Is this fair?

Becles

Sold a few things on ebay and one of the parcels failed to arrive. It was sent by Standard Parcel Service through the Post Office.

The lady complained as she said she needed the item for a holiday. If I'd known this in advance, I would have sent it by a quicker service!

I suggested she check at her local sorting office, just in case it was there. She said she did and it wasn't there. She emailed after her holiday and said she was going to check at the sorting office again and if it wasn't there, she was going to put in a PayPal claim.

She never did put in the PayPal claim and I never heard from her again, so I assumed the parcel had arrived late.

The parcel came back to me this morning with a sticker on saying a delivery card had been left, but she never picked the parcel up.

Obviously I will need to send her a refund. Is it fair to send a partial refund deducting the £5.50 that it cost to post the parcel? I can't decide if she is to blame for not collecting it despite what she said, or if Royal Mail never carded her and then told her they didn't have it on both her visits.

soolin

Becles wrote: »

Sold a few things on ebay and one of the parcels failed to arrive. It was sent by Standard Parcel Service through the Post Office.

The lady complained as she said she needed the item for a holiday. If I'd known this in advance, I would have sent it by a quicker service!

I suggested she check at her local sorting office, just in case it was there. She said she did and it wasn't there. She emailed after her holiday and said she was going to check at the sorting office again and if it wasn't there, she was going to put in a PayPal claim.

She never did put in the PayPal claim and I never heard from her again, so I assumed the parcel had arrived late.

The parcel came back to me this morning with a sticker on saying a delivery card had been left, but she never picked the parcel up.

Obviously I will need to send her a refund. Is it fair to send a partial refund deducting the £5.50 that it cost to post the parcel? I can't decide if she is to blame for not collecting it despite what she said, or if Royal Mail never carded her and then told her they didn't have it on both her visits.

No it is not fair to deduct anything from the refund, it is unfair to have made a buyer wait for any length of time.

Many of us have had items not carded for, and there is no way you will ever know the trutch of who she asked and what she was told. If she does a full chargeback she'll get a full refund anyway, so might as well try an dmitigate the feedback.

Obviously_the_best

On the other side to Soolin, as you're a private seller, I'd say it was fair to deduct postage from the refund, as she didn't pick it up

soolin

Obviously_the_best wrote: »

On the other side to Soolin, as you're a private seller, I'd say it was fair to deduct postage from the refund, as she didn't pick it up

The problem there though is that it forces buyer to go through a full dispute and makes them more likely to leave poor feedback.

Buyer has not got their item, there is no way of knowing whether they were carded or not- so calling them out as a liar and witholding part of the due refund is asking for problems.

Crowqueen

Buyer does not have their item; seller has no right to deduct anything from the refund, whether private or business. Seller takes the risk and gets the reward, so should shoulder the burden when things do not go well.

I must admit, from reading these forums, I had nightmares of not being carded when I realised my Olympic tickets were coming by Special Delivery. They turned up OK, on a day when I wasn't home to collect them, but I got a card safe and sound.