"New" buyer claims she received an empty package

[madchenmarketplace]

A buyer purchased 2 items from me at a big discount via Best Offer (she originally lowballed both items...I should have known better).  I packed them up very well in a box and shipped it out the next day. Today she emails me to say she received the box but it's been opened and the items aren't in there and it's taped back up. I told her to file a report with the post office & the police - she said she talked to the post office already and they said it had been through so many people there was no way to tell where it happened and to toake it up with eBay. But she is "new" so she doesn't know how to file a report so she needs my help. I told her to go to the Help menu so she did...

Aaaaand she filed a return for both items and put in the notes that I had told her to file the request because she received an empty package from me. Now my funds are on hold. What should I do? This feels sketchy to me.

[dnasilver]

and you can tell her the USPS wants the package for fingerprints.......

[mtgraves7984]

I did the online chat with eBay and they gave her a courtesy refund for one of the items (the cheaper one) but said I was on the hook for the other and told me to file a claim with the post office. 

@madchenmarketplace 

The empty package claim bothers me. But this ^^^ information bothers me, too. 'Courtesy refunds' aren't from eBay's money... they come from a pool that all we sellers pay into. Usually, I don't mind pitching in, but it burns me to pay for a scrub buyer... and that's what it sounds like you have.

At face value (from your chat)... I assume the 'Courtesy refund' won't be held from your funds, and I assume that the 'claim with the PO' refers to an insurance claim with USPS... the package was 1#, so I'll also assume you used Priority mail.

Best of luck to you, however it plays out. And block that buyer. LOL

[madchenmarketplace]

Ha ha the first thing I thought of was the fingerprints - my fingerprints are always all over the tape on my items so I'm sure any thief would have their fingerprints all over it too. I'll be happy to submit mine so they can eliminate them.

I told her I filed a claim and she replied that she really just needs the refund now so she can "buy her baby girl a birthday present." I really hope the post office follows up with it. And I doubt any theft happened on my end - the box was picked up by my postman with three other packages and all of those seem to have made it to their destinations just fine.

[simba6]

Yep it's on line shoplifting without the hassle of that pesky Sensormatic sounding as you leave the store.

[madchenmarketplace]

I've filed an insurance claim with the post office (it was shipped Priority Regional so insurance was included - at least that's what eBay told me since I print labels via the site) and I filed a report of stolen items with the post office. I really hope they do investigate these claims.

I'm not super familiar with damaged packages but is this how they tape them up? I've only received a couple damaged boxes in my life - one time it was a broken bottle of dish detergent and it arrived in a very sticky, messy plastic bag lol. Anyway, here's the photos she sent me (I edited out the addresses of course).

[ittybitnot]

And she says that she can't file a post office complaint or police report because they said to take it up with eBay. It just feels off to me.

@madchenmarketplace 

So she went to the PO and the police and they both told her that?   Not in this lifetime.  You have a liar buyer who knows the game.   The "empty box" claim is a tough one to fight.  If she persists, DO file with the USPS postal inspectors.  

I used to send a similar letter to the buyer as outlined by @southern*sweet*tea  in post #10 expressing my total dismay as to what happened, and expressing my desire to help all I can to get the merchandise back for her. ' I will gladly file a rifled/stolen mail report (it is called something else now)  on your behalf.  Typically, a case number is returned in 24 hours and I will forward that to you so that you can be kept informed on the progress of the situation.  I will also file a report with your local law enforcement agency on your behalf and forward a copy to you as well.....yada yada.' 

 I had very similar results as @southern*sweet*tea  as well.  Only once did I have to actually file with the report with the  Postal Inspectors . and upon sending the info to the buyer the contents were by some miracle found ten minutes later.  If I recall this is the one where the buyer said they found the product in a "snow drift" five houses down.  Funny though, it was in S.Carolina  and it had not snowed there since the year before.

This will work pretty well, unless you are sending parcels to our "favorite" freight forwarders. The "empty box" is  the new "go to" for phony claims.  Typically, these people are in another country and probably would laugh at this Postal Inspectors business. 

