Refund process for wrong delivery address (scam)

[andrewl102]

I purchased an item a few weeks ago and just received a notification that it had been delivered : however, the delivery address of the tracking number is not even in the correct country.

As the item is marked as delivered, my only option I could see was to initiate a return, and put the item as missing parts or defective : unfortunately I suspect this is going to require me to somehow return an item that was never delivered.

What other options do I have in this case when the item was clearly not delivered to me? There was no possibility of selecting item not received, as they provided a completely different shipping confirmation number.
Is there anything I can do in the meantime to update my return request?

[bigdeals.etc]

Have you tried communicating with the seller and inquiring about the tracking showing delivery to a different country you are in? If you haven’t, try it. There might end up being a logical explanation to it. If the seller doesn’t respond after 3-4 days, then you can assume he is scamming you.

[andrewl102]

I've messaged them in the meantime though only today so no response would be expected yet.

Assuming they don't respond though or don't have an adequate explanation, was this the correct way of disputing the transaction?
At this point it's not impossible that is was a mistake on the buyer's part, they do have a decent feedback rating but they are not a major seller and from China so I'm quite dubious at this point.

[andrewl102]

They didn't respond to my messages but offered me a refund of $1 so I guess it's definitely a scam attempt at this point.

[lacemaker3]

Hi @andrewl102, I see you are registered in Australia, and your latest feedback received (only one recently) is from a seller most of whose items are shipped from China. Is that the item you're asking about?

If so, and the tracking number shows delivery to the wrong address, then you need to open an Item Not Delivered case in the Resolution Centre (that's on eBay Australia). You will be able to select Item Not Received there. Then, add screenshots to the case that show the wrong address on the tracking history, and the correct address from the Order Details, and a brief explanation that the tracking shows delivery to a wrong address that doesn't match your shipping address.

The seller has a good feedback record (only one recent INR feedback, the latest one), so eBay will give the seller some time to resolve the issue, and you will have to wait it out. Usually, 5 days for the seller to respond, and then you can ask eBay to step in (a button will appear on the case to do this when the time is up).

But, with the situation you described, there is no doubt that you will be refunded because the seller can't prove the item was delivered to your shipping address.

[andrewl102]

Hi,

Yes, this is correct.
The issue is that I could not raise an INR case as the item was marked as delivered, at least from eBay directly : I could only trigger a return case where I had to mark a difference cause.
At the time I didn't realise there was also a resolution centre as I've never had an issue with eBay before.

It's possible if I had waited a few more days it might have enabled me to raise an INR through the resolution centre perhaps?
At the time when I triggered the return, it said that my item might be delivered soon as the expected delivery date had not been exceeded (it was on the last day) even though directly underneath that in the status section it already been delivered.

If I had waited longer, would it have correctly allowed me to actually raise an INR case or is it impossible to raise an INR if the status is actually marked as delivered.

My main concern at this point is that somehow by triggering a return rather than an INR I might have jeopardised my refund.
The seller ignoring my messages and the $1 partial refund attempt makes it fairly clear to me that they are almost certainly a scammer, for at least the current owner of the account.

[ste-9405]

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@andrewl102 wrote:

My main concern at this point is that somehow by triggering a return rather than an INR I might have jeopardised my refund.

The seller ignoring my messages and the $1 partial refund attempt makes it fairly clear to me that they are almost certainly a scammer

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You cannot add screenshots to an Item Not Received case, @andrewl102:

So it is fortunate that started the "wrong" type of case instead, which lets you Add photos of printouts proving that you did not receive the item ... because it was delivered somewhere else:

When this happened to me, I waited awhile to give the "seller" a chance to refund, before I mailed the printouts "back" using the free eBay return label,

- the address on that label turned out to be fake,

- so I contacted eBay on Facebook,

- and eBay forced a refund.

For you, click Ask eBay to step in as soon as it appears. eBay won't try to understand the situation, but will instead put the case on hold for your $1-partial-refund seller to either send cash to pay for return shipping, or just refund outright. When neither happens, eBay will force a refund. But in the off-chance that your seller uploads a Royal Australian eBay return label for local delivery, enclose the printouts that prove the item was delivered somewhere else, and eBay will force a refund right after tracking shows that the return package was delivered.

[andrewl102]

Well a quick update, I got my refund after asking eBay to step in (which I did as soon as possible).
I can see other people complaining about the same thing for the seller so it really does appear to be a scam attempt.

What I don't really understand is how this could possibly work for the seller, I assume they are hoping some amount of buyers forgot to raise a case or accidentally accept the $1 refund but it really appears after fees etc this is highly unlikely to yield any actual profit.