Unusual situation, I've got the money AND the goods

golddustmedia

I'm having a bit of a weird sale through ebay.

I sold a new phone handset I got with my contract renewal. I got paid through paypal and the UNCONFIRMED address differed from the one supplied by ebay, even the name differed...

I queried it and as per my terms on the auction I stated i would wait the funds to clear before sending the handset. The buyer did not seem bothered by this and was by no means chasing delivery.

In the meantime the buyer recieved some negative feedback from another ebayer calling him a scammer. As such I decided to exercise caution.

Once the funds cleared the buyer contacted me and supplied a 3rd address! I elected to send the phone to the original address supplied by paypal as I figured they are the ones handling the payment.

Anyway, I sent it recorded delivery and supplied the tracking number to the buyer.


I decided to check the tracking number and saw it had been sent to the local sorting office and a card left as nobody was there for delivery.

So I've just checked again and after 14 days the sorting office is now returning the parcel to sender (me) as it's not been collected???

SO, when it arrives I'll have the goods back but I also have payment. The buyer has not said anything and I'm really confused about what to do.


Should I contact the buyer?
Should I wait for him to contact me? (how long?)

Should I just resell the phone and deal with a refund if the original buyer asks? If so, I DID send the phone so presumeably I should not refund the postage cost?

Never happened to me before so not entirely sure where I stand as per rules/law.

custardy

if its returned to you and the buyer doesnt contact you then i guess the phone is yours to resell and you can refund minus any selling fee's/costs you have incurred
really you should have used special delivery for the costs involved though

Hintza

This will no doubt end in a claim through PayPal either as item not received or as a fraudulent transaction. I would refund in full and if buyer contacts you again then refuse PayPal and insist on a bank transfer.

You were very luck to get it back. This item MUST be sent Special Delivery (for your protection)!!

golddustmedia

As for special delivery, I took extra insurance on the recorded delivery so am covered by RM if they lose it and have proof of both sending it and it being delivered so don't see how thats wrong?

As for fraudulent transaction, well I can prove I did everything I should so not sure where there's any fraud?

I've not heard anything from the buyer since 9th October so not sure what he's doing.

How long should I hold onto the phone before I sell it or make any further action?

angelnas

You should never have sent out the phone in the first place. If the paypal details do not match the name, address or location of ebay details then its clear that something is not right. You asked the questions but still proceeded to send the phone even when negatives were issued. I would have just refunded the money instantly which is what you should do now against the original transaction and not resend the phone. Clear the matter before paypal reverses it anyway or the buyer eventually does and asks why you havent. Resale the phone and only ever send it to details that match and are confirmed only.

smartie1976

golddustmedia wrote: »

As for special delivery, I took extra insurance on the recorded delivery so am covered by RM if they lose it and have proof of both sending it and it being delivered so don't see how thats wrong?

Because i'm sure RD doesn't cover mobile phones full stop, whether you take out extra insurance or not.

golddustmedia

angelnas wrote: »

You should never have sent out the phone in the first place.

Well the point was he paid, and over a week later the money had cleared and everything appeared normal. Aside from the one piece of bad feedback they have 270 pieces of positive feedback.

I'm not really after a lesson in what I should have done at the time, the point is I currently have the payment cleared to my bank account nearly 3 weeks ago. Nothing heard from the buyer and the goods being returned to me.

So as per my original questions, what do I do NOW?

frivolous_fay

I wouldn't do anything until you've received the phone back.

Tea3

Hi - when this has happened to me in the past I have waited until I physically had the goods before doing anything (Royal Mail have lost many an item supposedly on its way back to me). If you get the goods back I would contact the buyer and say if they wish to repay the postage you would re-send the goods to the paypal registered address (upto to him to make sure its up-to-date). If he says no I would refund his money less the postage costs etc you have incurred so you are not out of pocket due to this and then you can relist the item.

angelnas

Until the buyer states clearly they want the phone resent then I would just refund minus postage and that way the transaction is clear. So give them another week once you have the phone returned from the postoffice.

soolin

Just to clarify, there is no way of paying for extra insurance via Recorded delivery as it is not a fully tracked postal method. Any claim for loss is exactly the same as any other standard mail which is £34.

However to answer the OPs actual question, do nothing until you get the phone back as I anticipate you'll soon be getting a claim for fraudulent use of a credit card.