eBay

lady.stark · ‎09-01-2013

Late on August 23, I sold an autographed photo. Payment was made almost immediately and I shipped the next business day, which was August 26. Fortunately, I used Tracked Packet. I say fortunately, because today, I saw this on the Canada Post website regarding my shipment:

"Recipient not located at address provided. Item being returned to sender."

Should I be worried? For the moment, buyer didn't contact me. Of course, I will refund him as soon as the photo arrive, but I will be out $15 for postage - and probably return postage too? I think this buyer might have "buyer remorse" and just refused the package at delivery (I sent a counteroffer of $75 to his first best offer on the photo - a ridiculous $25 - his second one was much more reasonable ($62.50) and I accepted it).

Anyway, what should I do? Should I wait until the buyer makes contact or contact him first?

pierrelebel · ‎09-01-2013

"Should I wait until the buyer makes contact or contact him first?"

Considering the problem was created by the buyer providing the wrong address, I would wait until the item is received. Then, depending on CP charging or not charging return postage, I would refund the total original payment minus the shipping charge(s).

I would also put the buyer on the BBL until the problem is resolved.

In the meantime, you may take a minute or two to check eBay's confirmation and PayPal's confirmation to see if the addresses match where you shipped the order. You may also check 411 to confirm if the name and address match with a phone number.

lady.stark · ‎09-01-2013

Thank you Pierre, I will do that.

Concerning the address, I already verified if eBay's and PayPal's confirmation have the same address and they do. However, when checking the address online, it gives me the name of a young woman living there (born in 1982) and not the man named "Sr" I sold the photo to... a relative maybe? They do not have the same last name though...

I looked further, and on PayPal, the address is Verified. According to their terms, "Verified" means "A Confirmed Address has been established by PayPal as belonging to the PayPal account holder. By shipping to a Confirmed Address, you are helping to ensure that the item is being shipped to the PayPal account holder."

Very strange situation... hopefully, the buyer won't cause trouble for his mistake....

Edit: forgot to say the buyer is located in the US - Florida

lady.stark · ‎09-01-2013

According to Facebook, this man does live in Cantonment, Florida. Which tells me he didn't make a mistake regarding his address... he just refused the package at delivery... or his wife did (according to FB, he's married).

pierrelebel · ‎09-01-2013

"he just refused the package at delivery..."

Whenever a parcel is refused, USPS will indicate "refused by recipient" on both the parcel and online information.

Another possibility - it has happened to me at least once - is that the USPS delivery person went to the wrong address, did not bother to double-check and indicated on the parcel and online: "wrong address".

You will have to wait until it comes back to get more factual information. Hopefully things will work out OK.

pierrelebel · ‎09-01-2013

"According to Facebook,..."

That is the difference between a young woman like you and an old man like me. I go to 411, you go to Facebook!

ricarmic · ‎09-02-2013

I wouldn't totally count on the CP updates being accurate, I don't think their interpretation of the USPS (or other countries) updates is always accurate...

For one of my sendings, the CP updates say that it was successfully returned to sender.

(It never came back to me!!!!!).

The USPS updates said that it was not deliverable because the addressee was not at that location and it was being returned to sender.

(this was at the next zip code to the one it was supposed to go to)

Then the next day the USPS update said it was successfully delivered (from the right Zip code).

I messaged the buyer to see if they got it, got no response so I do not know for sure.

The package never came back to me and it looks from the USPS update that it did arrive.

I'd suggest looking at the other post office's updates (whichever country you shipped to) to see what it says....often I get better updates from the other POs than ours and most of them recognize the CP number.....

lady.stark · ‎09-02-2013

I did verify on the USPS website too, and here is a copy and paste:

Undeliverable as Addressed

August 31, 2013, 9:21 am

CANTONMENT, FL 32533

International Letter

The zip code is the right one. 😞

rose-dee · ‎09-02-2013

I'm so sorry for your sake to hear this.

It sounds very much as if someone in this person's household was instructed to tell the postal delivery person that he wasn't at that address, or a similar ruse. Your initial evaluation of "buyer remorse" was probably accurate...

