Buyer claims to have received empty box

crikaus

Hello I'm hoping for your help please because this not happened to me before

I've posted a phone to a buyer the value approximately £50 via Dpd, tracking shows item has been received, within two hours buyer has already sent message claiming received empty box without phone and once and wants money back and  has already left negative feedback

what do I do now this smells of a scam, who's going to open a sealed box for a £50 phone

MorningcoffeeIV

crikaus said:

who's going to open a sealed box for a £50 phone

The same people who do it in all the other hundred of cases you hear about, I would imagine.

crikaus

Just to be clear the exterior box was a plain brown box and the phone box was inside this

soolin

Firstly was this on ebay and does your tracking show delivered? if so the buyer won’t win an INR , but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t assist them of course. Although now a negative has been left I personally wouldn’t be rushing to help them, and depending on my mood would probably just respond suggesting they take this up with DPD and that you would be happy to supply your details to DPD if contacted by them. 

If you wish to be helpful then Explain to buyer that you will need them to keep all the packaging and explain that if you open a claim with DPD they are going to ask for details as to whether box was open or sealed on arrival, and work from there. Do not refund , just work through any help that DPD can give you. 

It is also worth appealing the negative on the basis it was left without any case being open and you ah e tracking proving delivery. 

crikaus

Thank you soolin

The the DPD tracking shows as delivered both via eBay website and also Dpd to the said recipient 

so far buyer has not opened case

I was not going to refund now that the buyer has left negative feedback obviously I don't want to refund but when the buyer asks again for a refund I will ask for photos so that I can forward to the police and they can come to their house to start an investigation

Also I should add the item was purchased via PackLink eBay and ensured for the full amount so I think that's another line of query if eBay decide to cave in and refund the buyer

born_again

soolin said:

Firstly was this on ebay and does your tracking show delivered? if so the buyer won’t win an INR , but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t assist them of course. Although now a negative has been left I personally wouldn’t be rushing to help them, and depending on my mood would probably just respond suggesting they take this up with DPD and that you would be happy to supply your details to DPD if contacted by them. 

If you wish to be helpful then Explain to buyer that you will need them to keep all the packaging and explain that if you open a claim with DPD they are going to ask for details as to whether box was open or sealed on arrival, and work from there. Do not refund , just work through any help that DPD can give you. 

It is also worth appealing the negative on the basis it was left without any case being open and you ah e tracking proving delivery. 

The person receiving has no contract with DPD. It would be down to OP (sender) to take it up with DPD & start a claim (they did take out lost damage cover? ) & claim via that for lost item.

https://www.dpdlocal-online.co.uk/help-centre/parcels/question/delivery/can-i-make-a-claim-for-my-parcel

Sagham

Let them open a case the item shows as delivered so they won’t win. As far as item not in the box probably a scam but it does happen on the odd occasion so say you will contact the police ect 

soolin

born_again said:

soolin said:

Firstly was this on ebay and does your tracking show delivered? if so the buyer won’t win an INR , but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t assist them of course. Although now a negative has been left I personally wouldn’t be rushing to help them, and depending on my mood would probably just respond suggesting they take this up with DPD and that you would be happy to supply your details to DPD if contacted by them. 

If you wish to be helpful then Explain to buyer that you will need them to keep all the packaging and explain that if you open a claim with DPD they are going to ask for details as to whether box was open or sealed on arrival, and work from there. Do not refund , just work through any help that DPD can give you. 

It is also worth appealing the negative on the basis it was left without any case being open and you ah e tracking proving delivery. 

The person receiving has no contract with DPD. It would be down to OP (sender) to take it up with DPD & start a claim (they did take out lost damage cover? ) & claim via that for lost item.

https://www.dpdlocal-online.co.uk/help-centre/parcels/question/delivery/can-i-make-a-claim-for-my-parcel

I’m sorry but once buyer leaves negative feedback that’s it as far as I’m concerned , feedback is left at close of sale and the only reason I suggested that seller told buyer to try talking to DPD was just to say something rather than ignore them.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

It is also worth appealing the negative on the basis it was left without any case being open and you ah e tracking proving delivery. 

I don't think eBay will remove such feedback, if the buyer opens an INR and it's then closed in OP's favour by eBay the feedback will go (although it won't if the buyer closes the case instead of eBay).

The correct thing for the buyer to do is to open a not as described return request. Empty box is a difficult one, if the buyer knows which request to open OP will have to refund and see if they can claim from DPD.

OP is there not a photo on the tracking to show if the box has any indication of having been opened or not? 

crikaus

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

It is also worth appealing the negative on the basis it was left without any case being open and you ah e tracking proving delivery. 

I don't think eBay will remove such feedback, if the buyer opens an INR and it's then closed in OP's favour by eBay the feedback will go (although it won't if the buyer closes the case instead of eBay).

The correct thing for the buyer to do is to open a not as described return request. Empty box is a difficult one, if the buyer knows which request to open OP will have to refund and see if they can claim from DPD.

OP is there not a photo on the tracking to show if the box has any indication of having been opened or not? 

I just had a look on the main DPD website to show the  delivery photo interestingly my label has been covered over by another electronically printed label from DPD and I can just about see my label underneath

It's difficult to see if the parcel has been opened from the photo but I the question is why have DPD put one of their own labels on top of mine

Money_Grabber13579

crikaus said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

It is also worth appealing the negative on the basis it was left without any case being open and you ah e tracking proving delivery. 

I don't think eBay will remove such feedback, if the buyer opens an INR and it's then closed in OP's favour by eBay the feedback will go (although it won't if the buyer closes the case instead of eBay).

The correct thing for the buyer to do is to open a not as described return request. Empty box is a difficult one, if the buyer knows which request to open OP will have to refund and see if they can claim from DPD.

OP is there not a photo on the tracking to show if the box has any indication of having been opened or not? 

I just had a look on the main DPD website to show the  delivery photo interestingly my label has been covered over by another electronically printed label from DPD and I can just about see my label underneath

It's difficult to see if the parcel has been opened from the photo but I the question is why have DPD put one of their own labels on top of mine

Parcelforce did the same to me recently. Gave me an option of whether I wanted them to bring a label, I said no but they brought one and stuck it on anyway. I assumed it was just to make sure there were no delays later on with partially obscured or badly printed labels etc.