Royal Mail “Signed for” ebay item not redelivered / collected by buyer & now being sent back to me

General_query

Hi, got my stress head on right now, advice welcome.

So, I sold an item on ebay on 30th August for £58 plus £4.50 for Royal Mail “Signed for” 2nd class postage, and posted it on Friday 1st September and marked it as despatched on ebay.

ebay released the funds and it appeared in my bank account.

On 9th September a message appeared on ebay: “Buyer didn't receive the item -

Still waiting for the item to be delivered. Is there any tracking info at all? Still waiting for the item to be delivered. Is there any tracking info at all?".

Surprised at this I checked the tracking number on the Royal Mail website and it said:

Monday 04 September 2023 11:45 Delivery Attempted - No Answer

Tuesday 05 September 2023 16:28 Delivery Attempted - Address Inaccessible

Wednesday 06 September 2023 11:23 Delivery Attempted - No Answer

ebay said they would withhold this sales amount from any future sales until resolved, so I responded immediately to the message on 9th September and added the RM tracking number and my response of “You updated tracking details - Item posted on Friday 1st September, Royal Mail 2nd class signed for large letter”.

I then assumed the buyer had contacted Royal Mail to rearrange delivery as the RM tracker showed:

Monday 11 September 2023 09:55 Item Prepared for Redelivery

I also added another response to the ebay warning message to the buyer on 12th September giving them the link to the RM tracker and explaining RM attempted 3 deliveries the week before and they need to contact RM, giving the buyer the contact link. 

Today, the RM tracker page shows:

Wednesday 13 September 2023 07:22 Retention exceeded - Returned to Sender

Returned to Sender

This item is being returned to the sender because it's exceeded the holding period at xxxxxxxxxxxx DO.

We hold on to items we've not been able to deliver, for 18 days. As we didn't receive any Redelivery or collection instructions from the intended recipient we've returned the item to the sender.

Please contact the sender with any queries.

So, any idea what happens now? Apart from being a bit annoyed the buyer didn’t contact me, instead they opened a case on ebay. I sent the item by Royal Mail “signed for” post, and it is now in the hands of Royal Mail. I have the Post Office receipt with tracking number.

RM attempted delivery and it appears the buyer made no attempt to have it redelivered or arrange to collect the item, now RM are sending it back to me.

What happens with the money? RM pay compensation (max £50 for 2nd class “signed for” post, but they attempted delivery and the item isn’t lost.

Even if I claimed that max amount of £50, will I have to reimburse the buyer who paid £62.50 inc. postage? After ebay fees/deductions I received £59.80.

Sorry if this is all jumbled, never had an item undelivered / not collected before.

I sent item by Royal Mail “Signed for” 2nd class postage but the buyer never received it as they weren’t in, and never collected / rearranged delivery, now it’s on its way back to me.

Who is to blame? And what happens with the money issue? 

Don’t want my long standing 100% positive feedback ruining either as they buyer never received the item I sent, again not my fault.

Advice please?

Also, the message on the RM tracker states “We hold on to items we've not been able to deliver, for 18 days”, well it’s not been 18 days either so RM are washing their hands of it and sending it back to me now - short of their own 18 day deadline, but if the buyer has made no attempt to get it / have it redelivered then guess RM can’t do anything else (beside the point I know).

Thank you.

soolin

Unless the rules have changed , and stuff changes all the time it is difficult to keep up , your buyer will win an INR case and recover the funds from you. You however will get your FVFs back less 30p so don’t lose out much there but you will lose the postage. 

2 questions, was your return address clearly shown on the parcel for an easy return and is there a case open already? If there is a case open watch the escalation date as you need to refund before eBay do, as if eBay refund you don’t get your FVFs back.

it might be worth phoning eBay and double check the small print, see if an unsuccessful delivery still counts as non delivery as it always used to. 

Incidentally there is now a much better service from Rm than signed for, look online at RM48, up to £100 (it might be £150) compensation and a small parcel up to 2kg costs just £3.29 with full tracking. Buy direct from eBay, tracking uploads automatically and you can even get parcel collected by RM at no extra cost.