Good luck to you, and let us know how it turns out. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

lol is it me or does that added tape look like masking tape or surgical tape? 

[pikabo-icu]

---

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

lol is it me or does that added tape look like masking tape or surgical tape? 

---

It looks like cloth type surgical tape..

I've never seen any post office use that type of tape before. Yikes..

At this point I'm terrified to list anything.. 😬

Good Luck OP!!!  I'm sorry. 

[stumblebumble]

If the Post Office taped the package, they would have put a stamp on it "missing contents" if it was obvious to them that it was missing.  That is USPS policy.   I would request buyer to send a photo of that stamp.  Then, call the PO that delivers to her address and ask for the mail carrier who delivers on that route.  Verify it with the mail carrier to see if he/she noticed it or remembered  a package delivery with missing contents and if it was stamped or had a sticker on it.      If they do recall it, tell the buyer to save all packaging for USPS inspection and you will be filing a missing mail fraud report as fraud is serious and punishable by fines and/or jail time.  The Domestic Mail Manual will tell you that.    That "fraud" word sometimes scares the living daylights out of buyers.  IMO,  I doubt this buyer went to the post office or even called them.    In the last 17 years, I have received 2 packages with missing contents (not ebay mailings) and they were always stamped or had a sticker on them "missing contents".   

[madchenmarketplace]

---

@pikabo-icu wrote:

---

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

lol is it me or does that added tape look like masking tape or surgical tape? 

---

It looks like cloth type surgical tape..

---

Well I googled the buyer (I got into that habit as a hiring manager) and she's a home healthcare worker. She'd probably have access to surgical tape then, right?

So far I've filed a missing mail complaint with the post office, an insurance claim with the post office AND I found the complaint form for her local police department and sent her the link to fill it out. She sent me a long paragraph about how the cops don't do anything and there's a lot of drugs around there so people steal and she really needs a gift for her daughter and only purchased from me because I have such good reviews (thanks?).  I get that people steal because they're on drugs - I live in WV so I know all about that - but I've never had a pillhead cut open a box, steal a bath bomb & some shower gel and then tape the box back up. I mean, I'd laugh about this if I wasn't afraid of it affecting my account & income. 

[madchenmarketplace]

Another update...she just sent me ANOTHER message (that's about a dozen today) saying that eBay only refunded her for her one item (the "courtesy" refund) and then I received a message from eBay saying that "the buyer has contacted customer service to review this case and make a final decision." What does that mean? She's really doubling down. I mean if she's being honest I feel terrible, I've had stuff stolen from me before - but she seems more interested in getting her money than getting the criminal who stole from her.

This is not how I wanted to spend my Saturday evening lol.

[vintagecraze50]

The USPS would not have taped that box up with that kind of tape. They also put a stamp on a box that is damaged. I would also let this buyer know that you on are on to them by telling them that. Tell her that whoever taped that box up is not a postal worker but a thief and they are heading for mail fraud charges, and you will pursue this with the postal service. Like Sweet Tea told you, wait for the response, and the magical I found it, or, case closed.

[vintagecraze50]

Oh my, that’s a good one with the fingerprints.

[vintagecraze50]

Good for you, and good FOR EVERYBODY ELSE HERE if they stand up for themselves and do something about this stuff with all the clever suggestions.

[katzrul15]

---

@madchenmarketplace wrote:

She can't send the items back because she said the box was totally empty but taped back up like new. She didn't say anything about damage and refuses to provide any pics of the box. And she says that she can't file a post office complaint or police report because they said to take it up with eBay. It just feels off to me.

---

For a gal who needed your "help" to file, she sure is knowledgeable about this process.  

I would let her know you are filing a fraud report with USPS and asking them to investigate and that you will likely need to engage her local Police Department so they can determine if any video of the delivery exists, perhaps her ring camera, etc.  Let her know USPS takes this very serious and works in tandem with local authorities to prosecute and pursue fraud.