Am I out of luck? Paypal dispute

[shari_nat]

My auctions clearly state that shipping from Canada to the U.S. can take 1 to 4 weeks. The same is written in my shipping notification that gets sent to all buyers.

Last night a buyer opened a dispute and two minutes later, escalated it to a claim. It's for a purchase that was paid for just over two weeks ago.

I had no previous contact with buyer.

Now the buyer is getting to decide if she will close the claim or not based on getting the useless tracking info from Canada Post.

So, do I have any chance of not losing this thing? I hate feeling like a sitting duck for all buyers out there.

It just seems so ironic that after 2000+ excellent transactions, a buyer will suddenly think I decided not to send their item.

Thank you!
Shari

[katiusciav]

hi shari-did you email her? how did you send your item? expedited, small packet...? You need proof of delivery in order to win, not just a valid tracking number. how much feedback does this person have to open a claim after two weeks??
i would contact her via email...if even just to show her you're concerned and will try and get on top if it...
i find alot of my u.s. buyers will be asking where their item is after a week or two weeks, and i have to remind them that their package is coming from canada,...NOT the united states, where they usually buy from, and get their package within a week.
sorry, i really think ebay/paypal should be changing the rules that the seller has to PROVE the buyer received their package. i understand that if they really didn't receive it, how can anyone prove that or not. but the same goes for sellers...how can anyone prove we DIDN'T send it? i think the onus should lie on canada post in proving delivery..(there's a good joke). yesterday, i got an expresspost signature required envelope from the government (my daughter's passport)...that mailman was in such a rush to get me to sign his handy little clipboard, he didn't care if it was casper or dora the explorer signing it. there's where the problem lies-with canada post personnelle. is it so difficult for them to ask for id before signing to ensure that they're actually giving it to the right person? or am i crazy in thinking that??? if i want to protect my a*s as a seller and include signature required, that's STILL no guarantee that i'll be covered...what else are sellers to do????

[shari_nat]

Hi Kat,

I send it small packet to a confirmed address. This person has over 2000 FB. A few of her negatives from sellers state that she placed fraudulent claims on items never recieved.

I state in my auction the delivery time from Canada and again in my shipping notifications. I don't know more what I can do.

I've had a few buyers tell me that shipping from Canada should not take longer than 1 week. Someone told me the other day after I refunded her for non delivery (it had been 2.5 weeks) that delivery from Canada for her is always three days.

I'd love to be able to send my packages expedited but then I would have nobody to send them too. Few will be willing to pay more for shipping than for their actual item.

I'm screwed, huh?

Shari

[katiusciav]

uuuuuuummmmmmm...who told her about the 3 day thing? unless its sent expresspost (and even then, its usually five business day delivery)...she's taking you for a ride...
who are the buyers telling you that items from canada shouldn't take longer than a week? have they ever sent from canada to the us? if not, thanks for stopping by, don't hit your a*s on the way out. gimme a break. there are many different services provided by cp...expedited is the slowest anywhere from 2-8 weeks (i've had it just happen)...in my experience, small packet air USUALLY takes about a week-a week and a half, after two weeks, i start to worry.
for the refund that you already issued after not receiving for two and a half weeks-was it sent expedited? if so, she's going to probably still receive it, and you'll never know. i hope it wasn't alot of money.
don't refund this lady until you've done your own work with cp, ESPECIALLY if she's had feedback indicating she does this sort of thing. and after all is said and done, block her!

[shari_nat]

I won't have a choice about refunding her if paypal sides in her favour.

The woman I just refunded had her package sent surface small packet. She started contacting me about 6 days after she paid. I was able to hold her off for a little longer. It was for a 99 cent purchase so it wasn't a money thing just more of an annoyance. I've asked her to contace me when it does arrive so I can send her another invoice. I'm not holding my breathe, lol.

I find that surface mail shipping generally takes around 2 to 3 weeks. Maybe I'll start using small packet air but I wonder how many potential customers I'll lose by raising my shipping prices?

Thank you for all your help!! You sound like a wonderful person!

Shari

[3jcc14]

Hmm, I just took a look at one of your listings. You may want to change your delivery time to the USA from 1-3 weeks to 2-4 weeks to reflect the reality of the slower delivery from Canada (especially via surface mail). Also, you may want to move that line about delivery being slower from Canada to the USA to directly under the US shipping information (above the Canadian Shipping info). Hope this helps.

[katiusciav]

hi shari, i stopped using surface a long time ago given the big difference in time. and also, if you take a close look, you'll notice there's not much of a big difference in price either. i don't give customers the option of small packet surface anymore-soooooo not worth it!!!! of course, both methods don't include tracking numbers so that in itself is a risk...
sorry, i understood you had refunded her before paypal got involved. how on earth could paypal have ruled in their favour so quickly???
anyways, good luck with this new one you're dealing with. when i get stupid emails after a ridiculous amount of time asking where their merchandise is, i reply with a good stiff email about their initial expectation they were given, and that canada post doesn't allow me to open claims until 30 days after item is sent. that usually works...:-)

[shari_nat]

Thank you everyone.

Kat, the lady I refunded was from yesterday. The one with the paypal dispute is from today (sorry for the confusion):-x and its still ongoing.

