Impatient Buyer

Violet3

Hi, I'm looking for some advice.
I recently sold an item on Ebay. The auction finished last week and I posted it off on the 7th October, so a week ago now. Today the buyer contacted me informing me that she hasn't received it yet and that the post office had not left a card and had nothing at the depot for her. I then sent her a reply basically saying that I would have assumed that it would have turned up by now, that it has only been a week and that she should contact me if it hadn't turned up after the weekend.

I realise that since I only have proof of postage and didn't send the parcel recorded delivery that I would have no option to refund her, but I felt it was too soon to think it had been lost.

A few minutes after I sent my reply to her she sent me another message saying ''I don't mean to be rude but I have contacted ebay now trust and safety and reccomend if I can't sort this with the seller and resolve the matter by another product or refund to open a case against the seller which will go in my favour as it has not arrived and will I'm afraid affect your ebay ratings, I have spoke to the po also as before and they have said again to get in touch with you and should you have proof youy can claim.''

I contacted Ebay live help and they were no help at all. I just know that I'm going to have to end up giving her a refund, but her reply has just annoyed me and I feel like I should still wait until after the weekend and see if it does turn up, although I think I risk getting a negative from her/bad ratings.
So do I refund her today, or wait a while longer?

greenoo000

They don't sound very nice! Have they opened a case yet?
I would just refund them, and tell them if it turns up to contact you because you will be putting a royal mail claim in, in a couple of weeks. - It'll be better then getting a case opened.
I had a nice buyer, with a 'lost in post', recently, I refunded, then 3 weeks later she sent me a message to say it had turned up and she has sent a cheque. - So post can take longer sometimes. - but 99 out of 100 is it hasn't turned up after a week it won't.

Crowqueen

Do you think you might have said something inadvertantly to cause this? People can be fairly sensitive when their money is at stake. I think they are slightly impatient, but it just depends on whether they needed the item quickly and how long your listings stated for dispatch and so on. I messaged people twice this summer after a week, both times I was happy with the seller's response and accepted the delay with good grace (and both times the item had only just been posted due to unforseen circumstances, which do happen) without needing a refund in the end; both sellers got positive feedback.

A week may be a bit soon, but it is how long I normally give it before messaging the seller about it - I always just ask something like "did you get my payment OK?" - that helps, as a buyer, not to look too impatient - but unfortunately people can be impatient, it's how you deal with it that matters. Reassuring someone that you will help out if it doesn't get to them after the weekend was a good strategy, but it does look as if your buyer isn't prepared to wait and you need to use your own judgement on how to proceed. A dispute will count against your account so it's a good idea to sort it out voluntarily.

but 99 out of 100 is it hasn't turned up after a week it won't.

In 2005 I had a letter which took 3 weeks to work its way from Croydon to Reading - it was from the MP who I helped get elected that spring inviting me to Parliament! Luckily the event was far enough in the future that it didn't matter that it took longer, and I saw him again before the letter arrived, but I had a bit of a laugh at that. I do agree, I think sometimes this is the case, though it does depend how you sent the item. I send items first class because second class can be very slow.

Violet3

Thank you both for your replies. I thought my reply to her first message stating she hadn't received the parcel was fairly polite and helpful. I asked her to confirm the address to which I'd sent it and asked her if she'd wait and see if it turned up by the weekend and if not then would she please contact me again.
Literally a minute later I received the message back from her which I pasted in my first post. I thought it was quite an inappropriate response to my message. How could someone contact Ebay and contact the Post Office within a minute of my reply! Of course then I went and checked her feedback and she had a few slightly strange negatives, although they were all from buyers.
I just feel that all her replies are slightly strange, she covers all bases before I even ask questions like 'have you checked with your local sorting office?' etc etc.

So, it looks as if I'm going to have to refund. I just find it frustrating because her responses lead me to question whether perhaps she has received it after all!

mookie

To me it sounds like your buyer does this regularly and knows the drill, they know you will have no option than to refund, they will add it to their list of ebay freebies, and you can't even leave feedback to warn others

Crowqueen

mookie wrote: »

To me it sounds like your buyer does this regularly and knows the drill, they know you will have no option than to refund, they will add it to their list of ebay freebies, and you can't even leave feedback to warn others

Not necessarily, as I said, I usually get in touch after about a week with no-show myself, unless the seller has somehow got a low dispatch star or has mentioned a long dispatch time on their listing. Getting an item quickly is not essential to me in general, but if a week goes by with no contact I do start to wonder and I do know the system - does that make me any more likely to scam someone?

What is dangerous is to take that approach with everyone who claims an item is missing. Some people are used to things turning up within a few days and are likely to get overly worried and therefore get officious and frustrated when it doesn't turn up or they think the seller is trying to stall them. The worst thing you can do is assume they are lying or leave them feedback insinuating that they are. You always have to tread carefully with people when selling and this kind of heavyhanded approach to the problem doesn't do anyone any favours - neither the honest buyers, nor the genuine sellers.

goodfella66

Can the OP confirm whether this person is based in Nuneaton? I've had exactly the same thing happen to me this week. It was only a week since posting, I said give it until the weekend & that I had all certificates so everything is covered, but the buyer was very arrogant & aggressive & opened a Paypal claim & negged me! The buyer was more interested in getting their money back than receiving the product which raises my shackles on the honesty of the buyer.

GregtheHammer

Maybe just an over eager buyer expecting fast delivery. TBH I would normally send an enquiry if I had not received something after 7 days.

I would suggest maybe asking them to wait until Monday's post & if still a no show do an refund. You have your POP so can claim from RM.