Buyer claiming item not arrived, post office have wrong address

henrygregory

Hi, I have just had a buyer contact me claiming they do not have their ebay item.
I sent this on the 5th of December and emailed them the same day to tell them their Royal Mail Special Delivery package had been sent and that if they do not get it in the next few days to let me know.

I have now on 22nd December, had an email saying they don't have it.

I have typed in the tracking code on the receipt and it says it has been signed for and delivered on 17th December.
I have viewed the signature and it is that of the recipient.

However, the only discrepancy I have noticed is that the destination address on my receipt has a small mistake. The building number is correct, however the postcode has one number in the wrong place.
So say it should be RZ13 9WZ
It actually shows: RA13 9WZ.

When I send items, I triple check I have written down the address correct from paypal, so I know the address on the front of the package will have been correct.

Where do I stand with this?

The item has been signed for (and by the recipient name and signature).

I have the proof of postage.

It looks like Royal Mail have duffed up with putting the address into their system and put down the wrong post code.

MyOnlyPost

I would imagine that because you have it tracked all the way to delivery that you would win a dispute.

Do you believe your buyer? You may have a case for a claim as you used special delivery anyway as it is a guaranteed service before 1pm next day. As the item took 12 days to arrive you may be entitled to compensation, so you could refund your buyer from that maybe?

henrygregory

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

I would imagine that because you have it tracked all the way to delivery that you would win a dispute.

Do you believe your buyer? You may have a case for a claim as you used special delivery anyway as it is a guaranteed service before 1pm next day. As the item took 12 days to arrive you may be entitled to compensation, so you could refund your buyer from that maybe?

Hi, thanks for your post.
I have no idea if the buyer is telling the truth. The package has been signed for in the correct name. Our postal staff don't hand us the package until we sign for it and they check who we have signed as, so I can't see how anyone but the person it was meant for could sign for it.
My only worry is that if the post code is incorrect on my receipt, this will not look good on my part if a claim was put in for a non received item as it will look as though I put down the wrong address.

With regards the 12 days to arrive, it may well be that RM had attempted to deliver and no one was in, their website does not give details on this.

scottish_stresshead

Surely if the item has been signed for and it is of the recipient, then its' been delivered ! ...often if a postcode does have a mistake in it, they can often go by the address and follow that! many things can be sent without a postcode and still be delivered..so maybe they have recieved it and are telling porkies!!!

MyOnlyPost

The post code issue certainly doesn't help. However the signature by the named recipient does. Have you seen a copy of the sig? and is it legible?

When you posted did you get proof of posting (not likely if sent Special D) and what does the postcode say on that? Sometimes they are hand written so may be different to what has been printed.

It may be worth contacting RM as if it took 12 days to arrive maybe the buyer went to the sorting office to collect?

**Edit

Also it is unlikely a buyer would pay for Special D unless they were going to be in to receive it. It is an expensive option for a 12 day service

soolin

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

Also it is unlikely a buyer would pay for Special D unless they were going to be in to receive it. It is an expensive option for a 12 day service

I assume the item was valuable enough to require Special- not that buyer requested it.

It seems very odd though, if item has gone to the correct place and has been signed for by the correct person how do they know your receipt shows a different post code? Could it be that the address was wrong on the packet as well so that buyer realising that he has a valid claim if he appeals is trying it on?

However, the fact he has given it so long suggests that te ebuyer isn't a scammer- so it might be that the parcel did have the wrong postcode and has gone to the wrong address and the person signing for it just signed the name on the parcel. Occasionally when i get a special they just say something like 'special for Soolin- please sign here'- so a person might just sign the name they were given.

I also understand (and custardy might be able to clarify) that the post code is more important that the street address when sorting, so the house number and post code would be th elikely one to be used when delivering and the fact that the street address was wrong, especially with temp staff at Christmas, be ignored.

I suspect you will win a paypal claim on the first run, but that your buyer if he pushes paypal properly will win on appeal.

FemmeFatale

I had an item sent to me SD before, didn't turn up. Contacted sender who provided me with tracking, it was showing as delivered with a signature that was my name, but not my signature. Turned up a week later as the wrong post code had been put on it. Nobody could tell me who had signed my name for it though.

She might be telling the truth...

soolin

Out of interest OP, if you put the wrong post code into the Royal Mail address finder is it a valid post code? If so is there a property at the correct street number.

henrygregory

Hello, thanks for all of your posts.
I have just called Royal Mail and they said they are highly doubtful that it would have gone to the wrong address.
The man I spoke with said the drivers will read off the front of the packet so they don't go by what is on the system.
He said the fact the item has been signed for by the correct name and that the signature is very similar indicates that it is highly likely the correct person did receive it.

As one of you mentioned, I went on the Royal Mail postcode checker and put in the postcode the RM worker entered in incorrectly, and the site says:
"Unfortunately we could not find this postcode. Please check it. If the postcode is correct but we still can't find it, please read the help below to find out what to do."


The address I wrote on the package will be 100% correct. I always triple check them. And the buyer does not request Special Delivery, I always send via Special Delivery as I find it much more reliable and have never, until today had any lost items via this method.

I am going to contact the buyer and tell them of the phone call I have just had with RM and see what they say.

custardy

henrygregory wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your post.
I have no idea if the buyer is telling the truth. The package has been signed for in the correct name. Our postal staff don't hand us the package until we sign for it and they check who we have signed as, so I can't see how anyone but the person it was meant for could sign for it.
My only worry is that if the post code is incorrect on my receipt, this will not look good on my part if a claim was put in for a non received item as it will look as though I put down the wrong address.

With regards the 12 days to arrive, it may well be that RM had attempted to deliver and no one was in, their website does not give details on this.

http://www.royalmail.com/trackdetails
track it on this URL
it will have gone to the correct postcode
perhaps delayed by a day but it would be shunted on

prowla

I guess it is possible that whoever it was delivered to just signed for it (I often don't check the addressee before doing my squiggle on the LCD display).