Buyer has opened an INR case

bubs

Hi, I’m hoping someone can help please. I sold 2 items to the same buyer on 18/11, I agreed to combine postage and sent both in the same parcel the same day. I printed a postage label via ebay and have a slip from the post office proving I posted it there. Royal Mail haven’t updated the tracking. I had a curt message from the buyer yesterday saying the items should have been delivered by 24/11 according to ebay (sent 2nd class), and if they hadn’t received them by Thursday they’d open a case. I know we have issues with our delivery office (not sorting office that’s working fine), so suggested checking with their delivery office. Today they opened an INR case with a note saying their delivery office said they have the label but not the parcel! (It was towards the max size of a small parcel and the label was properly attached. I looked up claiming via Royal
Mail and it says I can’t claim for a lost parcel until 10 days after the due delivery date. Do I have to refund the seller now? Or will ebay do it as I have proof of postage? Thank you 

soolin

bubs said:

Hi, I’m hoping someone can help please. I sold 2 items to the same buyer on 18/11, I agreed to combine postage and sent both in the same parcel the same day. I printed a postage label via ebay and have a slip from the post office proving I posted it there. Royal Mail haven’t updated the tracking. I had a curt message from the buyer yesterday saying the items should have been delivered by 24/11 according to ebay (sent 2nd class), and if they hadn’t received them by Thursday they’d open a case. I know we have issues with our delivery office (not sorting office that’s working fine), so suggested checking with their delivery office. Today they opened an INR case with a note saying their delivery office said they have the label but not the parcel! (It was towards the max size of a small parcel and the label was properly attached. I looked up claiming via Royal
Mail and it says I can’t claim for a lost parcel until 10 days after the due delivery date. Do I have to refund the seller now? Or will ebay do it as I have proof of postage? Thank you 

Without proof of delivery you will need to refund in full, I suspect the label comment is a red herring as it makes no sense and doesn’t help nor hinder you anyway.

Your own claim to RM is nothing to do with the buyer and you can’t make them wait until you make your own claim. Now that an INR has been opened keep an eye on the time frame, you must refund before the date that the case can be escalated as at that point ebay will force the refund, you will get a strike on your dashboard and you will also lose your FVF refund. 

bubs

Thank you. I’ve asked them to ask their delivery office if they have a parcel with no label as it seems odd how they can have one without the other - it isn’t a small parcel! The buyer has a feedback score of 8 but seems to know the ebay system and is quite ‘pushy’. I’m gutted it’s gone missing for their sake as well
as the financial loss and having to try to get my money back off Royal Mail. The case was opened today and the message from ebay says I have til 3rd Dec which doesn’t seem long! So I guess it’s my issue because Royal Mail haven’t updated the tracking? 

soolin

bubs said:

Thank you. I’ve asked them to ask their delivery office if they have a parcel with no label as it seems odd how they can have one without the other - it isn’t a small parcel! The buyer has a feedback score of 8 but seems to know the ebay system and is quite ‘pushy’. I’m gutted it’s gone missing for their sake as well
as the financial loss and having to try to get my money back off Royal Mail. The case was opened today and the message from ebay says I have til 3rd Dec which doesn’t seem long! So I guess it’s my issue because Royal Mail haven’t updated the tracking? 

Ebay don’t give long for an INR case and watching those dates is important. For an INR case nothing matters except online proof of delivery , any tracking up to that point is immaterial, all that matters is that you have proof of delivery. It sounds like you used signed for? If so I assume the package was worth over £20 hence needing the extra insurance, so at least you can make a claim for the full value assuming it is under £50. 

That all assumes you are a private seller though, if you sell as a business then RM will ask you to provide proof of original cost and will only pay out the lower value of either sale price or original cost. 

bubs

Sorry I’ve probably used incorrect terminology. I’m a private seller and sent it 2nd class small parcel (not signed for, value is under £20). When I printed the label it has a number on it which I input onto the listing in the tracking number box. When you click on track parcel it tells you normally where the parcel is (it takes you to Royal Mails website), only this one they haven’t updated it. They must have received the parcel at the delivery office to have the label but the buyer says they rang and we’re told that’s all they had, ‘they have the label but haven’t received the parcel’. 

24Tweezers

Why don't you 'google' the delivery office which covers the buyer's postcode and phone there yourself about the stray label?

soolin

bubs said:

Sorry I’ve probably used incorrect terminology. I’m a private seller and sent it 2nd class small parcel (not signed for, value is under £20). When I printed the label it has a number on it which I input onto the listing in the tracking number box. When you click on track parcel it tells you normally where the parcel is (it takes you to Royal Mails website), only this one they haven’t updated it. They must have received the parcel at the delivery office to have the label but the buyer says they rang and we’re told that’s all they had, ‘they have the label but haven’t received the parcel’. 

Standard parcels only update at point of delivery , not before , there is no update until that point so what you are seeing is normal for an undelivered parcel. 

I’d forget the lone label issue, it makes no difference to the INR and isn’t worth wasting time on.

Buyer is under no obligation to chase their parcel, I know many of us ask buyers to do that but realistically they don’t need to bother and the chances of them getting through to anyone who can help is slim. My own mail centre now never answer their phone anyway so it would be futile. If you want to put some effort into locating the parcel you can always try phoning yourself, if you google the buyers postcode it will tell you which centre the address is associated with. 

in_the_Cotswolds

Normally we have the parcel and no label. I've never seen just the label.

Archergirl

If you sent it 2nd class not signed for did you send it tracked? That's the only way to get a number otherwise I thought it was just a certificate of posting. 
I have had this happen and when I sent them a pic of the certificate  I didn't hear any more, some people do try it on.

soolin

Archergirl said:

If you sent it 2nd class not signed for did you send it tracked? That's the only way to get a number otherwise I thought it was just a certificate of posting. 
I have had this happen and when I sent them a pic of the certificate  I didn't hear any more, some people do try it on.

No, as stated in the thread above all standard parcels now have proof of delivery , just like signed for, not tracking though as only guaranteed delivery has that. 

If parcel had been delivered then it would show as delivered on the track and trace.