Cheek of some people! Update..now buyer selling same book but not my one.

wishuponastar

So i cannot believe the cheek of this buyer...
I sold a book to them. Anyway the P and P was priced at £3.50 for economy 3-5 days delivery. Was a standard small parcel size book, so cheapest RM 2nd class £3.10. After she bought it she was saying she needed it asap...so i asked if she wanted to pay a little more for postage to send it faster. e.g first class. She said no. I said i'd send Monday afternoon.
I kept receiving messages from her 'have you sent it yet', can you send me the tracking, can you tell me what time you will send it...etc and her reply time was very fast from each of my message to her. 
So i went soft and i paid the extra at the PO to send 1st class to her. I told her this and that it was on her way to her....nothing...not even a thanks.
Then i get a message from her sent yesterday evening saying...i've not got it yet...i thought first class was 24 hours delivery...why have i not got it yet? 
Seriously....some people...I'm fuming at her rudeness...
Any advice on how i should reply...as i know what i want to say...but trying to think of a 'nice way' to say it but need some diplomatic help...lol as that's not my strong point and i don't want to risk bad feedback from her. 
TIA

Rantband

Do not reply,make sure you load the tracking which will prove it has been received and move on to the next sale.

soolin

I tend to send a bland response along the lines of, 'as I am sure you are aware Royal Mail are warning about delays to all services and 1st class is not a guaranteed service, so hopefully it will be with you shortly' and then block them from buying anything else from you. 

As above make sure your parcel number is already added to the sale page.

wishuponastar

I have loaded tracking already and sent it to her too but RM 'tracking' is so bad that it just says something like an update will be made when it's been delivered. However when i've sent a parcel to family recently...it has been received/delivered but still showing the same message as above for that. Is this normal? or does it take a certain time to update it? 

wishuponastar

Further weird update...i checked buyers for sale items and it shows the very same book title as the one she bought from me. At least she is not using my photos so that's something. 

Main differences are mine was new, the one she is selling is clearly used and shows signs of being read on the front cover alone even though she has listed as new. She told me the one she bought from me was to send to her cousin in Brazil but on hers she says she no longer needs it for her studies. 
I cannot work this out...any ideas what's going on? 
In her feedback it says she left negative for a book she never received from a book seller company...so could it be that one that has turned up? and now she doesn't need it if she has mine? I really don't know what is going on here and i've been reading on the RM thread that says items can take about 3 weeks to arrive if not more (and that's first class). It's just all a bit bizarre tbh.

mimi1234

You're looking too much into it.  Just wait and see what happens.

Maybe I am being really dense but if you send it 1st class parcel, how would you get tracking?  I thought you only got a reference number if you send it signed for or am I missing something here completely?

Also, just a word of warning, if people ask too many questions, just be weary.  I guess if you cancelled the sale, you would be charged fees but asking that many questions would just give me the willies.

Good luck though.

wishuponastar

Maybe i am looking too much into it lol but it's lockdown and what else is there to do...(on second thoughts don't answer that lol)
About the first class parcel 'tracking'...i don't know if it's technically tracking (it doesn't show transit info) but you get a track number where it SHOULD show as delivered. It has in the past been ok for the few times i've used it but this parcel and the other one i sent to family (which that one has arrived) are both still saying something along lines of 'update will be provided when we attempt to deliver this item'. 
I was wary but i just thought she was asking all those questions because she needed it for a certain date to send to her cousin in Brazil if it was for a birthday or something. 
Thanks for the good luck wishes...i'll update the outcome when i know it.

soolin

mimi1234 said:

You're looking too much into it.  Just wait and see what happens.

Maybe I am being really dense but if you send it 1st class parcel, how would you get tracking?  I thought you only got a reference number if you send it signed for or am I missing something here completely?

Also, just a word of warning, if people ask too many questions, just be weary.  I guess if you cancelled the sale, you would be charged fees but asking that many questions would just give me the willies.

Good luck though.

Just to echo what wishuponastar has said above, all standard parcels now have delivery confirmation included automatically. If you buy eBay or PayPal postage it is uploaded to your sale page at point of sale, if you buy at a PO then you need to check your receipt for the number and add it to the sale manually. As long as it shows delivery, and 95% of the time or so (it varies) delivery is confirmed and can be checked on RM attack and trace. Some of us with business accounts have the same service on large letters (although in my case It costs me a few pence extra ). That delivery confirmation is enough to win an INR case. These delivery confirmation numbers for parcels came in about 3 years ago.

soolin

wishuponastar said:

Maybe i am looking too much into it lol but it's lockdown and what else is there to do...(on second thoughts don't answer that lol)
About the first class parcel 'tracking'...i don't know if it's technically tracking (it doesn't show transit info) but you get a track number where it SHOULD show as delivered. It has in the past been ok for the few times i've used it but this parcel and the other one i sent to family (which that one has arrived) are both still saying something along lines of 'update will be provided when we attempt to deliver this item'. 
I was wary but i just thought she was asking all those questions because she needed it for a certain date to send to her cousin in Brazil if it was for a birthday or something. 
Thanks for the good luck wishes...i'll update the outcome when i know it.

Some people are experiencing very long delays in post as some areas are hit with issues around lack of staff and building closures. Take a look at the very long thread about RM delays.

My own inward post was terrible for ages, some weeks I was only getting 2 or maybe 3 deliveries a week. It has got better now and I’m getting about 4 or 5 deliveries a week. I have had 2nd class parcels outwards arrive 2 weeks or so late.

Just keep responses to your buyer bland, if they open a case let it run and wait until just before it can be escalated,  check the tracking on RM again (don’t rely on eBay being updated) and refund as late as you can. Normally I would recommend refunding early , but this buyer sounds a bit odd so I would risk a negative and give yourself as much time as you can. 

wishuponastar

Thanks Soolin, I sent buyer the response you advised about RM delays etc. Not heard anything from her yet. I'm not too sure how these things works so could you kindly advise in your experience what is the process and timings if she does open a (it's not arrived) dispute?  and when is the latest date i can refund if that were to happen? I sent it Monday 25th (before last post) by 1st class small parcel. My Ebay timings say delivery i think on or around the 2nd Feb so i've got a couple more days still. Am i right in thinking she wouldn't be able to open a case until after that date at least? 

Thanks for info about the RM thread, i'll have a look to see if i can find it. Which forum is it located? As my search facility is a bit of a hit and miss at the moment so i don't know what's happened with it...i wrote to MSE to ask but they just sent me a general read the forum rules link...which didn't really give an answer but i guess they are swamped at the min like everything else.

soolin

The long thread is here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6214613/royal-mail-delivery-times#latest

The buyer *shouldn’t * be able to open a case until the last estimated date has past but eBay can be glitchy . Once an INR is open make sure you re upload the delivery number in case item is delivered, and then I think it is still 8 days before buyer can escalate. 

Hopefully it will arrive before then , fingers crossed !