Buyer opened a case requesting refund for item she didn't receive but it shows "DELIVERED" by USPS

[jermdawg]

Hey guys,

I sold a backpack (sold for $35) to a buyer recently and the USPS tracking info shows: "DELIVERED IN/AT MAILBOX" on April 6th, but she's claiming that she never received anything per the case she opened. 

She has 238 100% positive feedback so I would tend not to think that she's lying.

What's the right process and proper channel(s) to proceed with resolving this? 

[rock.star]

Enter the tracking number showing delivery in the case and you are good .

[jermdawg]

Thanks! No need to contact the post office in the area where it was delivered or do any digging on behalf of the seller? 

[yuzuha]

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@jermdawg wrote:

Thanks! No need to contact the post office in the area where it was delivered or do any digging on behalf of the seller? 

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No need at all.  It's the buyer's job to do that, as they are the one who will be able to check with neighbors to see if it was misdelivered or speak with their postman to see if he remembers delivering it.

[jermdawg]

Doh, I offered to check with the local PO in my prior correspondence - guess I can just give a call to find out. If I can't get anywhere though not sure what else to do. I guess I'm covered since I had delivery confirmation? And if she leaves negative feedback, will I have the recourse to remove it without further consequences?

[yuzuha]

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@jermdawg wrote:

Doh, I offered to check with the local PO in my prior correspondence - guess I can just give a call to find out. If I can't get anywhere though not sure what else to do. I guess I'm covered since I had delivery confirmation? And if she leaves negative feedback, will I have the recourse to remove it without further consequences?

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Correct.  Any negative feedback claiming non-delivery can be removed if you have tracking that shows that the item was delivered.  The ball is in the buyer's court now to figure out where the package went, whether it was picked up by a family member and put inside somewhere, misdelivered to a neighbor, or stolen from their porch.

[hafoster]

Doh, I offered to check with the local PO in my prior correspondence

Ask for a phone number and for a good time for the postal inspector to call for a good time.

I hope this helps!

[jermdawg]

I noticed in Paypal that the associated transaction is now in a "pending" and "Held – Payment Received" status. Is this normal upon the buyer opening an item not received case like this?

EDIT: nm, looks like that's the case - https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/my-payment-is-on-hold-due-to-an-open-dispute,-claim,-or-c...

[myboardid · Accepted solution]

Yes it is normal.  A correction from the information noted above:  You need to enter the tracking information into the case, EVEN IF IT IS ALREADY THERE.  Then, you need to CALL EBAY customer service and get them to close the case IMMEDIATELY. 

That will protect your account from getting a defect for non-shipment, and also from the buyer leaving you negative feedback.

After that, you can do whatever you want to in assistance to the buyer, but he needs to speak to his mail carrier himself, and to his postmaster.  The have GPS from when the scan happened, they can see where he left the package. 

[swans_n_crocodiles_58]

check delivery status by entering tracking ID into usps gap. If it says delivered it means it is delivered. Also contact USPS and find out all details. Your buyer might be international customer using freight company services and address, which is called business address. Those freight companies do not work every day. Sometimes items are left to agents or taken back to post office. I am the international buyer and I have faced such facts frequently. But later my items were delivered.

[jermdawg]

I'm on the phone now and it doesn't seem like I have the ability to close the case - all they said, per a recorded message, was that now that I've added the tracking information I will just have to wait and check up using the dashboard. 

I'm on hold waiting to speak with someone live - maybe that's the only way to close it? I thought with these kinds of things you normally just have to wait it out after X days.

[missjen831]

Upload the tracking number to the case and then call ebay and have the case closed in your favor. Suggest that the buyer check with the other members of her household as well as her neighbors. She can get location of the package when the carrier scanned it "delivered" from the PO, this will help determine if it was misdelivered or stolen after delivery. You aren't responsible for the package once its delivered. 

[jermdawg]

Thanks - I contacted Ebay and spoke with an escalation team member and they apparently went ahead and closed the case. However, when I look at the status of the case online it still shows "pending" and then it also says for the most recent update: "You opened a case" 

So I'm a little confused - if I try to access the existing case, shouldn't it just say closed? Or is there some lead time between the time the escalation dept closes a case and it actually happening? The CSR I spoke with made it sound like it was closed effective immediately...

[a_c_green]

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@jermdawg wrote:

I'm on hold waiting to speak with someone live - maybe that's the only way to close it? I thought with these kinds of things you normally just have to wait it out after X days.

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No, once you've uploaded the tracking number that's showing a Delivered status in the buyer's City and ZIP, the closure and release of funds should happen pretty quickly. I wouldn't sit on hold endlessly, but instead just give it a couple of hours to filter through the system, and then see if the funds have been released. They probably will be available by then.

[jermdawg]

Cool, looks like it's taken care of now - case is closed!

Can the buyer still try to open a case via Paypal or anything else? I contacted the post office and their GPS wasn't working so she couldn't get a lock on where the package was delivered exactly - not sure why she would need a live GPS location when this was a past delivery... she confirmed the delivery address either way. Anyway, going to call again soon to follow-up and see if she can confirm that there was no misdelivery etc.