I wish Paypal would do something to protect sellers from this behaviour, i.e. perhaps they could debit the buyer's account for the cost of the initial shipping paid by the seller once a refund was given to the buyer, then freeze the buyer's account for a week. I know, wishful thinking.

recped · ‎09-02-2013

rose-dee wrote:I wish Paypal would do something to protect sellers from this behaviour, i.e. perhaps they could debit the buyer's account for the cost of the initial shipping paid by the seller once a refund was given to the buyer, then freeze the buyer's account for a week. I know, wishful thinking.

Who in their right mind would use PayPal if they had the ability to dip in to your bank account or charge your credit card without your approval?

Speculating on why this happened seems completely pointless, the item will either get delivered or returned.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

pierrelebel · ‎09-02-2013

"Undeliverable as Addressed"

Could mean a lot of things such as missing an apartment number or unit number or suite number or whatever.

Once again, wait until it is returned. You may know more by then.

rose-dee · ‎09-02-2013

@recped wrote:
Who in their right mind would use PayPal if they had the ability to dip in to your bank account or charge your credit card without your approval?

Speculating on why this happened seems completely pointless, the item will either get delivered or returned.

Precisely ... wishful thinking, day-dreaming, etc. And speculating can be fun too.

BTW, aren't chargebacks to a credit card done without the holder's approval? I see a lot of complaints on these boards on that subject.

pierrelebel · ‎09-02-2013

"chargebacks to a credit card done without the holder's approval?"

???

A chargeback is generally initiated by the cardholder to his/her credit card issuer.

"I see a lot of complaints on these boards on that subject. "

???

I have yet to see one of those. What we see from time to time is a buyer claiming a chargeback was made without his/her knowledge - most likely by a spouse or other family member.

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎09-02-2013

USPS definitions:

Undeliverable as addressed

Mail that cannot be delivered as addressed and must be forwarded to the addressee, returned to the sender, or treated as waste. UAA mail can occur for several reasons such as an incomplete or incorrect address; or the addressee is not at that address because the addressee has moved or is deceased. Mail can also become UAA because of address adjustments such as the renumbering of houses, renaming of streets, or conversion from rural route and box number-style addresses to city-style street addresses.

Undeliverable mail

Mail that cannot be delivered for various reasons. It includes not only undeliverable-as-addressed mail but also mail without postage; mail with an incomplete, illegible, or incorrect address; unclaimed or refused mail; mail not meeting minimum mailability criteria; mail exceeding maximum dimensions or weights; or mail not conforming to USPS address adjustments and conversions

more4u · ‎09-02-2013

Contact eBay. You shipped to the paypal address so you are not responsible.

rose-dee · ‎09-02-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
"chargebacks to a credit card done without the holder's approval?"
???
A chargeback is generally initiated by the cardholder to his/her credit card issuer.
"I see a lot of complaints on these boards on that subject. "
???
I have yet to see one of those. What we see from time to time is a buyer claiming a chargeback was made without his/her knowledge - most likely by a spouse or other family member.
___________________________________________________________________

Sorry - I wasn't being very clear. I was primarily thinking of situations where a chargeback causes a seller's account to be "frozen" by Paypal (thank goodness I haven't personally experienced this yet).

lady.stark · ‎09-02-2013

@recped wrote:
Speculating on why this happened seems completely pointless, the item will either get delivered or returned.

And that will cost me $30 (if - and it's a big if - I have to pay return shipping that is). But even at $15, I think I have the right to speculate 😉 And rose-dee - or any other member - can do it too. They have my approval.

lady.stark · ‎09-03-2013

Well... I'm really puzzled here... the tracking now shows "Item successfully delivered", but the other comment ("undeliverable as addressed") is still there... maybe the postman just left a card to the buyer to pick up the item at the Post Office and it wasn't transmitted correctly by the system? Who knows...

The buyer left me positive feedback too today... and I'm also very puzzled by his comment. "I'm pleased so far..." what does it mean?

Anyway, for the moment, everything seems OK. <big sigh of relief>