Item sent with no stamps, paid postage surcharge, what to do?

BlondeHeadOn

Okay, so I won an item on Ebay, paid for it immediately, along with £2.40 postage. Instead of the parcel I received a royal mail card through the door saying that I had to pay £2.95 postage surcharge because there was no stamps on the enevelope. I paid the surcharge to get the parcel - and yes, they were right - no stamps at all on the envelope.

I contacted the seller to let her know, and she said that she was going to check and make a claim with her post office. Oh, and she would refund me if it turned out that the PO was at fault. I have twice offered to email her a photo of the front of the envelope to prove there is no postage and a surcharge sticker, but she hasn't replied to those emails. In fact, she hasn't replied to anything recently at all, and I suspect she may just be hoping I will just forget about it.

I'm cross at having paid out nearly £5 postage though, and also that she is not answering emails etc. I am tempted to raise a dispute, but am not sure what category this would fall under. Or should I just stew for a bit and then forget about it?

Advice please !!!

moromir

Out of curiousity - was the packaging a plastic mail bag or was there lots of packaging tape? The print out labels from the post office with the franked postage and stamps are both great at falling off these surfaces! I've been on the receiving end of this more than once.

BlondeHeadOn

moromir wrote: »

Out of curiousity - was the packaging a plastic mail bag or was there lots of packaging tape? The print out labels from the post office with the franked postage and stamps are both great at falling off these surfaces! I've been on the receiving end of this more than once.

No, it was in a standard A4 size thickish paper envelope, if that makes sense - manilla - that's the term!

That's what makes it a bit suspicious to me - I could understand stamps not attaching to one of those poly mail bags, but they should be okay on a standard envelope.

emerald_starcat

Open an INR claim? Might get her on her toes.

Techno

But hasn't the OP already contacted the seller to say that they had paid a postal surcharge - they can't say not received, surely?

chalkysoil

geniune claims against the Post Office take a while, but that's not your problem. I'd raise a claim, it's like the deal was not as described and was £5 overcharged. I hate fleabay it seems to attract badness.

emby

chalkysoil wrote: »

geniune claims against the Post Office take a while, but that's not your problem. I'd raise a claim, it's like the deal was not as described and was £5 overcharged. I hate fleabay it seems to attract badness.

So why are you posting in the Ebay forum?

custardy

Techno wrote: »

But hasn't the OP already contacted the seller to say that they had paid a postal surcharge - they can't say not received, surely?

makes no difference for a PP dispute
if the seller wont refund their costs then they can get a full refund
then send back whatevers left from the unpaid postage they had to pay

molerat

custardy wrote: »

makes no difference for a PP dispute
if the seller wont refund their costs then they can get a full refund
then send back whatevers left from the unpaid postage they had to pay

Sneaky ....... but fair

pinkshoes

The seller should be refunding you the £2.95 immediately!

Not a lot you can do though, as returning it would leave you even further out of pocket. I'd reply with photos of the "excess charge" card and envelope with no stamps on, and ask again for a refund of £2.95 as it wasn't your fault it arrived with no stamps.

If they don't play ball, then use negative feedback: "Seller doesn't understand that sending things in post requires stamps, & would not refund either".

POPPYOSCAR

This happened to me as well, only I did not collect the parcel until after I had emailed the seller.I said hers was the only parcel I was expecting.She told me to collect it and she refunded the charge to me without question.I would keep emailing and tell her you will be contacting ebay.