

[*madison]

They sent me another message saying their daughter was really upset over not getting the item, and I asked them if they'd like me to send them something similar for free as a replacement, however I didn't have the same exact item.

Fast forward several days later, I haven't gotten any response from them,

-------------------------------------------------------------------

You haven't got a response because the buyer is lying.

The buyer didn't want any kind of replacement because the buyer has the item you sent, but they wanted it for free and were hoping you would cave in and issue a refund..

[robot-hands]

Every time a seller rolls over for stuff like this it makes it that much harder for the rest of us.

There is no refund here. 

BBL call and have the case closed in your favor.