Help buyer has opened a paypal dispute its now been over a month since item posted

silverchair

I'm really annoyed:mad:

I sold an item on 4th January and sent it 5th of January 1st class signed for. I've just received an email from paypal saying that the buyer has opened a "not received item" dispute. I had received no contact from buyer previously. Because its been over a month I have now thrown away (stupidly) my receipts. Been searching everywhere for them. Why didnt the seller contact me earlier about not receiving item.
Not sure what to do now as I now have no evidence that I sent off the item.

melancholly

any chance you typed in the item number at some point to the royal mail website to check it and that your browser will have saved it?

veruccasalt

You are in a difficult position since you have thrown away your proof of posting. Did you ever check that the parcel had been signed for on the Royal Mail website? This is always a wise move.

It could well be that the parcel is languishing at the local sorting office. Signed for letters are held for 7 days I think and if they are not collected they will be returned to sender-ie you. THis can often take a while.

If I were you, I would be emailing your buyer, asking why they have waited a month before reporting this? Also, I would get them to check at their local sorting office to see if it is still there by any chance. If you did check that it had been received, I would be pointing this out quite forcibly and telling them to take a long walk off a short pier!

Finally, sad to say, if it hasnt been received (and unfortunatley, you cant prove this either way) and you dont have proof of postage, I would say that things dont look too great for you. Although Paypal may take into account that the buyer has waited a month before contacting you and presumably hasnt sent you any messages in the interim.

Good luck, and let us know what happens....

Cute_'n'_Quirky

Did the Buyer leave feedback?

I never destroy receipts until the Buyer has left feedback for the item

silverchair

Unfortunately I went back to work after xmas hols and completely forgot about checking & assumed that buyer would contact me within 2 weeks if item not received as this is what I would have done. Cant believe Ive been so dumb. Buyer didnt leave feedback :-(

soolin

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

Did the Buyer leave feedback?

I never destroy receipts until the Buyer has left feedback for the item

No please keep all receipts for at least 6 months. Feedback from the buyer will not stop a paypal chargeback, only online proof of delivery using one of paypal's accepted methods will do that. A standard item not received claim can be started up to 45 days from despatch but a fraudulent use of card claim can be anywhere up to 6 months.

No proof of delivery = no way of winning a paypal dispute.

Also of course anyone buying to sell on ebay must keep all receipts anyway for 6 years for the tax man.

Going back to the original question, if the OP cannotfind the delivery details then they will lose the chargeback. Also it is worth noting that there is no requirement at all for the buyer to notify a seller within any prescribed time frame about non receipt, so paypal will not 'mark the buyer down' because of that.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

I usually leave my receipts in a box and have a clear out months and months later.

pinkgem

i always keep receipts for at least 6 months.

as soolin says it doesn't matter is a buyer has left feedback or not, they can still start a chargeback or item not received dispute and you would need a proof of delivery to dispute it

silverchair

Thank you for all your replies.
Ill just have to see what happens. Pretty sure Ill have to refund her or does paypal just take it out of your account. Id rather make her wait. The buyer now has 2 negative feedbacks and her feedback is private so cant read what was written.
Well Ive learnt my lesson & will keep my receipts.

amcluesent

> Well Ive learnt my lesson & will keep my receipts.<

Stationers do expanding box-folders, indexed by month. You can stuff all paperwork into the current month, then do a rolling 12 month shred.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

silverchair wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies.
Ill just have to see what happens. Pretty sure Ill have to refund her or does paypal just take it out of your account. Id rather make her wait. The buyer now has 2 negative feedbacks and her feedback is private so cant read what was written.
Well Ive learnt my lesson & will keep my receipts.

Why make her wait?

It is not her fault that she didn't receive the item she paid for.

Why assume that she is trying to scam you?

Paypal will just take the money whether it is in your account or not and you will have to refund.

When I have had just two items not arrive in about three years in each case the Seller has assumed that I am scamming them for money. The way that RM is at the moment this is a wrong assumption to make.

I wouldn't have waited 1 month before opening an Item Not Received Dispute but maybe the Buyer was being generous. Some Sellers don't post out for the full 7 days after payment has been made, paypal or not, or even longer.

There are more dodgy Sellers on ebay than there are Buyers.