recap on a sale gone wrong

[lucky9092]

Recently I sold an expensive item to a buyer in BC to be shipped from Quebec.

 The buyer wanted me to use Purolator . I said no BEFORE he bought the item. Once he bought it he said he wanted me to use Purolator with his account number and I told him I already said no before the sale (this is on record since ebay's messaging system was used) I told the buyer I was going to use Canada Post and that if he did not get it for XMAS (buyer wanted it for Christmas), I was going to refund the totality of the shipping fees (50$). Buyer agreed reluctantly. On Canada Post tracking service it says that the item is in BC and out for final delivery since the 21st with no update.  On the 24th, The buyer writes to me to say that he has not received it yet and scolds me for not using Purolator like he wanted. He says he wants me to refund the 50$ shipping and he is going to send the item back to me when/if he gets it.  I'm fuming at this time. I had a bad feeling about this buyer from the start.  This is an expensive and fragile item worth more than a grand. Please be aware that I had told him before he actually bought the lens that I would not use Purolator.

Refunding the 50$ shipping price is the most I can do.  Can he decide to send the item back to me simply because he did not get it for Christmas ? Thank you and merry XMAS.

[heartovermind]

I'm not telling you to not do it,
but wasn't the item posted before CP
reinstated the delivery  service guarantee?
Wasn't some of BC still with the guarantee
not lifted still?

Let us know how it goes.

[momcqueen]

You’re right, it might have been mailed before Canada Post issued its re-instatement for delivery standards but I think it doesn’t hurt to try. Based on the week it was Out For Delivery which to me as the sender is way more stressful to observe that seven days of Item Processed or Delivery May be Delayed by Labour Unrest or whatever it said on each tracked item every day for a month. Seeing an item marked as Out For Delivery for a week makes me fear the item is misplaced so I’m very glad to hear it wasn’t.

[tobey_arih]

when I first started on Ebay as newbie.. The very first sale eventually turned into INR case that I lost because I didin't use tracking.   Eventually more little annoying scammers, secretly, using their accounts, though claiming it was unauthorized, tried and failed. and Ebay did nothing.

However, I may sometimes use lettermail if the item is qualified for canadian buyers only.  and there is the danger of a INR case being opened.

[lucky9092]

Tracking is an absolute must on anything worth more than $50 IMHO or going overseas. I got burnt once on a moderately priced collectors item when I started and swore it would not happen again. It's too easy to get scammed by somebody who claims they did not receive the item. At the time, the buyer had many negative feedbacks from sellers claiming he had done the same to them. Alas negative feedbacks are no longer possible on the sellers side.

[a52split]

If you check his feedback left for others, lots of negs there are an indicator of a scammer.  Someone posted a user's ID last summer with pages of all red in FB left for others.  It was full of INR and damaged goods.

[reallynicestamps]

@lucky9092

Tracking is an absolute must on anything worth more than $50 IMHO or going overseas.

I disagree.

However, I do use Cookie Jar Insurance on all my sales.

This is just putting a few virtual pennies into a virtual Cookie Jar from each payment, as a sort of premium for self-insurance against problems.

And those problems can include late delivery, damage in transit, poor packaging, getting run over by a truck, seller error, and least likely fraud.

If you are getting more than the normal 1% complaints, you may want to move to tracking. 

Or look at your own business policies to see if you are doing something that encourages problems.

The problem with international tracking is that it is expensive and somewhere sellers have to balance out the chances of late delivery (late because that is much more likely than loss in the mail) against the loss of overseas sales.

YMMV.

It's a choice that each seller has to make for herself.

BTW- If a customer demands cheaper (untracked or Surface) shipping, that is one case where I not only refuse but track where I normally wouldn't bother. I wasn't born on a turnip truck.

[lucky9092]

My buyer in the present case has 9 feedbacks left. Out of those, 1 negative and 1 neutral.
That doesn't mean much. It's evident that he expects fast delivery but to conclude that he is a scammer is pushing it IMHO. We shall see. So far nothing new on his part.