a real mystery

soolin

...and perhaps one that will never be explained.

This is not ebay, it is a site I trust to a person with a good reputation and who I trust, a sub £10 jewellery item.  In a little thin padded pouch  , put in a small bag for protection and then into a jiffy bag with my thank you note . Then weighed , postage label bought and posted. Arrived next working day (2nd class so not bad) apparently completely sealed with no damage at all to envelope , my note inside but no jewellery or packaging.

Buyer possibly thinks I was scamming and never put item in envelope although I have of course refunded her in full the moment she emailed me, she is insistent that package was not damaged or tampered with in any way. I am equally adamant that I would not have sent an empty envelope , although it was a large letter item it was quite chunky with some weight- and I packed and weighed it myself - I would have noticed an empty envelope and I definitely have nothing left here.

Absolutely no explanation unless somehow the jiffy bag was carefully opened and resealed en route- and even that seems unlikely. 

yksi

My mum has received an eBay item with nothing in the envelope! In her case it had clearly been ripped - probably because the seller didn't pack it correctly, but possibly because the postal centre helped themselves. She just decided it could have been either one and didn't bother going after anyone. 

To be candid I think it's most likely to have been tampered with before it went into the buyer's letterbox. Most people do not carefully check the jiffy bag before opening and would not have noticed if it had been opened and resealed. But for 2nd class postage I don't really think you have any recourse or anyone to chase over stolen contents anyway   

I'm sure you've already assured her that you'd never do this so if it were me I'd probably just apologise for the problem, suggest that maybe it was somehow opened and resealed by a worker in the sorting centre, and note that you've had many successful sales with a good feedback score and impeccable reputation, so the mystery is just as frustrating to you as it was to her.

soolin

yksi said:

My mum has received an eBay item with nothing in the envelope! In her case it had clearly been ripped - probably because the seller didn't pack it correctly, but possibly because the postal centre helped themselves. She just decided it could have been either one and didn't bother going after anyone. 

To be candid I think it's most likely to have been tampered with before it went into the buyer's letterbox. Most people do not carefully check the jiffy bag before opening and would not have noticed if it had been opened and resealed. But for 2nd class postage I don't really think you have any recourse or anyone to chase over stolen contents anyway   

I'm sure you've already assured her that you'd never do this so if it were me I'd probably just apologise for the problem, suggest that maybe it was somehow opened and resealed by a worker in the sorting centre, and note that you've had many successful sales with a good feedback score and impeccable reputation, so the mystery is just as frustrating to you as it was to her.

I’ve apologised to buyer and refunded immediately, but I get the impression she doesn’t believe me, and there’s nothing I can do to prove it.

Normal 2nd class would have insurance up to £20 but I use a business account and can’t claim for large letters, only parcels, but I’m not that bothered. 

Brie

I had a friend who was in hospital with a detached retina and when I went to visit her I took her a box of chocolates.  I had very carefully slit open the cellophane, opened the box, removed (& consumed) a couple of the chocolates and then carefully resealed the whole thing.  OK - her eyes were bandaged shut so she couldn't see if I'd messed this up or not but she had the same problem we all have getting the cellophane off prior to opening the box and noticing immediately that a couple of chocolates were gone.  So if I can do it so can almost any relatively handy thief.  (fyi - she was not as amused as I'd hoped she would be.)

MR1988

@soolin I know what you mean mate. It's a bad feeling when you 100% know you have done the right thing and buyer doesn't believe you regardless that you refund and explain yourself.

I once posted some items to a buyer who had them forwarded to another country. Upon receiving the items he claimed that I sent him damaged items and that I was clearly trying to scam him because of the parcel forwarding. I knew for a fact I inspected items before packing and have wrapped everything in bubble wrap and then sealed in a sturdy box. I tried to explain him that it's possible for parcels to get open in the customs and duty for inspection and that the scratches and dents could have come from someone not handling it carefully. I even offered him to return items although I didn't have to as the buyer at that point lost his MBG because of the parcel forwarding. He refused to return and I ended up sending him a partial refund to apologise for the inconvenience.

He still didn't believe me at the end of all this and claimed that I was a scammer and that he will never buy from me. Sad when you know you would do anything to make it right and buyer still choose to not believe your side of things.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

yksi said:

My mum has received an eBay item with nothing in the envelope! In her case it had clearly been ripped - probably because the seller didn't pack it correctly, but possibly because the postal centre helped themselves. She just decided it could have been either one and didn't bother going after anyone. 

To be candid I think it's most likely to have been tampered with before it went into the buyer's letterbox. Most people do not carefully check the jiffy bag before opening and would not have noticed if it had been opened and resealed. But for 2nd class postage I don't really think you have any recourse or anyone to chase over stolen contents anyway   

I'm sure you've already assured her that you'd never do this so if it were me I'd probably just apologise for the problem, suggest that maybe it was somehow opened and resealed by a worker in the sorting centre, and note that you've had many successful sales with a good feedback score and impeccable reputation, so the mystery is just as frustrating to you as it was to her.

 but I get the impression she doesn’t believe me

Good of you to trust someone who doesn't believe you! 

Either the buyer is after a freebie or it was pinched on route although why steal the contents of a small jiffy bag rather than just taking the jiffy bag?

Do you not tape the flaps shut? 

MalMonroe

soolin said:

...and perhaps one that will never be explained.

This is not ebay, it is a site I trust to a person with a good reputation and who I trust, a sub £10 jewellery item.  In a little thin padded pouch  , put in a small bag for protection and then into a jiffy bag with my thank you note . Then weighed , postage label bought and posted. Arrived next working day (2nd class so not bad) apparently completely sealed with no damage at all to envelope , my note inside but no jewellery or packaging.

Buyer possibly thinks I was scamming and never put item in envelope although I have of course refunded her in full the moment she emailed me, she is insistent that package was not damaged or tampered with in any way. I am equally adamant that I would not have sent an empty envelope , although it was a large letter item it was quite chunky with some weight- and I packed and weighed it myself - I would have noticed an empty envelope and I definitely have nothing left here.

Absolutely no explanation unless somehow the jiffy bag was carefully opened and resealed en route- and even that seems unlikely. 

But don't forget that this works both ways. That is to say, you believe what she says but she doesn't necessarily believe what you say. She may not be telling the truth but you don't doubt what she says. For all the buyer knows, you could think that she was scamming you, too. There's no proof either way. [I don't think it's that difficult for a jiffy bag to be carefully opened and then resealed with a spot of glue. Although in this case, a person would have had to act quite quickly. Can be done though.]

You refunded her straight away anyway so there's no problem here but I don't think you should blame yourself entirely.
 

soolin

The only reason I feel badly about it is that for me it is a very fast moving site and reputation is everything, but as has been pointed out I cannot prove anything so there’s no point is worrying about it. The good thing is I get multiple sales every month and not a single complaint so far so if they do speak to admin (who I am on friendly terms with) I’m sure my reputation will be pointed out to them.