Buyer received a card for underpaid postage

princesse_sarah_x

Hi all, had a message from a buyer a few days ago saying they hadn't received their item so i asked them to wait a few days, today they message saying they'd had a card through saying there is £2 to pay for an item, they think it may be the missing item. It is an item I have sold 100's of, large letter size and it was posted first class for 96p as always. I use drop n go and have the proof of postage from the post office so I know the postage was paid, how would this work? If I refund the buyer the £2 can I claim this from the Royal Mail?

Thank you x

theonlywayisup

Tell them that if they think it's your item, to pay the fee and email you the receipt/sticker showing it's your item and you will refund in full.

Don't refund without it.

princesse_sarah_x

Thank you! Good thinking, I won't! Will this enable me to be reimbursed by Royal Mail or do I just accept the loss?
Thank you

Kim_13

The buyer may be pulling a fast one, as the only way there could be a £2 fee is if there was no postage on a letter/large letter. If the staff somewhere along the line had made an error and treated it as a small parcel, the fee would be £3: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/new-pay-a-fee-surcharges . No doubt if someone they know incurred them the charge, a minority of eBay buyers would prefer to scam a faceless person than accept the loss/approach the actual sender due to awkwardness.

Tell the buyer that you have sold hundreds of this item, always large letter size and never an underpaid one. They should establish what the item is (it may not be yours; with letters in the same fee bracket it increases other possibilities) and challenge Royal Mail if appropriate. You could supply your POP at this stage though if the postage has fallen/been taken off of your item, RM could still charge claiming there's no proof the POP related to that item. The POP will prove to the buyer that the fault is RM's and not yours, though many buyers still seem to hold sellers responsible for any failures in the postal system.

The buyer would have all the evidence at their end so if any claim can succeed, it would be at their end.

theonlywayisup

princesse_sarah_x wrote: »

Thank you! Good thinking, I won't! Will this enable me to be reimbursed by Royal Mail or do I just accept the loss?
Thank you

If you can show RM that you applied the correct postage you can claim for a reimbursement.

theonlywayisup

Kim_13 wrote: »

The buyer may be pulling a fast one

Which is why I suggest to tell the buyer to pay and then show you the label/sticker showing it's the OP's item

Kim_13 wrote: »

Tell the buyer that you have sold hundreds of this item, always large letter size and never an underpaid one.

That is completely irrelevant. If the buyer has a charge, then it needs to be resolved.

Kim_13 wrote: »

The buyer would have all the evidence at their end so if any claim can succeed, it would be at their end.

The buyer should not be making any claim, the issue is for the seller to resolve once it's been established the charge has been applied to the OP's item. Which takes me back to my first suggestion. Why make life difficult for the buyer?

Kim_13

theonlywayisup wrote: »

If you can show RM that you applied the correct postage you can claim for a reimbursement.

How can the seller do this without involving the buyer, since the package is at the buyer's end?

soolin

Kim_13 wrote: »

How can the seller do this without involving the buyer, since the package is at the buyer's end?

I've reclaimed a postal overcharge before now with photos that the buyer sent, I was the seller and it was my contract with RM.

If item has arrived without postage (perhaps a stamp or a label has come off) then it is still for the sender to take up with RM especially since buyer doesn't have any form of proof as to what was attached when it was posted.

If it is purely a mistake, ie buyer gets to mail centre and sees that correct postage is attached then all they have to do is point that out to the staff.

ballisticbrian

I have had buyers tell me the stamps have "fallen off" and they were fined, and when I told them it was franked directly onto the envelope I never heard from them again. go figure.

MsBlonde

I recently had to pay £3 to get a parcel which had no postage on it, was an ebay purchase too... seems the seller is posting PPI labled mail in the postbox, therefore postage wasn't paid.

theonlywayisup

Kim_13 wrote: »

How can the seller do this without involving the buyer, since the package is at the buyer's end?

I do it by asking for a copy of the sticker/receipt the buyer pays for. It's not rocket science.