Item Lost - 2nd Class

mimi1234

Hi everyone.

Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

She's now opened a case to say item not received.

Do I just refund her right now or is there a certain number of days she is meant to wait? I'm sure it says it's not classed as lost until 10 working days have passed but if it is lost, it's not the buyers fault.

Something told me to block her the day she kept messaging and saying "can I have the item for £5". You live and learn I guess.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Best,

soolin

mimi1234 said:

Hi everyone.

Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

She's now opened a case to say item not received.

Do I just refund her right now or is there a certain number of days she is meant to wait? I'm sure it says it's not classed as lost until 10 working days have passed but if it is lost, it's not the buyers fault.

Something told me to block her the day she kept messaging and saying "can I have the item for £5". You live and learn I guess.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Best,

Did you buy the label through eBay by any chance, as LLs bought via ebay do have delivery confirmation in about 90% of time. 

If you don’t have any delivery confirmation then you will have to refund before the time shown where buyer can escalate the case. The date will be shown in the case. If you refund before that date buyer gets the refund but you don’t get any penalty. If you let buyer escalate then you still get to refund but also get a serious eBay strike. 

As for your refund from Rm, assuming you have proof of postage then check the Rm website as I don’t recall the time frame you need to wait, it’s something like 15 working days. You can make your claim online . 

35har1old

mimi1234 said:

Hi everyone.

Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

She's now opened a case to say item not received.

Do I just refund her right now or is there a certain number of days she is meant to wait? I'm sure it says it's not classed as lost until 10 working days have passed but if it is lost, it's not the buyers fault.

Something told me to block her the day she kept messaging and saying "can I have the item for £5". You live and learn I guess.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Best,

2nd delivery timescale 2 to 3 working days as you posted on a Friday best possible date for delivery 24th. 
If it has gone missing it's delivery due date plus 10 working days before you can attempt a claim
Expecting  to receive item the next day is wishful thinking
Royal mail class a Saturday a working day

soolin

Assuming you sent within your time frame then as previously said buyer was being way too prompt querying the delay the day after posting, and that always makes me suspicious. 

However without proof of delivery they will have to be refunded, I’d just wait until the last day before buyer can escalate , but do keep an eye on that timing. 

savergrant

mimi1234 said:

Hi everyone.

Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

She's now opened a case to say item not received.

Do I just refund her right now or is there a certain number of days she is meant to wait? I'm sure it says it's not classed as lost until 10 working days have passed but if it is lost, it's not the buyers fault.

Something told me to block her the day she kept messaging and saying "can I have the item for £5". You live and learn I guess.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Best,

Did you buy the postage through ebay or get a certificate of posting from the post office? If so does that have any tracking info related to the stamp barcode?
If they contacted you on 22nd and then raised a case on 29th what happened in between? Did you send any proof of posting?
If the item hasn't been delivered by now it's unlikely to turn up so under ebay rules you will need to refund unless there is some tracking info on your proof of posting. If there is then you might have been better advised to give that in response to the original message 
Was the item something which royal mail compensation will cover, their list of exclusions is quite long?

soolin

savergrant said:

mimi1234 said:

Hi everyone.

Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

She's now opened a case to say item not received.

Do I just refund her right now or is there a certain number of days she is meant to wait? I'm sure it says it's not classed as lost until 10 working days have passed but if it is lost, it's not the buyers fault.

Something told me to block her the day she kept messaging and saying "can I have the item for £5". You live and learn I guess.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Best,

Did you buy the postage through ebay or get a certificate of posting from the post office? If so does that have any tracking info related to the stamp barcode?
If they contacted you on 22nd and then raised a case on 29th what happened in between? Did you send any proof of posting?
If the item hasn't been delivered by now it's unlikely to turn up so under ebay rules you will need to refund unless there is some tracking info on your proof of posting. If there is then you might have been better advised to give that in response to the original message 
Was the item something which royal mail compensation will cover, their list of exclusions is quite long?

Just a point I like to make. I rarely ever  send proof of posting to a buyer, there is very little need as it’s only proof of delivery that matters. If a buyer is demanding proof of posting they are getting themselves wound up and basically accusing the seller of lying about posting it, and whatever a seller does is likely to have a poor outcome. Also depending on what sort of POP you have it might not even be easy todo. One of my POs give me a single till receipt for all my pre paid mail, so I’d have to blank out all the other addresses but make sure I leave the correct one and the date etc visible. My mail centre require me to complete a bulk POP which I print online, again blocking out rows of other names but leaving the stamp visible is time confusing. 

It’s sometimes best to be apologetic for the postal delays, even though it is out of the control of the seller, and reassure them that it will all be sorted out via the eBay case. 

ballisticbrian

Just to add, that the eBay system won't allow someone to open a case until it's actually due (maybe eve on midnight on the last due day). So when you say you sent it second class, she wouldn't have been able to open a case the very next day.

savergrant

ballisticbrian said:

Just to add, that the eBay system won't allow someone to open a case until it's actually due (maybe eve on midnight on the last due day). So when you say you sent it second class, she wouldn't have been able to open a case the very next day.

'Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

She's now opened a case to say item not received.'


She didn't open a case the very next day. She sent a message asking for tracking info the day after postage, despite the postage option being untracked, then opened a case a week later. Op doesn't actually say when the item sold, or when it was updated as despatched on ebay. The sale could have been a couple of days before.

Pollycat

I always message my buyers when I've posted the item with the exact time of posting and also say that tracking number is on the listing.

I don't have many things to post so it's not a bind for me to do this and buyers appreciate it.

mimi1234 said:

Quick question. Sent something 2nd class large letter on the 21st of March. Buyer complained on the 22nd saying it had not been received and where was the tracking proof. Item was worth £20 so I sent it 2nd class large letter as advertised and told her to wait a few more days.

I would have been damned annoyed at this.
I have sent a short reply telling her that her expectations were way out. 
Even for small items, I use RM Tracked 48 because it does give tracking details.

mimi1234 said:

Something told me to block her the day she kept messaging and saying "can I have the item for £5". You live and learn I guess.

Did you have 'best offer' enabled?
I rarely do this but when I do, I set he minimum amount I'll accept.

How many messages did she send?
If you didn't have 'best offer' enabled, I'd have blocked her and reported her to eBay.