Unreceived item

smile_2

Hi
I dont know if anyone here can help, but I'll give it a try....
I sold a phone on ebay last week and received prompt payment from the buyer via postal order..which all went smoothly. The problem is, I sent the phone via 1st class recorded delivery on Tuesday evening( around 5pm), but he emailed me yesterday(saturday) saying he has not received the item. Im very worried now as Ive definately sent the phone to the correct address. I will ring up royal mail tomorrow to enquire but Is it normal for 1st class to take almost a week? Plus what happens if thee phones been lost?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

Hintza

Soolin will be along shortly she will be able to give you the ins and outs of 1st class recorded.

But in general it might. Try to keep your buyer calm till Tuesday (hopefully will arrive Monday morning). Royal Mail will not agree its lost until 15 days are passed anyway.

masonic

How much was the phone worth? You will be covered for up to £30 by royal mail. At least you sent it recorded so you can keep track of it using the royal mail website to make sure it doesn't get delivered in the mean time. I would try and stall your buyer for a few more days, but ultimately you will need to refund them if you want to avoid a dispute through ebay.

Edit: I take it back! Items lost in the post are not covered by ebay's standard protection unless the buyer purchases additional insurance. You may actually be able to wait for a refund from royal mail before passing it on to the buyer in this case, but you might want to refund them promptly to avoid negative feedback. You also do not have to refund postage, which is good, as you cannot claim it back.

smile_2

The phones worth about £60.Im quite new to ebay and its the first time Ive used recorded delivery, Im regretting not sending it by special delivery!

soolin

You really need to hope this will be delivered as otherwise, assuming the phone was sold for more than £30, you will be out of pocket.

Much of this has been covered in detail in previous posts, but as has been said it is possible for 1st class post to take longer than a week, so definitely be polite to your buyer but try and stall a little meanwhile. RM will not even consider a claim for lost items until 15 working days have elapsed and the claim can take a further 3 weeks on top of that before you get your refund.

However, there is bad news, firstly, the buyer is not obligated to wait until you receive a refund from the RM, he hasn't paid by paypal so he can't chargeback but you remain responsible fo rhis loss nevertheless. Secondly, recorded delivery only covers items up to £30 in value, this can be interpreted different ways by different members of RM staff, but usually if you send an invoice in to support your claim showing the item cost more than £30 then nothing at all will be paid, not even the £30. The last bit of bad news is that the RM do not reimburse the cost of postage, so if the item was less than £30 you will only get the phone cost back and not the post and packing shown on the invoice.

Soo

soolin

smile wrote:

The phones worth about £60.Im quite new to ebay and its the first time Ive used recorded delivery, Im regretting not sending it by special delivery!

Absolutely. It will be an expensive lesson (£60) if the phone doesn't get delivered. Try phoning the sorting office both for your area and for the delivery area to see if they can find the parcel on their shelves anywhere.

Soo

soolin

masonic wrote:

Edit: I take it back! Items lost in the post are not covered by ebay's standard protection unless the buyer purchases additional insurance. You may actually be able to wait for a refund from royal mail before passing it on to the buyer in this case, but you might want to refund them promptly to avoid negative feedback. You also do not have to refund postage, which is good, as you cannot claim it back.

masonic you have just reminded me why, as a buyer, I never use anything other than paypal.

Soo

Matt83UK_2

You can track it online at the Royalmail website, do this first

smile_2

Thanks for your replies. Ive tried the tracking code on their website, but it says 'Information on your item is not yet available online. '

smile_2

the worrying thing is, the buyer is from manchester( as am I ), so technically, the item should not have been delayed as its not got far to travel.

black-saturn

I hate all this distinction between recorded delivery and special delivery. The post office should employ staff they trust instead of us having to bribe them with more money to look after our parcels properly.

If you sent it by recorded delivery you can use Track and Trace on the Post Office website. Heres the link:

Track and Trace