General_query

Thanks.

Yes, there was a return address on the back.

Re: escalation date, this an email ebay sent me on Sat 9th September, and I did uploaded the RM tracking details and responded twice now in my ebay account so the buyer can see (and ebay).

General_query

So, no blame on the buyer for not going to collect my "signed for" item or arranging a new delivery date then? Madness....

Spoonie_Turtle

Unfortunately I think you'll probably have to refund them, but worth phoning eBay ASAP if you're in a position to, just to double check since it does appear to be the buyer's fault.  

soolin

You need to refund urgently otherwise as per my previous response you will lose your FVFs and you will also get a seller warning on your dashboard, and they can affect whether or not you get promotions going forward

Yes it seems unfair for the seller to lose out  on the postage , but UK regulations require sellers to get the item to the buyer ,unfortunately  there is currently no obligation for buyer to make themselves available.

Seriously, get it refunded now before eBay do it. 

BethRobinson

General_query said:

So, no blame on the buyer for not going to collect my "signed for" item or arranging a new delivery date then? Madness....

Think of the hundred reasons why they might not have had it redelivered or gone to pick it up 

Money_Grabber13579

BethRobinson said:

General_query said:

So, no blame on the buyer for not going to collect my "signed for" item or arranging a new delivery date then? Madness....

Think of the hundred reasons why they might not have had it redelivered or gone to pick it up 

What a strange comment. If you’ve ordered an item, the least that can be expected is that you will make yourself available to receive it. And if something happens after ordering that you can’t, why should the seller have to suffer the cost of postage and packaging? But unfortunately, that is not the way eBay works.

Dark_Star

I’ve had the same “ address inaccessible “ message on 2 items.
 1 buyer lived in a block of flats & apparently postie couldn’t even get in to leave a card. The other person didn’t respond, so no idea what the issue was.
In both cases, I advised of them of the failed delivery so buyer could contact the sorting office.
Both items subsequently delivered/ collected.
I always keep an eye on the tracking for stuff I’ve sent, as I’ve previously had a parcel returned undelivered/ uncollected. That buyer paid the postage again & it got to them the second time. ( They didn’t report non delivery , the parcel just ended up back with me & covered in stickers indicating non collection, so I asked if they wanted item or refund ).

I don’t sell a great deal so I can check on delivery. Appreciate that large volume sellers probably cannot check every item.
Perhaps they still want your item & could pay postage again?

tightauldgit

Money_Grabber13579 said:

BethRobinson said:

General_query said:

So, no blame on the buyer for not going to collect my "signed for" item or arranging a new delivery date then? Madness....

Think of the hundred reasons why they might not have had it redelivered or gone to pick it up 

What a strange comment. If you’ve ordered an item, the least that can be expected is that you will make yourself available to receive it. And if something happens after ordering that you can’t, why should the seller have to suffer the cost of postage and packaging? But unfortunately, that is not the way eBay works.

In fairness its not the way anywhere works. If you buy something online and arent home to receive it then after a while it goes back to the sender but they can't claim back their postage costs from you

Spoonie_Turtle

tightauldgit said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

BethRobinson said:

General_query said:

So, no blame on the buyer for not going to collect my "signed for" item or arranging a new delivery date then? Madness....

Think of the hundred reasons why they might not have had it redelivered or gone to pick it up 

What a strange comment. If you’ve ordered an item, the least that can be expected is that you will make yourself available to receive it. And if something happens after ordering that you can’t, why should the seller have to suffer the cost of postage and packaging? But unfortunately, that is not the way eBay works.

In fairness its not the way anywhere works. If you buy something online and arent home to receive it then after a while it goes back to the sender but they can't claim back their postage costs from you

Lots of places will treat it as a return and only refund the item cost not the postage.  If it's taken 15+ days then that's lawful.  14 days or under and they should, by law, refund the whole lot (but it's a lot of effort to get that enforced just for the original postage cost so the vast majority of people won't bother).