Not enough postage

Lillekat2

Hi
what is the Ebay etiquette here? I recently won a lovely item and paid with Paypal. The postage was clearly stated (3.50) and so that's what I paid.

Now today I get a card through the door saying that I have to go to the post office to get my item as not enough postage was paid on it -- I owe the post office a further 4 quid including their underpayment charge.

I am very interested to see how much postage they did pay?! If it is what I paid already but the item was particularly heavy then I guess I haven't been done as such but I am still miffed

So whats my best course of action (if any)? Should I email the seller to get it refunded or just suck it up?

I shall update this tomorrow with the info! What would you do?

Lillekat

lisyloo

The seller should have put enough postage on it.
Contact them and politely enquire whether they got it weighed.
If they are a good seller the might admit they made a mistake. You should give them the opportunity to put it right.

If they don't help and you want to get your money back, then get a receipt from the post office and raise a dispute via paypal.
If you have the evidence (receipt) then I can't see any reason why you wouldn't win the dispute.

lamornababe

I am a very reputable seller on ebay (3100+ feedback) - and that sort of thing shouldn't happen from a reputable seller - if the seller is reasonable they should refunf yoiur excess postage charges (as long as you can proove they were wrong). You paid what they stated end of matter. You get your money back as far as I am concerned

vultura

The seller should have had the item weighed before posting it, he would have then paid for the postage in full and not the buyer.

It will be interesting to compare what the actual postage value was on the item against what the buyer was charged and also the postage cost had he/she posted it correctly in the first place.

Lillekat2

Ishould change the tirle of this post to "No postage at all"! i am drafting an email to the seller for a refund... Fingers crossed!

robnye

Lillekat2 wrote:

Ishould change the tirle of this post to "No postage at all"! i am drafting an email to the seller for a refund... Fingers crossed!

what a bloody cheek, i hope you get a refund...

good luck

Lillekat2

OK just got an email from the seller stating that the post label must have come. She has asked for my postcode to send receipt of postage and "the post office will sort it out for me"

Has anyone else had this happen? Will the post office refund me?

soolin

That might make sense! The problem of labels coming adrift has been brought up on the ebay boards before now so it can happen. There was even a recent report where someone had left a whole load of parcels at the post office to be stamped later and the post office clerk just bunged them in the post bag without any labels at all and just the handwritten prices he had marked on them to remind himself how much postage to add.

If the seller is happy to take the matter up with the post office it probably means they can prove it was handed in over a post office counter or something.

Whatever happens though the seller should refund you the amount you have had to pay to collect the parcel, immediately. It is immaterial what you actually paid for postage as that was an agreement between you and the seller, however you should not be out of pocket for this further amount.

Soo

Hermia

This happened to me twice, but it turned out to be the Royal Mail's fault! Two parcels arrived and I had to pay a fortune in underpaid postage fees. I had a right go at the sellers and they both said they'd had the items weighed at the post office. I took the parcels back to the sorting office and got them to weigh them and the postage turned out to be correct. I got my money back, but then had to apologise to the sellers for my angry emails!

Lillekat2

Right, so when the seller sends me the proof of postage I can go back to the post office armed with the package & the proof and get my money back? OK then I guess I wait for the proofof posting to turn up.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and support -- I have never had a problemas a buyer on ebay before so was a bit nervous as to what the right thing to do!

thanks!

Hermia

Lillekat2 wrote:

Right, so when the seller sends me the proof of postage I can go back to the post office armed with the package & the proof and get my money back?

You may need to fill in a claim form to get your money back. I got mine back straight away 'cause I was standing there with steam pouring from my ears!