Problems with shipping items and getting them back

[skylerbattosai]

Alright, so a few days ago I posted my story about being worried about getting in trouble with ebay over an item that was mistakenly sent to the wrong address. Well, there's more to the story now and I'm begining to wonder if my buyer is a scammer. Here's all that has happened, and I would like anyone's advice.

I sold an item in the afternoon on Monday the 15th, and then accepted an offer on another item about 30 minutes after they submitted it. They sent me a message asking me to ship it that day and give them tracking on it since it was a gift. The first item had one address (that they said it was being sent 'as a gift'), while the second one had a different address (that seemed incomplete to me). The name on the second (what I think was incomplete) address is what I assumed to be theirs, but the name on their eBay didn't match with the name on the PayPal invoice. I went ahead and made the assumption that both were meant to be a gift to the first address and sent them both out to it. I messaged the buyer about 3 hours later and informed them that I sent them both to the first address due to receiving the multiple different names/addresses. I also told them to let me know if I mis-shipped them ASAP so I can try to get the package back while it was in my city. They messaged me a while later and informed me that I did not ship them correctly and that they had put the correct addresses in the orders. I go back to check the second order and there is a completely different name and address there by that time.

I informed them that I would put out the package interception request right away so I could get it back and right my wrong. I also asked them what date they needed it there by so I could up the shipping if I needed. I received no answer for this. After two days the package never seemed to move from my post office, so I went to talk to them personally. They informed me that it was still in my city and that their records show it should be redelivered back to me by Thursday or Friday. I informed my buyer of this. Thursday comes and I receive a message from the USPS stating that my package is now in Iowa. Unable to do anything that day, I went early Friday morning to speak with my post office again. They checked the package status and told me that it looks like it had been mistakenly put on the wrong truck, but I should have it back by Monday since it is showing on their records that the package has now been intercepted in Iowa. That evening I informed my buyer of this (providing screenshots of the messages I received), asked them again what day they need the items there by, and also told them that if the packages are not here and resent out by 11pm EST I would issue a partial refund. I have not received anything back from them since. The tracking now shows that the package has been in and has left Colorado (complete opposite way of where I am) and I fear that it is going to the original destination.

Now as to why I think my buyer is a scammer, I was checking their profile and they have only had the account for only 3 weeks but have been receiving (as of right now) over 50 seller feedbacks (with none given unless you can hide that). That's a lot of money in a short period of time. Also what is throwing me off is that the PayPal and eBay information for this person were completely different. Every time I ask them a question they also seem to avoid it, and I was certain I would receive something back about the possible partial refund.

Tomorrow if I don't receive the package I plan on giving the buyer 3 options; A) I can refund a partial amount for the one item I mis-shipped and they can have their friend ship it back to me to send correctly.
B) I can refund 50% for the mis-shipped item and they can have their friend ship it correctly.
or
C) I can refund 100% but the friend would have to send the item back to me.

After reading all of this, what are your opinions? Am I doing the right thing or am I going about it all wrong? Do you think that the buyer's behavior is odd? Any feedback is appreciated!

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

People send gifts all the time. So of course the name and address of the RECIPIENT is different from that of the actual BUYER. Newly registered eBay users also buy a bunch of stuff right away. When I started 20 years ago, I certainly did! Your "new" buyers actually might be veteran eBay users who have opened additional accounts just to buy -- I have 3 accounts myself. Feedback is voluntary and buyers frequently don't bother to leave it.

You are supposed to send the order to the name and address shown on the Paypal transaction details page. That's what the BUYER provided during check-out.
Personally, I have 6 different addresses in Paypal (and have had as many as 😎 -- some in my name and some for relatives and friends. Yes, when the buyer pays, the eBay Order Details page does change to reflect the ship-to name and address.

On the other hand, if you took 2 orders from 2 different customers and mixed up the labels, that's your mistake and you need to correct it at your expense.

~~C~~