A possible ebay scam.

[Jamiedyer]

I had a similar experience but from the other side, ie: the buyer. Ebay will ask and double check with both parties whether or not it has been delivered, any proof od delivery, tracking info etc before issueing a refund.
They will NOT issue a refund to the buyer if they have no contact from them, he will have to declare, legally, that he has not recieved the items, before he will get a refund. They wont refund just for them being late.
As long as your items show up and he is halfway honest you should be fine.
Luckily for me my stuff showed up and it was just the usual lazy seller so no harm or need to raise it further but the policy was explained to me over the phone clearly.
As for mail going missing, I always post signed for and by Royal mail/Parcel Force and have not really had a problem. The only things that have been seriously damaged or parts of item missing have been carrier deliveries and both times they were big name companies not the budget couriers.

Jamie

 

[Jamiedyer]

I also believe that all of ebays policies are full of loopholes for scammers to exploite. I dont know the answer but its a crap shoot most of the time who you are dealing with.
To be honest I have never lost much as generally pretty careful all round but have lost on here more than anywhere.
Just something to think about when people on here are constantly moaning about, but continueing to use, ebay.

Jamie

 

[dyna-ti]

I know that doesn't help you much but maybe it will in the future.
Hope it wasn't too expensive.

I should have quoted at the start, I hope that didn't come over too strong or directional Was directed at everyone

 

[foz]

I had something similar happen to me as a seller a couple of years ago... Sold something on ebay, posted it recorded (international, from Spain to the UK), and thought that was the end of it. A couple of weeks later got a message from the buyer, asking where it was. So I checked the tracking and it had "arrived in the UK" or something to that effect. I let the buyer know, and kept checking the tracking. Eventually, his time limit for making a paypal claim arrived, and he claimed the money back (as I would have done myself, can't blame him really!). So paypal refunded him, and I was left with neither money nor item, and out of pocket on the postage too. Ebay closed the case, even though I explained the situation (overly late shipping, out of my hands, etc, etc)

I kept checking the tracking, and a week or so later see that the item has been delivered. So I got in touch with the buyer and asked if he'd prefer to pay me again, or send the item back. He said he'd send it back, ordinary post if that was OK with me. I said tracked would be better for him, as I had proof that he'd received it, and he'd have no proof he'd sent it back, if he didn't use recorded. So he sent it back ordinary post anyway :facepalm: It got here though (and I think I actually sold it again for more than I did the first time )

All worked out in the end, but if I hadn't used recorded postage, I'd have been screwed

 

[RickTheUncivil]

Re:

I'm having a similar but different issue with eBay and my hermes. When I queried with the seller where my item was after a week or so, he responded that it had been delivered and he had proof. He sent me a screen shot from the carrier saying delivered and signed for with a date and time. Issue is, that at that date and time I want in I was at work, and nobody else was in, so clearly they delivered to the wrong address, some monkey signed for it and had my item away.

Trouble is, if eBay take any old proof of delivery at face value, I'm the one that looks like I'm trying it on. It's not my fault, and it's not the seller's fault. He should be able to claim the value back from hermes but I bet they fight and argue all the way, or just plain refuse.

I don't use hermes any more, I have had no issues with RM, UPS and ocasional others, and to be fair hermes used to be reliable, but I have a lot of issues lately.
Got them once rang the bell and the 10 seconds if took me to answer they were already back in the car and shouted 'its behind the wall' at me. Maybe it's just our area delivery guy?

 

[RickTheUncivil]

But back to original post...

Scammers, possible. Everyone seems to be out for a quick buck.
Genuine mistakes, possible too.
Do eBay care, maybe. They tend to favour the buyer and screw the seller from my own experience of both sides.

As others have said, all you can do is protect yourself with recorded delivery and that's not fool proof.

 

[ljamesb]

Glad to hear you're alright after the hospital visit!

Sorry to hear you've had problems on eBay. I try not to take batsh*t crazy buyers and scammers personally, which is hard sometimes when you try your best to be an honest seller etc and they screw you over.

In my own experience, only between 1/100 - 1/150 items I sell on ebay have ever been lost by royal mail, or stolen by a buyer. Considering the difference between 1st and 1st signed for is £1.10 minimum, it just does not make economic sense to use 'signed for', for anything worth less than £20 (royal mail coverage for regular 1st and 2nd). ALWAYS make sure to get 'proof of postage' at the post office though which is required for the dreaded royal mail claims process.

Even if you do send with 'signed for', buyers will still win most 'item not received' cases. I've found that at least 25% of the time, signed for items do not even get a signature upon delivery. I send 'signed for' to increase the insurance amount which Royal Mail offers (to £50) and to dissuade any buyers who make me suspicious.

For anything more than £50, I usually use royal mail special delivery, ups, or myhermes depending on the size, weight and value of the item. Never had to claim money from myhermes for lost items, but have with RM and ups and got reimbursed.

 

[kingoffootball]

I've had to claim from MyHermes and it was a real hassle and took months to get my money back.

The buyer all but admitted to me that he had found the parcel a few days later, but because MyHermes had just dumped it somewhere outside his house and not even left a parcel card he felt within his rights as it could easily have gone missing.

 

[RickTheUncivil]

because MyHermes had just dumped it somewhere outside his house and not even left a parcel card.

Thats a tricky one. Did they successfully deliver it? sounds like they did. But they did take the p!ss

putting it in a 'safe place' is one thing, I dont mind that, but at least tell me were it is!

 

[Silvergoat]

Re:

Its got to be sent by 1st Class Signed For at the very least or Special if you want to be really covered. Once sent something off to India before the Xmas period and only days after dispatch during xams the buyer was hassling me by email asking were the item was. Then they put in a claim to say the item never arrived and eBay backed them up so I lost everything. Fokkers! And never deal with anyone with less 100% rating on eBay.