USPS Delay Prompted Item Not Received Claim

[rouxsretros]

Hi all,

I've been selling on this platform for about two years now. I understand sometimes mail runs into delays. I recently sold an item and shipped it the very next next day. It was larger purchase, not large enough for the required signature confirmation though. The item is still on the way to the buyer but it has been about 7 days since there was any update from the USPS website. The buyer now has opened up a refund request however, I am unsure as to what to do in this case. I communicated to the buyer that I did all I could on my part and added insurance (out of pocket mind you) to make sure the package was protected. 

I am hesitant to issue a refund for the following reasons:

*The area I shipped the item to is plagued by delays. I ordered something shipping from that region and it took nearly a month for delivery, even with priority shipping. 

*I am confident the item will be delivered and at that time if the buyer no longer wants it, they could simply refuse to accept it and send it back. If so refused mail, even if shipped priority does not ship back with priority or insurance. I remember speaking to my local USPS office about this, however if I am wrong please do correct me. The buyer would then have to pay out of pocket to send it back to me (highly unlikely). 

What is there to do in these situations? 

[48hrs-clothing]

Your options are limited to say the least.

1st of all please respond to the case and upload tracking information.

Follow this up with a call to eBay customer services and ask them whether they will be willing to put the item on hold for 10 days.

If they agree to do this then you have an additional 12 or 13 days for the item to reach your buyer.

If the item still is not delivered then issue a refund before your buyer escalates the case as that would save a defect on your account.

[rimtrim]

I ship out of Philly, and USPS service here has gone back down the tubes in the past few weeks, after a brief recovery early this year. I just updated all of my listings to display Standard Shipping instead of specific USPS services, and I'll be shipping as many items as possible using other carriers going forward.

I've had a number of INR cases opened over the past year. Every buyer has eventually received their item. One took two and a half MONTHS! That buyer actually waited all that time. As far as I know, there's no true "protection" from eBay for sellers in these cases. If the buyer absolutely demands a refund, you have to issue one. I've seen some people say that it's best to let eBay step in and issue the refund (which will initially hurt your seller standing) and then contact eBay and appeal when the tracking shows delivered. I haven't personally gone that far, so I can't say for sure whether it's a good idea.

My method has been to stay in contact with the buyer and let them know that other buyers have eventually received their items. Send them the tracking # and ship date in a message (even though they have other ways of seeing this through eBay). Call the USPS 800 number, open a case with USPS, and send the buyer the case number. Anything to keep the customer pacified and buy time while the package works its way through the system. Sometimes I even contact buyers before they open a case, when I see that an item is significantly delayed. That might prevent them from opening the case and starting that clock ticking.

It's sad what has happened to the USPS. I've been selling online since the late '90s and I've always used and liked USPS. Even in the context of the pandemic, the level of service now is totally unacceptable.

[threshold.sales.group]

+1, Yes exactly.  I've noted the recent USPS delays too. These are not the Fall 2020 warehousing or typical random missorts of the past, but appear to be deliberate, systemwide slow downs of the USPS small  package operation.