Package returned to me with ( Moved / unknown ) as the reason. Buyer wants me to ship again.

[maxwar82]

I have this annoying situation right now.

A package I shipped about 10 days ago was returned to me with a Canada post sticker stating  the reason:

Return to Sender (Moved / unknown ) . 

There is a pen drawn X on the original address.

The package is lettermail, meter paid and the address label is laser printed with the exact buyer address as it appears in paypal and Ebay.

I contacted the buyer about it and his response was that the address was good and he wants me to ship it again.

This is the first time a package gets returned to me by Canada post themselves. I have sent over a  hundreds letters/packages and it is the first time.  Now according to the buyer I should be paying shipping twice out of my pocket. What if it bounces again?

I doubt ebay would force the buyer to pay shipping again considering It is untracked letter mail.

What are my options?

[decal-fx]

Technically it is your responsibility to get the item to the buyer. The eBay rules don't care why it has come back to you. You are obligated to resend it at your expense. It's not the buyers fault it has been returned by CPC. 

That said, I would resend it one more time & if it comes back again refund the buyer & move on.

[maggiebvintage2010]

I would take the package in to the Post Office (not a postal outlet in a retail store), explain the situation and ask the clerk to check the address/postal code.  Since this appears to be a Canada Post error, they should re-send it at no further charge.  I had a package returned due to a CP error, and did not have to pay postage again to have it re-sent.

[decal-fx]

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@maggiebvintage2010 wrote:

I would take the package in to the Post Office (not a postal outlet in a retail store), explain the situation and ask the clerk to check the address/postal code.  Since this appears to be a Canada Post error, they should re-send it at no further charge.  I had a package returned due to a CP error, and did not have to pay postage again to have it re-sent.

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That's a better solution than mine, I figured CPC would turn a blind eye with a problem like that.

[quality-cellular]

Do a Google search on the address. I'm betting that a unit # is missing from the address. It was probably shipped to an Apartment or condo and the Buyer did not include that important piece of info in the address.

I've had the same thing happen to me 4 or 5 times this year. Every one was because the buyer failed to include the unit # or Apt #. In each case, I Googled the address and discovered that there should be a Unit #. I then messaged the Buyer asking what the Unit number is. One of the Buyers was not going to provide me with the Unit #. He insisted that I reship it because he has had a few other packages successfully delivered from other Ebay Sellers. I refused to ship the package again without the Unit #. I mentioned to the Buyer that he got lucky that previous packages were delivered without having the Unit #. His feedback was only 6, so he didn't have many packages delivered. He then gave me his Unit #. I re-shipped. The buyer received product and was happy.

[widgetc]

I have had that happen 3 times over the years. All 3 times the post office reshipped for no charge. Twice the error was made by USPS as they were to the U.S. the other time was a Canada Post error.

[femmefan1946]

This shows the importance of good friendly firm communication.

And Google.

[Anonymous]

Two years I had over 20 packages/parcels returned to me.  It looked as if Canada Post looked the top name/address not the lower one (I used PayPal Shipping).  After that I use blue underline around the name/address to get the attention of anyone looking at my packages/parcels and ship them to the lower names/addresses and it worked since then.

I had one package returned to me from Hawaii 2 months ago as "unknown address".  The buyer didn't pay the change of address with his post office for forwarding new address and this buyer lives in the same small town.  If not for using the mail service with tracking number, I would be in trouble with this buyer as it was very expensive.  I was lucky this buyer offered to pay for me to re-mail them which was $14.50 Tracked Packet.  It finally arrived there.

I used to live in a city and rented a postal box which I had to rent due to security reasons and to my surprise that those clerks at this rental postal knew where to find me and can forward all my mail to me each time for over 15 years.  Nowadays, they don't bother to do that!

[dipmicro]

My policy is that anything that is not buyer's fault is mine. This situation is rare but happens, sometimes post office picks up the cost, sometimes me.

At work we started getting neghbours company  mail to us. When it happened 1st and 2nd time, we dropped it off in person, when it happened 3rd time we instructed the staff to never do that again and take it back to PO with our daily mail to train the the lazy postman do his job without shortcuts. The issue is we have mailbox and our neighbours don't, although they are open 24/7, but they are very busy so postman did not feel like going through crowds.

[whitestar*entertainment]

Had it happen earlier this year. Went back to the Post Office I deal with and they resent it at no charge. I suspect a temp Postal contractor was delivering that day.

[maxwar82]

Thanks everyone for the replies, some good advice there.

I ended up shipping the item again the next day after customer insisted the address was fine. He was a low feedback one (9) and insisted he received other packaged with the same address.

He said the address was that of his own business.  I looked it up with google street and it does look like some kind of shop in an industrial area.  Hope all goes well this time...