Ebay screwed up the shipping label, do I have recourse

[handytooling]

I printed the shipping label thru ebays system and it apparently used the wrong address.  The buyer has his address correct but it shipped to another state and was accepted by someone there.  

This is not the first time this has happened.  I caught it once just by chance.  I was creating shipping labels for several sales at the same time and somehow one name and address ended up on two different labels.  I tried reprinting the incorrect label but the error repeated.  I had to cancel the label and start over, then all was well.

So this has apparently happened again, but I didn't catch it.  Is there a way to get ebay to refund me since it was their software's fault?

Dave

[a_c_green]

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@handytooling wrote:

I printed the shipping label thru ebays system and it apparently used the wrong address.  The buyer has his address correct but it shipped to another state and was accepted by someone there.  

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Can you give us a little more detail on the sequence of events here? Did you print the shipping label before getting paid? (I don't mean shipping before you got paid, just whether you printed the label in advance of it.) That would print the buyer's eBay address on the label instead of his Ship-To: address provided with his payment, which may be something completely different.

[handytooling]

I was paid, then printed the label.  

What I think happened in the first occurance was that I was clicking quickly to purchase the postage for several items on several tabs at once.  Somehow they got mixed together.  I wouldn't have believed it was possible if it didn't happen to me.  Even after closing the messed up label and going to "shipping labels" and reprinting it was still in error.  As I said above, after cancelling the label and creating a new one it was ok.

This latest problem per the tracking number clearly shipped to some other zip code that has nothing to do with the buyer.

[couldabeenworse]

 I wouldn't have believed it was possible if it didn't happen to me.

I'm sure eBay won't believe it either, even if they understand your issue.

This latest problem per the tracking number clearly shipped to some other zip code that has nothing to do with the buyer.

Do those items show as shipped on eBay?  What addresses are in your shipping details on eBay for those items? 

[handytooling]

I believe that I have it figured out.  I would have to file a claim against the shipping insurance.

The item is only worth $23 so I might not go thru the trouble.

[a_c_green]

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@handytooling wrote:

I was paid, then printed the label.  

What I think happened in the first occurance was that I was clicking quickly to purchase the postage for several items on several tabs at once.  Somehow they got mixed together.  I wouldn't have believed it was possible if it didn't happen to me. 

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I would, absolutely. I doubt that the software will support one account generating multiple shipping labels simultaneously, even if your browser is running separate sessions in multiple tabs.

The eBay site is trying to pass label info to Pitney-Bowes for address validations via the USPS database; it's trying to handle PayPal payments for the postage; it's trying to get a tracking number returned from Pitney-Bowes and assemble the shipping label to be printed; etc. It's a miracle that it works as well as it does (when it does work), but I can't see it supporting several tabs at once. I would definitely treat the Shipping/Label-printing job as a linear process, being sure to finish one shipment completely before starting the next.

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@handytooling wrote:

Even after closing the messed up label and going to "shipping labels" and reprinting it was still in error.  As I said above, after cancelling the label and creating a new one it was ok.

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Right, because reprinting is simply regenerating a label from the original transaction data all over again. No new transaction occurs. When you cancel the label and create a new one, then you're doing a new transaction, and will get new data back for a new label, so you should be okay after that.

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@handytooling wrote:

This latest problem per the tracking number clearly shipped to some other zip code that has nothing to do with the buyer.

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I'm afraid you lost me in that sentence. Are you saying that USPS misdirected the package, and it actually got delivered to some other address other than what was printed on that label? If you're printing your labels via eBay/PayPal, then the tracking will be automatically uploaded, so we can rule out the possibility of you manually uploading a tracking number to the wrong sale. I can't say what might have happened here.

[mr_lincoln]

@handytooling  You keep using the term "cancel" for labels ... I hope you mean "void" because then you can get the $$ credited back to your account in about 14 days. 

[copper.boom · Accepted solution]

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@handytooling wrote:

I was paid, then printed the label.  

What I think happened in the first occurance was that I was clicking quickly to purchase the postage for several items on several tabs at once.  Somehow they got mixed together.  I wouldn't have believed it was possible if it didn't happen to me.  Even after closing the messed up label and going to "shipping labels" and reprinting it was still in error.  As I said above, after cancelling the label and creating a new one it was ok.

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Instead of using several tabs at once, I would suggest using the bulk shipping tool. Simply select all orders you're going to ship then click on the print shipping labels tab. It will take you to the bulk shipping page where you can make any adjustments to each package (size, weight, class, etc), then you click the button to purchase and generate labels for all of those orders.

[handytooling]

"I would suggest using the bulk shipping tool."

Thanks copper.boom.  I will have to start using the bulk shipping tool.  That should prevent future occurances.

Yes, by "cancelling" I meant voiding the label.

I will never really know what the actual address on the label was because it is not given when checking the tracking information.  Only the zip code is provided.  I think it more likely that the complete address label was messed up rather than an delivery error.

Thank you all for your help.