New to Ebay and buyer has opened a case

power-ranger

I am gutted. I have just started selling on Ebay, sold three things to date.

Today I have received an email from ebay telling me one of my buyers has opened a case as they haven't received the item:

Details the buyer provided:
Problem: The buyer has not received the item
The buyer has tried contacting you
The buyer paid on 25 Jun, 2012
The buyer contacted you through email.
You have not responded to the buyer
You aren't working with the buyer to solve the problem

Now, this is the first time I am hearing of a problem. The buyer has not emailed me once. I emailed them twice. Once to tell them that the item was coming in two separate packages. The second time was to check that everything arrived safely. I did not receive a response to either email.

There is no mention of which package has gone missing. What are the chances of both going missing? What do I do?

I know I need to respond to the case. They have told me to respond by the 20th July.

If you need any further info, please let me know.

Cheers

theonlywayisup

Do you have tracking? If not, if the buyer escalates the case you will lose.

In the meantime, add a message to ask the buyer to confirm their postal address and explain when the items were posted, by what method and that you will check with their delivery office. Then Google their delivery office, ring and describe the parcels, they may be sat on the shelf awaiting delivery.

power-ranger

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Do you have tracking? If not, if the buyer escalates the case you will lose.

In the meantime, add a message to ask the buyer to confirm their postal address and explain when the items were posted, by what method and that you will check with their delivery office. Then Google their delivery office, ring and describe the parcels, they may be sat on the shelf awaiting delivery.

No tracking, so I know I will have to refund. Do I message them though the 'respond' in the case?

Why would ebay let them open a case when they haven't sent an item not received message and gave me the chance to look into it for them? Is this normal practice?

Many thanks

RainbowDrops

I'd send the message through the case. Appologise for the problems & mention that for some reason you hadn't received the earlier messages (the message system is prone to a few gremlins).
As above, ask them to confirm their address so you can look into it, but given the timescale you'll need to refund fairly soon.

theonlywayisup

Unfortunately the ebay system isn't perfect and neither is their messaging system. The buyer may have sent a message but you not received it. Irrespective, the best option is to try and locate the parcel before you have to refund.

Message them through the case, giving them reassurance that you will do your best to locate the parcels and they won't suffer any loss.

Then try and locate them.

power-ranger

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Unfortunately the ebay system isn't perfect and neither is their messaging system. The buyer may have sent a message but you not received it. Irrespective, the best option is to try and locate the parcel before you have to refund.

Message them through the case, giving them reassurance that you will do your best to locate the parcels and they won't suffer any loss.

Then try and locate them.

If I message them now and they decide not to give me the opportunity to look into it, can they escalate and the case gets closed straight away.

The reason I am asking is I have no money in my papypal account at the minute, but I have a couple of things for sale that will cover the refund, but they don't finish till the weekend.

theonlywayisup

The case won't get closed 'straight away', it takes some time. Ebay cases tend to be a law unto themselves, so it may even be a few weeks. I wouldn't worry unduly.

power-ranger

theonlywayisup wrote: »

The case won't get closed 'straight away', it takes some time. Ebay cases tend to be a law unto themselves, so it may even be a few weeks. I wouldn't worry unduly.

Thanks for your help with this much appreciated. I think I will try to contact their local delivery office and try to track down both packages. Once I have spoken with the delivery office, I will contact the buyer.

theonlywayisup

If you google their delivery office it should bring up a telephone number. If its an 0870 then use the saynoto0870 website.

You may have to be persistent as some DO are a little deaf when the phone rings.

I always find it easier to give the fullest of details down to size, colour of packing etc.

Crowqueen

If you can't find it, then it would be better to refund voluntarily, so perhaps think about uploading money into your account as a standby. If someone can gift you it and you pay them back then it will be quicker than transferring money.

power-ranger

Crowqueen wrote: »

If you can't find it, then it would be better to refund voluntarily, so perhaps think about uploading money into your account as a standby. If someone can gift you it and you pay them back then it will be quicker than transferring money.

I'm definitely going to refund voluntarily, but I would prefer to wait until the money is in my paypal account from my ebay sales if I can. Its £55.00 which is quite a lot of money to me.

I need to try to track the parcels down. Not that I am doubting the buyer, but two parcels going missing seems a little off to me.