eBay Item Never Received

mrsc1964

I know there have been other threads on this, but I think they've mainly been from the Seller's point of view. I'm posting this as a Buyer who never received an item, and have exhausted all measures with no luck at all. I'll simply have to post this down to bad luck.


I purchased a Kindle as a present for my daughter for doing well at school. £50. It has never arrived, yet the Seller produced a Royal Mail tracking ref as proof that "it has been delivered". They raised an investigation and so did I. What has consistently come back is that it was scanned at the local sorting office and scanned at the address. So that's it. There's nothing I can do. I've checked with my neighbours and they haven't received it (we get on really well with them, so I trust them implicitly).



I'm staggered that this can happen. This has also opened my eyes as a Seller. I'm not a Seller on eBay but a Seller on Etsy. So, from now on, I will only ever send out my stuff as Royal Mail signed for. Thankfully I've never had any of my customers go through this, but I can completely understand the frustration of going round and round in circles.


Both eBay and PayPal have reviewed this and said they can't decide in my favour. Not surprising if the Seller has a tracking reference which states the item has been delivered.


Like I say, I'm obviously going to have to kiss goodbye to my £50. I took a stupid chance in buying something that wasn't sent out by signed for, but I'll never do it again. I probably won't buy from eBay again to be honest.


Just posting this as a warning to buyers, and a lesson to other Sellers to please don't assume all buyers are liars looking to pull a fast one on you. Many are genuine just like me - I definitely know how hard it is to try and earn a living.


That's my tuppence worth. Have a great summer everyone.

lindens

A long shot but have you been to the local sorting office in case it is sitting there? Also was a signature required? so is there a copy of this?
Did the seller have the appropriate insurance and use the appropriate postage method for an item of £50

custardy

Signed for would produce the exact same scanning data. So you need to push back to RM. What's the layout where you live. Flats,doors code together,detached or what?

girlchops

OP Have you checked with RM that it was scanned as delivered and signed for at your actual address?
I read recently on another thread of a similar thing where it was signed for as delivered but at wrong address. I don't recall where the fault lay in that case but it's worth a shot especially if it was delivered to wrong address and not yours.
I'll see if i can find the thread just in case there's something else useful there.

girlchops

P.s if you have the tracking number you can check online who signed for it and what the signature is like. If it's not yours or a different name perhaps you'll recognise it or have some recourse?
We've been receiving items that should've been signed for straight through the letterbox recently and when we check the tracking there's a signature there that doesn't belong to any of us, so we assume the postie is signing without our permission. Perhaps that's what's happened but in your case they obviously haven't delivered it! If you have an image of the signature maybe that could help you somehow to pursue this. Maybe one of the more knowledgeable forumites could guide you in that.
I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

custardy

girlchops wrote: »

OP Have you checked with RM that it was scanned as delivered and signed for at your actual address?
I read recently on another thread of a similar thing where it was signed for as delivered but at wrong address. I don't recall where the fault lay in that case but it's worth a shot especially if it was delivered to wrong address and not yours.
I'll see if i can find the thread just in case there's something else useful there.

girlchops wrote: »

P.s if you have the tracking number you can check online who signed for it and what the signature is like. If it's not yours or a different name perhaps you'll recognise it or have some recourse?
We've been receiving items that should've been signed for straight through the letterbox recently and when we check the tracking there's a signature there that doesn't belong to any of us, so we assume the postie is signing without our permission. Perhaps that's what's happened but in your case they obviously haven't delivered it! If you have an image of the signature maybe that could help you somehow to pursue this. Maybe one of the more knowledgeable forumites could guide you in that.
I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

Guys read whats written.
The item required no signature and GPS shows it scanned at their property

soolin

custardy wrote: »

Guys read whats written.
The item required no signature and GPS shows it scanned at their property

Apologies for going off topic , but I have a couple of questions if I may custardy.


How accurate is the GPS tracking? I know you have asked (and it hasn't been answered) about a house with multiple use etc so leaving that aside as GPS could not positively ID the actual door it was handed in at- what about small terraced properties etc?


Also, can I assume that post people don't generally leave things on doorsteps like couriers do? I'm lucky, my post people are brilliant and either hand it to me or to a neighbour, but I wondered if generally the RM would take something away if it couldn't be left safely?

NBLondon

custardy wrote: »

Guys read whats written.
The item required no signature and GPS shows it scanned at their property

What form of tracking is that them? It's an open invitation for that tiny minority of dishonest and incompetent posties to abuse.

soolin

NBLondon wrote: »

What form of tracking is that them? It's an open invitation for that tiny minority of dishonest and incompetent posties to abuse.

It's a shame OP hasn't come back to update (so few do), however they specifically say it was not sent signed for. Therefore the only possible way must be one of the RM business services (ie 24/48) or even just normal parcel post which now gives proof of delivery.

I know the 'bad postie' argument always gets used, but frankly there is no scheme at all to stop this. Signed for ( as above) wouldn't help as it only requires 'a' signature, not a signature of a named person . Even expensive special delivery doesn't limit itself to the signature of the recipient, if delivered at a door then anyone can sign for it.

Yes there are bad posties like any other industry, but when you think how many posties there are and how few times we see one in the press , the percentage must be miniscule.

custardy

NBLondon wrote: »

What form of tracking is that them? It's an open invitation for that tiny minority of dishonest and incompetent posties to abuse.

The same tracking with all RM services (from a delivery point perspective)

custardy

soolin wrote: »

Apologies for going off topic , but I have a couple of questions if I may custardy.


How accurate is the GPS tracking? I know you have asked (and it hasn't been answered) about a house with multiple use etc so leaving that aside as GPS could not positively ID the actual door it was handed in at- what about small terraced properties etc?


Also, can I assume that post people don't generally leave things on doorsteps like couriers do? I'm lucky, my post people are brilliant and either hand it to me or to a neighbour, but I wondered if generally the RM would take something away if it couldn't be left safely?

Very accurate. GPS can take you right to the door.
Its not officially declared but GPS is always on with the PDAs now(not just at point of scanning) so a posties entire route is GPS tracked.
The old set up was only at scan point.

RM is pushing on with 'Safeplace'. PDAs have been updated to allow pictures to be taken when items are left in a safeplace.
Technically items should only be left in a safeplace when it is officially printed on the label (Tracked products only) but you & I know it happens far more with multiple products.
They have also tweaked the software to allow records of what neighbour items are left with.

Simple fact is its cheaper/less work for RM if items are 'delivered first time'.
Callers offices,redeliveries etc cost time & money.