Always phone ebay and appeal wrong decisions

soolin

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

prowla

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

soolin

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

savergrant

I had an INR from simple delivery, evri tracking said 'secure delivery - enclosed porch'  when I checked the proof of delivery it showed the parcel leant up against a white upvc front door. Ebay refunded the buyer and I received payment. So glad it was SD

prowla

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

soolin

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

As i said that was the short version, there was some other irrelevant to and froing that triggered my 'red flag' feeling. However, I remain convinced that a seller shouldn't lose out where tracking tracks to the buyers door, the FAQs say that a seller is covered where items are posted to the address given by ebay, and the new updates say that using ebay labels gives the seller full protection. 

FAQs also state buyers should get their items, and that makes this an ebay conundrum. 

Spoonie_Turtle

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

Well yes, if they claim it wasn't delivered then say they know it was delivered and they know what happened to it, that initial claim was a lie.

prowla

Spoonie_Turtle said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

Well yes, if they claim it wasn't delivered then say they know it was delivered and they know what happened to it, that initial claim was a lie.

Handed to a neighbour is not delivered.

It's often something that works (I often take deliveries for neighbours).

I guess the question is what "delivered" means.

soolin

prowla said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

Well yes, if they claim it wasn't delivered then say they know it was delivered and they know what happened to it, that initial claim was a lie.

Handed to a neighbour is not delivered.

It's often something that works (I often take deliveries for neighbours).

I guess the question is what "delivered" means.

As I said I don't want to say too much about it as it isn't fair on buyer, but 'handed to neighbour' is not exactly what happened here, item actually tracks to buyers address - not a row of terraced houses , but very slightly less dense with adjoining properties. It was also a LL (hence custom postage) and letter box size.

prowla

soolin said:

prowla said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

Well yes, if they claim it wasn't delivered then say they know it was delivered and they know what happened to it, that initial claim was a lie.

Handed to a neighbour is not delivered.

It's often something that works (I often take deliveries for neighbours).

I guess the question is what "delivered" means.

As I said I don't want to say too much about it as it isn't fair on buyer, but 'handed to neighbour' is not exactly what happened here, item actually tracks to buyers address - not a row of terraced houses , but very slightly less dense with adjoining properties. It was also a LL (hence custom postage) and letter box size.

Apologies for arguing!

I  just have an inherent mistrust of delivery services; I've had things "placed in porch" except I don't have a porch, "handed to resident" when I've been out and returned home to find items on my doorstep, and so-on.

In a shared property or block of flats an item could be handed to the wrong person.

I've had mail addressed to neighbours through my letterbox twice in the past week.

I just think the term "delivered" appears to be subjective.

soolin

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

prowla said:

soolin said:

This is a long story but I'll try and keep it brief .

Sold something, sub £10 custom postage, Royal mail showed item was delivered with co ordinates that matched buyers address. Buyer put in a claim that item wasn't delivered, I responded with tracking and the usual 'check with neighbours etc' and buyer responded in the claim that yes neighbour had taken parcel and thrown it away so buyer wanted a refund.

An easy win for me the seller, yes? Case escalated to ebay on day 5 and initially I won, funds released to me with no stain on my account. However, buyer then appealed and ebay overturned the decision on the basis that I agreed with buyer and had promised a full refund (which was completely untrue), my funds were removed and I was told I would get a seller defect and buyer was refunded in full.

When I was able I phoned ebay a few hours later, explained that I had used an ebay postage label (not SD though) item tracked to delivery, buyer admitted item had been in someone possession. I was immediately refunded and told my defect would be removed, no apology though, no explanation as to why such an odd decision had been made. 

Ultimately buyer has their refund, but I also have my funds.

So as per the title of the thread, always check seller (or buyer0 protection FAQs and phone ebay if they are not followed. 


EDIT- longer bits not entirely relevant.

If this had not gone back in my favour I was tempted to move the majority of my custom postage items from custom to SD postage , yes it would cost the buyers more but at least I would be covered against nonsense like this. 

This is my third INR on custom postage now in less than a month. All 3 showed delivery to buyer, I won one of them outright as buyer stated that the item was sent to an address he no longer had access to and forgot to change it. The second one buyer was refunded as a good will gesture and I 'won' the INR case so my funds were released. The difference in those two was that in both cases despite the tracking being automatically added to the sale when I bought an ebay label - I also added it to the dispute as a visual reminder to ebay, on this third one I didn't I just mentioned the GSP co ordinates. I wonder if ebay don't look at the original tracking at all, so if I get more INRs I will ensure I add the tracking manually again to the case notes.

Hmmm - I'm with the buyer on this one; the courier gave the package to someone else and the buyer never received it.

The courier is your agent and the item never left your care.

The fact that they gave it to someone else is an issue between you and your agent.

I don't see how the buyer "admitting" informing you they'd found out that someone else had it in any way shifts the responsibility onto them.

They purchased an item and it wasn't delivered to them.
The buyer was the innocent party

Under eBay FAQs neither of us should have lost out, eBay require me to prove item was delivered to the address , there is no requirement to get ID from someone , how the neighbour got the parcel is unclear . As soon as I phoned eBay and pointed out the requirement for seller to show delivery they agreed and refunded me, and buyer already had their refund as well.  If you look at my examples in the OP in the previous incident both myself and buyer got a refund. 

My courier tracks it to the address given and I cannot therefore make any claim as they have done their job. Whether someone else took the parcel or was handed the parcel I have no control over 

As I said if this becomes more of an issue , which Royal Mail is proving to be, then my solution , at least for my private sales, would be to switch h everything to simple delivery and let eBay argue with Royal Mail .

OK - the wording of your OP suggested the buyer was at fault, especially the assertion that they had "admitted" something.

Well yes, if they claim it wasn't delivered then say they know it was delivered and they know what happened to it, that initial claim was a lie.

Handed to a neighbour is not delivered.

It's often something that works (I often take deliveries for neighbours).

I guess the question is what "delivered" means.

As I said I don't want to say too much about it as it isn't fair on buyer, but 'handed to neighbour' is not exactly what happened here, item actually tracks to buyers address - not a row of terraced houses , but very slightly less dense with adjoining properties. It was also a LL (hence custom postage) and letter box size.

Apologies for arguing!

I  just have an inherent mistrust of delivery services; I've had things "placed in porch" except I don't have a porch, "handed to resident" when I've been out and returned home to find items on my doorstep, and so-on.

In a shared property or block of flats an item could be handed to the wrong person.

I've had mail addressed to neighbours through my letterbox twice in the past week.

I just think the term "delivered" appears to be subjective.

I don’t think I really phrased my initial post properly which caused some misunderstanding. I think the thing to remember with eBay is always to appeal if they don’t follow their own T and Cs , as a regular buyer myself I wouldn’t expect to lose out if my item failed to arrive (although I have done in the past even when RM admitted miss delivering it) but neither should seller lose out.