This is not my day, another wrong address. What do I do?

[triber]

On top of the previous posts about an incorrect address to France, I now have buyer asking for a refund for an item not received. As I always do, I apologized and then copied and pasted her address on Paypal and asked if it was her correct address.

I decided to Google it, and found that it only had 4 numbers in the zip code, there should  have been five. Where do I stand in a situation like this?

[femmefan1946]

Since I rarely track, I've started to use the four number extension  on zipcodes.

Apparently, the first nine numbers can be a wide area, but the four number extension is closer to our postal codes which are usually one "postal walk" serviced by a single letter carrier.

https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?byaddress

This would also give the seller a heads up that the zipcode is incomplete to begin with.

Then, we can simply write in the correction.

The parcel arrives safely at the home of the honest customer, and of course most are honest, while the potential scammer is made a little unsure if the manual correction will defeat his attempted fake INR.

Smoke and mirrors.

[pjcdn2005 · Accepted solution]

Unless you have tracking to show that the item couldn’t be delivered because if an incomplete address, I don’t think that you can do anything other than refund. 

[mrdutch1001]

I believe a lot depends on the time frame...has the estimated delivery time been surpassed? Even with an incomplete zip code, items can still be delivered, they most often take some additional time as there can be a delay until the correct address is applied.

[triber]

It's been almost 2 months, it hasn't been returned. I thought if the buyer gave an incomplete address I wouldn't have to refund. There were just 4 numbers in the zip code not 5.

[mrdutch1001]

didn't realize that amount of time had elapsed.

Just as a matter of interest, I have made it part of my shipping process to check any USA address via USPS website where you can confirm  the complete and correct address/zip code. Then if it doesn't jive, I contact the buyer to confirm their shipping address before I ship the item.

https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?byaddress

[triber]

Good idea, I will do that in the future.