3jcc, thanks for the help too! I think the auction you may have looked at was for one that would be sent as lightpacket, which is usually 1 to 3 weeks. Also some of my auctions have the delevry time on the same line as the U.S. cost others haven it underneath. I know it should be more consistent. I need to work on that.

I used to offer surface rates and airmail rates but nobody EVER chose the airmail one so I stopped offering it. I may look into just airmail from now on.

Anyway, I heard back from the buyer. She wanted the item for her son's birthday, today, so is not a happy camper. She also said that $9.00 should have been airmail shipping not surface and should have been there by now. The package weighed in at around 550g which works out to actually be about $9.00 USD for surface shipping (unless I'm totally missing something)

Shari

[orbitdrop.ont_01]

Just a thought, but if you are about to start thinking about airmail via Canada Post, you may want to check out one of the courier services (if any are in your area). Depending on your volume of sales you should be able to get a rate which is less than Canada Post air and almost as fast (generally speaking I can usually ship a 10lb box to Florida on Friday and have it arrive the following Wed-Fri).

If nothing else, set up some meetings with the courier shipping companies and see what kind of prices they can quote you... you might be surprised.

[shari_nat]

orbitdrop, thanks those are great ideas.

I sell many clothing which rarely weigh more than 500 kg so I'm not sure if that is the correct solution but I will definately look into it. Thanks!

Shari

[shari_nat]

sorry, should read "mainly clothing" not many

s

[jakeeangel]

Small Packet does NOT include tracking. Do not send that number to your customer. They will get upset and think you're lying to them. It is only an insurance number for Canada Post. Yes I know it's in the box that says tracking number but it's not one.

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[orbitdrop.ont_01]

I sell mainly clothing which rarely weigh more than 500 kg so I'm not sure if that is the correct solution but I will definately look into it. Thanks!


If clothing is mainly your thing, most of the shipping companies have a set price envelope-type thing that can hold quite a bit. I don't ship anything that fits into those cardboard envelopes but I believe my rate with Purolator is something like $12.00 anywhere in Canada (minus the territories) and to the US it's around $14.00 (minus Alaska and Hawaii). This probably doubles your Canada Post surface cost but is about a 5-7 day delivery. Canada Post Air is going to be very close to that and probably take just as long.

I enjoy the carriers because they have their own customs clearance as well. I've had one package out of 200 get held in customs due to my error (forgot the customs documents).

[orbitdrop.ont_01]

Oh, and I'm assuming your under 500kg clothing packages are mainly destined for zoos and nature parks ]:)

[shari_nat]

:^OOoops! Interesting typo, huh? 😄 Glad you could figure it out.

Do you know anything about UPS? One just opened very close to me.

Thanks for the purolator info. That may be good when I'm sending multiple items. Generally I sell one or two pieces at a time.

Jakeeangel, I assume you don't like paypal's shipping since it automatically includes the "tracking" number. Is there a way to turn that function off, that I don't know about or do you just use Canada post's online shipping?

Shari

[orbitdrop.ont_01]

Besides the (broken?) UPS flat rate shipping special, I know the following from history lessons I've learned:

1. UPS usually comes in with cheaper rates compared to Purolator, FEDEX or DHL (before negotiations).

2. UPS makes customs payable upon delivery which can cause problems for someone who pays $30 for an item, $13 shipping and then is asked to pay an additional $10-$20 customs fees. If the value of the item is low, people will oftentimes return to sender as they do not want additional charges on the item. If the buyer does not have a credit card or exact change, UPS will return the item to its depot forcing the buyer to go out and pick it up.

3. UPS representatives (at least in my area) are few and far between. I asked for a rep to contact me regarding volume sales each month since Christmas and still have not been contacted by any UPS people.

4. Their colours suck ]:)

[westernstargifts]

That is interesting that UPS hasn't contacted you. Just after I started selling ( I use Canada Post because my items are small and fairly inexpensive) I purchased something from the States that was delivered by UPS. The delivery person asked if I would be interested in an account. I wasn't really at the time, but said they could call me. A lady called from Montreal and talked for a long time. I was telling her about starting an eBay business and a web site so I think it was just a P.R. thing to get my business. They contacted me several times and sent two information packets. I still haven't opened an account and they haven't called recently. So I guess it is once they have your business that they don't call. What do you think? Judy

[jakeeangel]

Hi Shari,

LOL I don't use PayPal's shipping tool. It's useless and redundant. For Canadian shipments I use Canada Post's Online Business Centre. I've read too many times about problems with the PP shipping tool, it doesn't work or there's errors and people waiting almost forever for refunds or not getting refunds that I won't use it.

I feel really bad when people send customers the "tracking number" when it's not and I cringe when I read it. It's not a tracking number and you know darn well someone in the US is going to flip out thinking it is and that you gave them a fake number, you're scamming me etc etc etc 😮 Not fun. I try to help and correct people from using the term tracking number and hopefully save them from the above headache. Plus I don't want people thinking they're secure against a PayPal claim with a tracking number when it's not and they're not. 😞

For my US shipments I use USPS and buy postage from Endicia.

I'm not sure of a way to turn that off, sorry. I've only used it once to get the eBay/CP logoed stuff. Is there a way to turn off the emails altogether and you manually let the customer know it was shipped? If you can't turn off the tracking number part maybe that's the way to go. If you can though, the best thing would be to use Canada Post's Online Business Centre to buy postage and print labels for shipments.

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