Royal Mail deliver tracked item to a neighbour who doesn't have it.

Belenus

Hello, I sold an item on eBay for about £190 and the buyer opened a SNAD return.

I accepted the return and paid eBay/Packlink to send a tracked return label to the buyer.

Ebay tracking showed that the buyer sent the item two weeks ago but for 10 days it showed it as 'In Transit'. A few days ago the buyer queried why I hadn't refunded him. He gave me a Royal Mail tracking number. I wasn't aware that RM were the delivery service but that number did appear on the eBay tracking.

I checked the RM site and that states “Delivered to A at number 33'. I do not have any neighbour with a name beginning with A and my neighbour at 33 does not have the item. I have known them for years, we have often taken in packages for each other and I trust them. I have also checked with other neighbours, again people that I trust, and nobody has the item.

I have talked to eBay on the phone who have advised me that I need to get RM to investigate. eBay agreed to suspend the return case for 5 days while I did that.

I have tried to contact RM but they never answer the phone and all I get is a recorded message about how busy they are. I cannot find an email address.

As far as I am concerned I have not received the item back, despite paying eBay for the return label. I did not book RM.

eBay tell me not to refund until I have the item back and have checked it.

What will happen if I cannot trace the item? Will eBay refund the buyer and charge my PayPal account? That account is already showing a debit of £190.

What should I do?

Thanks

MalMonroe

I would ask ebay to step in. There are notices on ebay's website saying if you cannot solve a problem you can ask them to step in and so that's what I'd do. They are already aware that there's a problem, since you've spoken to someone on the phone but I think you should now message them via your account on the ebay site. Put it all in writing and tell them it's impossible to get through to Royal Mail. (And even if you do, I doubt they will be able to help.) As far as RM is concerned the parcel's been delivered.  But they have done something wrong because you have not received it. You can claim compensation from RM, using the posting information from the buyer but it will take ages, and your buyer obviously wants a refund.

It's time for ebay to take over now that the matter is out of your control. 

mgdavid

you need to go to your local Royal Mail Delivery office and take up the tracking issue in person.

User Custardy on here works for RM and might be along soon to give more detailed advice.

theonlywayisup

I would not advocate asking eBay to step in as it likely will end up with a forced refund as the item status is 'delivered'.  

As mgdavid says, you need to go to your local delivery office and dispute the delivery.  You need to do this sooner rather than later as I believe the GPS data isn't held too long - you will be given a reference number and the DO will investigate.  In my experience this doesn't take long. 

Unfortunately as you didn't contract RM you may find claiming difficult, not least because I suspect the returns label supplied by eBay (I am guessing it was them and not the buyer) may not have had sufficient insurance/been a suitable service for the item.  Hopefully it won't come to a claim. 

soolin

MalMonroe said:

I would ask ebay to step in. There are notices on ebay's website saying if you cannot solve a problem you can ask them to step in and so that's what I'd do. They are already aware that there's a problem, since you've spoken to someone on the phone but I think you should now message them via your account on the ebay site. Put it all in writing and tell them it's impossible to get through to Royal Mail. (And even if you do, I doubt they will be able to help.) As far as RM is concerned the parcel's been delivered.  But they have done something wrong because you have not received it. You can claim compensation from RM, using the posting information from the buyer but it will take ages, and your buyer obviously wants a refund.

It's time for ebay to take over now that the matter is out of your control. 

If EBay step in they will just refund the buyer, it is automatic, in fact if OP Doesn’t get this horrible issue sorted quickly buyer will be refunded anyway as it shows as returned. However, it is what shows in the case that matters, OP a when you check the case it should show as ‘received by seller’ with a warning given about how you must refund within 2 days, does it show as returned there? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

mgdavid said:

you need to go to your local Royal Mail Delivery office and take up the tracking issue in person.

User Custardy on here works for RM and might be along soon to give more detailed advice.

This.

You have 7 days from when it was delivered to get the GPS coordinates to show where the PDA was when the parcel was delivered.

Has the buyer given you proof of postage to show they actually returned it to your address?

When you say you used eBay/Packlink  do you mean you used the label eBay gives in the return flow or actually purchased a separate label? 

Either Royal Mail have messed up in which case you need to claim with them (or Packlink or eBay depending upon where the label came from) or the buyer has returned a box without the item to a different address. 

Belenus

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. They are appreciated.  

I will phone eBay over the weekend before the case times out.

eBay stated this on the case details: 

Do not refund until you have the item back and have checked it.

How can I do that if I haven't received the item as it has been delivered to persons unknown or has been stolen or lost?

Will eBay ignore that and refund the buyer anyway?

I have been on eBay for 17 years and I have never had a return for a sold item in hundreds of sales. I have well over 1,000 positive feedbacks. Will that count for anything?

theonlywayisup

Belenus said:

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. They are appreciated.  

I will phone eBay over the weekend before the case times out.

IMHO it is pointless ringing eBay.  Why aren't you at the delivery office getting the info of where the parcel is?

Belenus said:

I have been on eBay for 17 years and I have never had a return for a sold item in hundreds of sales. I have well over 1,000 positive feedbacks. Will that count for anything?

It will count for absolutely nothing.