Sending to Argos - what if the parcel gets lost?

mrs_sparrow

Just a query really. I see from an email this morning that this is going to be on offer soon but does anyone know what happens if the customer arrives and there is no parcel?

Do Argos have to scan the item in to prove it has arrived, and, if not, how can we prove whether it is lost at Argos or lost in the post?

campdave

Argos will generate a code once the parcel has arrived, which the customer will give when they collect the item.

Same as any other delivery, if you do not have tracking that it was received at Argos, you will lose any case.

FidgitsID

campdave wrote: »

Same as any other delivery, if you do not have tracking that it was received at Argos, you will lose any case.

I hope thats the case ie seller wins any INR case if courier tracks it to argos (because thats where ebay says to post it, but paypal t&cs still say to post to buyers paypal address)

This is ebay and with these click/collect iems they might want conformation from argos that buyer picks it up ? In which case sellers/buyers are not only relying on courier tracking but argos "tracking" as well if anything goes wrong?

I dont think ebay have actually said how tracking will work with click/collect yet, and its never good when ebay is not forthcoming with details :-(

RFW

I used it once as a buyer, the item arrived late and the seller wasn't able to track it. I did eventually get the code but the seller didn't appear to have received the confirmation when I collected.

I can see several problems, but nothing much more than using Royal Mail and items waiting at a Post Office, if anything it carries a few less potential problems than that. It's a pretty inspired idea, I'll possibly use it for some items, but most of mine fit through a letter box these days.

FidgitsID

RFW wrote: »

I can see several problems, but nothing much more than using Royal Mail and items waiting at a Post Office, if anything it carries a few less potential problems than that

can you expand on that? this bothers me as a buyer because its adding another layer and ebay/paypal both acts in a very arbitary way with tracking.

do both ebay & paypal insist on argos "confirmation" for click&collect or will they accept the confirmed courier tracking to argos ?

did your click/collect item show up in paypal as a click&collect item ? so they know if buyer raises INR case, courier tracking does not actually prove buyer got it ?

you say the seller did not get conformation that you picked it up from argos, does this confrmation show up in sellers and/or buyers ebay account or is it an email to the seller ?

edit - TBH all of these details should be very clearly set out from ebay/paypal t&cs and help pages already, there should be no room for interpretation of what "might" happen :-(

mrs_sparrow

As he said really.

I am trying to get my head around this at the moment. I am wondering if Argos update the buyers screen with the confirmation details and tracking number.

How did you know that it was there for you RFW?
How does the seller know that the parcel has been received by the buyer?
What if the buyer does not collect? Will Argos return it to me for free?

FidgitsID

just another thought,

if ebay/paypal will be setup to know to check for argos confirmation on click/collect items. would that give "free" "buyer has it" info on items that are just sent to argos using royal mail nontracked service ? or do argos just update the argos conformation on items that arrive to argos via a tracked means ?

edit - and another, what happens if argos makes mistake and swaps items between buyers, who pays/takes responsability for that ? since the argos confirmation will show buyer got the item.

RFW

mrs_sparrow wrote: »

As he said really.

I am trying to get my head around this at the moment. I am wondering if Argos update the buyers screen with the confirmation details and tracking number.

How did you know that it was there for you RFW?
How does the seller know that the parcel has been received by the buyer?
What if the buyer does not collect? Will Argos return it to me for free?

I got a text message and an email. As far as the seller goes, I'm assuming he knew about it but not sure how quick that was. From memory it was tied in with Paypal, I think (not certain, it was a while ago). There was an additional label added by the seller for tracking within Argos, presumably generated by Ebay.
As far as buyer not collecting I'd be concerned about that too, although that happens with couriers. Presumably (again, no idea really) there is some time limit for collection and then it gets sent back or somewhere else.

As a customer there wasn't a problem, there was no queuing with Argos customers and it was found quickly. As I said there was a delay but I think that was the seller's fault.

There shouldn't be confusion with parcels, they're labelled, barcoded and scanned, checked against id and number given on text message/email. There's bound to be the odd mistake but it should be easy enough to rectify within Argos. It is different and will carry some new problems but possibly solves others (unlike PO, buyer knows item is there, no lost calling cards and better tracking).

As I've said elsewhere I'm scaling a lot of Ebay down, one of the things I'll continue to sell is a 1kg parcel that is an RM small parcel, I think click & collect will add a few more sales so I don't have anything to lose trying it. I'll have a read first but probably add it next week.