Multiple orders from China have tracking information that shows items being shipped to other states.

[gomucat1]

Hello,

As the title states, I placed two, separate orders from different sellers. They are both from out of country. I kept an eye on the tracking for a week and a half or so and it showed the shipments passing through customs, arriving in the U.S. through California, etc. and it all looked good. Then I saw one of the orders started going east to Texas whereas I'm north. I thought maybe it was just rerouting through a shipping hub or something but decided to call USPS to be sure because it seemed fishy. As suspected, the USPS rep stated the package was not headed towards my state at all, but a completely different state and told me the package didn't even have a street number or name attached to it.

I realized if I put the tracking number into the global tracking website, it confirmed what the USPS agent said as well and showed that same state that it was being shipped to. I contacted the seller and asked what the problem was and they said they were so sorry, etc. and implied it was an error and they would eat the cost/reship. They provided a new tracking number, but so far it shows no data. I put the tracking number of the second order into the tracking site and the same thing happened. It's a completely different state as its destination. I contacted this seller as well and they implied it was an error with the shipping service.

Both sellers have semi low (40 and 500) feedback, but it's all positive so while I'm not surprised if it ends up being a scam, the high feedback is throwing me off. Is this a known grift and if so how do I handle getting my money back? I don't see an option to report the items/orders/sellers. Does ebay cover this kind of thing? They're two $100ish orders so I'm a little on edge. Trying to play nice with the sellers in the mean time on the off chance they resolve the issue, but I'm assuming this will end with ebay intervention. Any help would be appreciated.

[soh.maryl]

Are either of those packages overdue yet according to the last estimated delivery date?

Unless there is tracking showing delivered to an address, you can open an item not received case.

If there is actual tracking showing delivered to ANY ADDRESS, then you need an actual written message from the shipping service stating that the package(s) were delivered elsewhere. 

[eburtonlab]

If tracking shows delivery but you do not receive anything, check with the shipping service to determine if the tracking number corresponds to a delivery to your address.

If not, you may be the victim of a false tracking scam or the seller may have given you the wrong tracking number by mistake. Either way, see here for some good instructions about what you can do about it:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/What-do-you-do-when-ebay-support-will-not-help-you/m-p/340803...

What kind of feedback for selling do your sellers have? You can avoid many issues by choosing to only do business with sellers that have a proven track record of delivering what was sold and that have sold similar sorts of items before. Avoid new or unproven sellers, sellers with a pattern of serious negative feedback, or sellers that have drastically changed behavior or that have unexplained gaps in selling feedback.

[gomucat1]

No. They'll be overdue this week, but after I reached out to the sellers, they changed the tracking number on the orders.

[gomucat1]

As mentioned in the original post, they both have good feedback, which is why I didn't hesitate to do business. As mentioned in the post as well, I did contact the shipping service and the tracking number did not correspond to my address. They were different states entirely.

Thank you for the link. I will check it out, but is there no way to just contact ebay or file a claim? Seems strange that I can spend this much money, the seller puts in potentially fake tracking numbers and I'm just kind of out of luck. What's stopping anyone from just using fake tracking numbers and not delivering things?

[eburtonlab]

they both have good feedback

Buying feedback is not the same as selling feedback. Does each seller have feedback for selling similar items to those that you purchased, and if so, how far back does that feedback go?

It is also possible that the sellers are merely drop shippers that have picked the wrong wholesale supplier, and the supplier is scamming those sellers.

Thank you for the link.

You are most welcome. I hope you are able to use it to good effect.

I will check it out, but is there no way to just contact ebay or file a claim?

Use the instructions in the link to contact eBay via social media once you have the necessary documentation in hand.

Seems strange that I can spend this much money, the seller puts in potentially fake tracking numbers and I'm just kind of out of luck.

You are only "out of luck" if you give up before getting your refund.

What's stopping anyone from just using fake tracking numbers and not delivering things?

Users recognizing the scammers for what they are and avoiding buying from them in the first place can stop the scammers from making any money.

If not, scammed buyers actually getting their money back is what prevents scammers from profiting, ultimately.

You missed your chance at the former, so follow through with the latter.

[gomucat1]

Appreciate the continued help. I'm not conveying my pre-purchase research very well, but yes all the feedback is recent, as a seller, and for similar items, so I'm not sure that happens. I will contact ebay via social media per your suggestion. Believe I may need to wait until the estimated delivery date before I can file a claim.