Ebay advice please - suspect buyer lying

emmalambshank

So I sell my unwanted clothes on ebay like a lot of people - never had an issue.

I posted one item a couple of days late (my first mistake) but upgraded the postage to first class to compensate and apologised to the buyer who seemed to accept it. My second mistake was not tracking it.

A couple of days later he sent a rude message about it not being with him yet.

He's since been ruder (although nothing I can report) which is stressing me out, and has also opened a case wanting a refund. Because of his manner, I feel like even if he has received it by now, he's going to carry on with the refund just to stick a finger up at me.

I can't open a 'missing parcel' thing with Royal Mail until it's been missing for 10 days which will be 2 days after the case can be escalated to Ebay customer service, who will no doubt side with the buyer as all I have is proof of postage.

I spent literally an hour on the phone to ebay call centre at the end of last week and didn't really even then get the answer to my query.

So advice please on this question... If I refund him now to get the situation and stress done with, if it turns out that Royal Mail tell me if was delivered to him, am I likely to get my money back through an appeal? Or can I only appeal and revisit the issue if I wait until it's escalated and until Ebay force a refund out of me?
What would you do? It's about £20 so not a life changing amount but still annoying.

Sorry for the essay, many thanks for any advice in advance

theonlywayisup

Did you have any form of tracking/delivery confirmation?

mum2one

Without without the parcel being tracked / recorded delievery, u won't get any proof it's been deliverers, basically eBay will side with the buyer .....
sorry x

emmalambshank

No, really kicking myself for not getting tracking. I won't be able to find out any information re it being lost or delivered until I open an investigation with Royal Mail which I can't do apparently until it's been 10 days since posting.

By the time Royal Mail have looked into it and got back to me the case will be closed.

emmalambshank

@mum2one - Yeah I'm not in a strong position am I maybe best to just refund him and cut my losses and learn for the future

theonlywayisup

I asked because you seem to think RM will be able to see it's been delivered.

If it doesn't have any tracking/delivery confirmation then you need to refund the buyer BEFORE they escalate the case.

You then claim from RM with your certificate of posting.

emmalambshank

theonlywayisup wrote: »

I asked because you seem to think RM will be able to see it's been delivered.

If it doesn't have any tracking/delivery confirmation then you need to refund the buyer BEFORE they escalate the case.

You then claim from RM with your certificate of posting.

Will RM not be able to find that out from an investigation?

And if they can, and if it has been delivered though and the buyer is lying, surely I won't get anything from RM as they'll say they did what they were supposed to and delivered the package?

F&L

I received a parcel last week that had been posted at a post office by standard mail. The postman scanned the code before handing it to me. I never post from a post office but perhaps someone else will know if the scanning of standard mail is in place at the moment (I know it's in place for business mail)? I threw the packaging away but had meant to look at it again.

theonlywayisup

emmalambshank wrote: »

Will RM not be able to find that out from an investigation?

And if they can, and if it has been delivered though and the buyer is lying, surely I won't get anything from RM as they'll say they did what they were supposed to and delivered the package?

How?

Unless it had any barcode or delivery confirmation QR code on, it won't be traceable.

Why do you think it has been delivered? If you do believe it's been delivered then you shouldn't be claiming from RM that it is lost.

You have no choice but to refund the buyer if you have no delivery confirmation.

emmalambshank

F&L wrote: »

I received a parcel last week that had been posted at a post office by standard mail. The postman scanned the code before handing it to me. I never post from a post office but perhaps someone else will know if the scanning of standard mail is in place at the moment (I know it's in place for business mail)? I threw the packaging away but had meant to look at it again.

Well I thought there must be some sort of basic tracking for each parcel but my post office said that because I didn't request tracking at that time, it's basically gone into the ether now which confused me

emmalambshank

theonlywayisup wrote: »

How?

Unless it had any barcode or delivery confirmation QR code on, it won't be traceable.

Why do you think it has been delivered? If you do believe it's been delivered then you shouldn't be claiming from RM that it is lost.

You have no choice but to refund the buyer if you have no delivery confirmation.

Yeah I think you're right.

The only thing I have to go on is the buyer's claim he hasn't received it so I'll claim from Royal Mail in case he's telling the truth, and if not then it'll just be an expensive lesson to track everything. Thanks for your advice