Item signed for, buyer says not received.

John_T_5

I sold an item on eBay, I posted it out first class recorded delivery, the buyer has contacted me today to say they have not received the item.

I went to the Royal Mail website entered the tracking number and received confirmation that the item was received, signed for and a copy of the signature was the same name as the buyers.

The address the buyer is registered under, I presume, is their place of employment, a solicitors office, I am just wondering what my liability is in this?, since I have fulfilled all my obligations would I have to refund her if she made an issue of this, or would the onus of responsibility be on her if one of her colleagues has signed for it?

lil_me

Have you informed the buyer of the tracking number and the fact you have contacted them and they have stated the item has been signed for ?

John_T_5

Yes, I sent a neutral reply simply stating that the tracking number of the item confirms it was signed for and gave them the tracking number so they can verify it themselves, I am just waiting to see what their response is.

sara2323

Just wondering.... the address you sent to was it the same as their paypal address or did they request the item to be sent to their workplace?
As if the address is the same as paypal address and you can provide tracking information if he decide's to claim via paypal it should go in your favour (if it gets to that stage!)

John_T_5

Sorry I was mistaken, it wasn't a works address, it's too late at night for me to think straight, I was looking at another buyers details

The buyers PayPal and eBay registered addresses are the same and they are a residential address.

bythesea_2

Sounds as tho' your buyer is either 'confused'

or

extracting the unmentionable. Log into PayPal - click on 'details' about that transaction. There will be an option to 'file delivery info' or something along those lines. You can enter the RD # so PayPal will have a note of it (and can see for themselves), should your customer choose to attempt fraud.

BTW, solicitors are, in my experience, like handling nitro-glycerine!

soolin

Whilst I usually say that the seller should put themselves out to make sure the buyer is happy, in this instance I wouldn't be too worried at all. If RM say that the item was signed for, then I think the buyer has a problem with their address, maybe they have a neighbour signing for parcels who is slow to hand them over, or maybe the RM have just left a parcel somewhere insecure and obtained any signature they could. Either way the buyer has a complaint with the Royal Mail, not you.

Do as bythesea suggests, log your tracking number in paypal and as long as that shows the item was delivered you should be fine. Paypal may investigate and if they do you will need to fax across a copy of the orange slip, so keep it handy.

Be polite to your buyer but keep your emails along th elines of how sorry you are that they have a problem with their address (that kind of thing) suggest they talk to their sorting office and offer a copy of the RD slip if they want to make a formal complaint. It is possible to get a copy of the signature, it will cost £2.50 and takes a little while, but you might want to suggest they do that to see if it throws any light on the situation at all.

I dislike recorded delivery as I've had some very poor results with it, and this really reinforces my view.

Soo

syanide

I had an instance when the royal mail site said the item was signed for and delivered but had'nt arrived at the buyers address. I got the buyer to contact RM with the tracking number and they had delivered it to a different house in the street (not sure why as it was a different house number). RM give the info to the buyer and he picked the item up..

John_T_5

I have actually got a copy of the buyers signature, they have an image of it in RM tracking, whoever has signed for it has signed using the buyers name.

cantcope

My postman signed for something with my name before and just dumped the item on my doorstep because it wouldnt fit through the letterbox.:mad:

frivolous_fay

John_T wrote:

I have actually got a copy of the buyers signature, they have an image of it in RM tracking, whoever has signed for it has signed using the buyers name.

I suppose if the buyer cares to prove the signature in the tracking isn't his, he and you have a case to take up with RM.