eBay: item delivered but not to my house - resolved

GrahamLM52

Whilst it is, legally, the sellers responsibility to contact the courier to find lost or mis-delivered parcels many sellers refuse to do so. In my case the seller kept repeating that "Royal Mail tracking" showed the item had been delivered to my house, so no more they can do. They would not contact Royal Mail to ask for proof of delivery. This seems like the policy of many sellers. It is, however, incorrect. Just because the courier says they delivered it to the right place does not mean they actually did.

In my case, when I contacted Royal Mail they explained that when the item is scanned as it is being delivered the GPS co-ordinates are recorded. The lady I was speaking to at Royal Mail said she had the GPS co-ordinates of my house and the GPS co-ordinates of where the parcel was delivered and they were not the same place, so clearly the item had been delivered to the incorrect house. The postman retrieved the parcel and delivered it to me.

Annoyingly, Ebay sided with the seller, stating that Royal Mail's original "we've dropped it off" text was proof that it had been delivered to the correct address.

When I later explained to them that I had tracked it down and it had been delivered to the incorrect address they just repeated that the seller was correct and I was wrong.

Pollycat

GrahamLM52 said:

I just had exactly the same issue as you.

Thanks, Graham, that's very helpful.

Pollycat

molerat said:

They should be sufficient proof if you need to go to court.  I do hope you give the seller a neg for being an ...., it is the seller's responsibility to get the parcel to you, not some random house with the same number.

It won't go to court.

It's a 2nd hand vintage hallmarked silver item, relatively low value order but probably irreplaceable as it was manufactured in the US.
It's not the money, I want the item I bought.

I wouldn't have given a negative as it's clearly not the seller's fault.
Since I responded saying I'd try to progress with RM if they won't but I didn't have the contract with RM, they've actually chased RM who say they will 'launch an investigation' but it may take 10 working days.

My lovely postie - who turned up yesterday on schedule at 13:40 

I was surprised because my postie - who is very reliable - usually comes between 12pm and 2pm.

said if I had no luck with the seller, he'll try to progress it back in the sorting office if I gave him the tracking number.

Of course, it's possible that the person at #73 may pop it back in the post as 'not at this address'.

Pollycat

As an aside, I didn't know that for RM tracked 24 & 48, compensation is not payable for jewellery.

molerat

Does the tracking not show the GPS location ?  All my parcels show a very clear map of where the item was delivered along with exact co-ordinates.

soolin

Pollycat said:

As an aside, I didn't know that for RM tracked 24 & 48, compensation is not payable for jewellery.

I believe costume jewellery with no precious metal is fine, They only seemed to exclude high end precious metal items. 

RM recommended on here for costume items. 
Jewellery │ Royal Mail Group Ltd

Pollycat

molerat said:

Does the tracking not show the GPS location ?  All my parcels show a very clear map of where the item was delivered along with exact co-ordinates.

I can't see the GPS info as the seller has just sent me what looks like screenshots. 
Are you talking from a buyer or seller perspective? 
Should I ask the seller to look for GPS?
Thanks

Pollycat

soolin said:

Pollycat said:

As an aside, I didn't know that for RM tracked 24 & 48, compensation is not payable for jewellery.

I believe costume jewellery with no precious metal is fine, They only seemed to exclude high end precious metal items. 

RM recommended on here for costume items. 
Jewellery │ Royal Mail Group Ltd

On track for fashion jewellery

Royal Mail Tracked is a perfect match for items worth £100 or less. Fashion jewellery is in safe hands with end-to-end tracking and SMS and/or email notifications with an estimated delivery window from 2 hours.

Hmm.

My item is way below £100.
That seems to contradict the info on RM website on tracked service. 🤔

soolin

Pollycat said:

soolin said:

Pollycat said:

As an aside, I didn't know that for RM tracked 24 & 48, compensation is not payable for jewellery.

I believe costume jewellery with no precious metal is fine, They only seemed to exclude high end precious metal items. 

RM recommended on here for costume items. 
Jewellery │ Royal Mail Group Ltd

On track for fashion jewellery

Royal Mail Tracked is a perfect match for items worth £100 or less. Fashion jewellery is in safe hands with end-to-end tracking and SMS and/or email notifications with an estimated delivery window from 2 hours.

Hmm.

My item is way below £100.
That seems to contradict the info on RM website on tracked service. 🤔

Thankfully I’ve never had to make a claim for my bits of jewellery using RM48 but I have successfully claimed with standard 2nd class post.

molerat

Pollycat said:

molerat said:

Does the tracking not show the GPS location ?  All my parcels show a very clear map of where the item was delivered along with exact co-ordinates.

I can't see the GPS info as the seller has just sent me what looks like screenshots. 
Are you talking from a buyer or seller perspective? 
Should I ask the seller to look for GPS?
Thanks

Both sent and received parcels.  You shouldn't rely on what the seller has sent you, have you checked the tracking yourself ? https://www.royalmail.com/track-your-item#/ The RM tracking page should have 3 headings, Proof of delivery with the photo, Tracking history and Map of delivery location.  This shows a detailed map of the location along with the GPS co-ordinates.