Live Agent

[jjinok]

My buyer was charged postage due by the USPS, almost double what they had already paid, and should not have been.

How do I contact a live person at eBay, instead of the automated system that keeps telling me the same thing, not at all applicable to what I need, about their automatic shipping calculator?  None of the topics listed to the right apply either.  I have never had this issue before.

I do not want to talk to a computer!

Thanks!

[ebooksdiva]

 What was the item? If the Post office charged the buyer for postage due that just means the postage you placed on the label was insufficient. eBay has no control over a post office decision.

[monica-sells]

Did your buyer offer you 'proof' of a payment. I have seen a few posts where the buyer 'claimed' postage due, but did not provide a pic of the envelope/box, or a receipt......

Does your 'drop'off/acceptance' receipt match your original listing weights and dimensions?

You can probably also get somewhere with the online chat "during business hours" asking them what you can do to rectify this situation. No need to frustrate yourself trying to get a human voice....

[1786davycrockett]

@jjinok 

Did you possibly ship your item in a USPS Priority box, but only purchased USPS Ground Advantage shipping?

That could easily have caused a "postage due" problem.

[richard1rst]

I had that happen once. The buyer's post office was in error. I went to my local post office with a similarly sized package and a screen shot of the postage due. I buttonholed my postmaster. He agreed it was wrong and gave me a refund on the spot.

You've got to talk to right people and in a case like this they are not at eBay.

[jjinok]

Oy!  That is exactly what I did!  My fault!

Thanks!

JJ

[richard1rst]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

@jjinok 

Did you possibly ship your item in a USPS Priority box, but only purchased USPS Ground Advantage shipping?

That could easily have caused a "postage due" problem.

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OP acknowledges that is what he did.

BUT Shouldn't the APV have caught that and back charged the shipper?

[1786davycrockett]

@jjinok 

You bet -- glad you figured it out!

[1786davycrockett]

@richard1rst 

Apparently it depends upon the point along the USPS chain when it is discovered.

I've seen USPS counter employees catching it immediately after packages are dropped off, in which case the local post office notifies the sender of postage due before the package continues on its way to the buyer.

But it seems that the buyer is left paying the postage due, AFTER the package has been shipped, if the local post office does not catch the problem the first time -- at least in some post offices along the delivery route.

Some clarification from USPS would be helpful, regarding this "either/or" situation.