"Stiffed" for non-receipt of purchases

[hamsterstamps]

<->I have recently had two claims filed against me for non-receipt of items.  Both were sent internationally.  These claims were initiated 2 weeks after the items were mailed, and ebay is kind enough to give me 4 days to resolve the issues.  My store policy is to grant refunds after 30 days of non-payment; in my experience if a package is hung up in customs or is redirected or jammed up in the system it can take up to 30 days to arrive. Why can't ebay prevent people from making a non-receipt claim before say 3 weeks after mailing? 

And no, none of these items were tracked.  Unlike the US, where you can get tracking added cheaply to anything, here in Canada I would need to charge $16 for Registration to get tracking.  Since most of my lots go for .99-$10.00 that would be ridiculous.  I don't mind taking the occasional hit for non-received mail as that is just one more cost of using the Ebay system, but I would appreciate it if I didn't have to prematurely shell out for a lot that may still arrive.

Any comments?

[hamsterstamps]

my apologies for posting header - that wasn't what I wrote!

[ricarmic]

Hi! 

I ship to a lot of "long time to arrive" countries, South America (Brasil especially) is really bad.

Below are the form letters I use in these situations. Fortunately I have a pretty good % of folks responding positively and/or catching up to me afterward to pay again..... hopefully they are of use to you, I see you're also a philatelist.

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/I-haven-t-received-my-item-or-Item-not-received-case-the-...

(Note I may have to adjust these and my process as the new eBay processes around buyer questions etc come into use, my main goal, as with all of us will be to direct the buyers in a way that their questions/concerns are responded to appropriately without me getting defects whenever possible!)

[photosalp]

I had a very savvy buyer (repeat customer) make an interesting proposition when he hadn't received his $150 order of stamps by day 40. He said he didn't want to cause me a defect (his words) He offered that if I promised to refund his money if his stamps didn't show up by ten weeks he'd let the 45 day window pass. I agreed. He got his stamps in week seven and left pos FB. Oh, to have a few hundred customers like that!!

[pjcdn2005]

Registering an envelope for overseas delivery isn't usually accepted by Paypal as proof of delivery.

I've found that situations like this can sometimes be avoided by always sending a message to the buyer once I have shipped the item. In the message I thank them, confirm that their item is on its way and give them an eta. I also ask them to contact me if they have any suggestions or concerns.

[hamsterstamps]

Thanks for the letters ricarmic - much better than what I have written in the past. It's good to keep a copy handy so that I won't write an emotional response...One of the cases was for someone (with private feedback - warning #1) who didn't pay for his item for three weeks (warning #2) and needed a non-pay nudge (after three invoices) who put in a Paypal claim two weeks after sending the item (to China - warning #3). I responded with a nice letter detailing when I sent the package and an eta - now he is claiming no communication and "I pay a long time ago" (2 weeks!). Unfortunately I just have to shell out the bucks to Paypal even though I am certain he got the lot. I did contact Paypal and let them know my concerns - apparently he is on their radar now so if there is a pattern to his non-receipt claims he could be suspended. BTW - contacting Paypal was actually quite pleasant.

[ricarmic]

Hi Hamster, this is EXACTLY the symptom of the repeat offenders I've discovered in China. They will most likely be back under a different ID. I'll pass you a note with suggestions on how to avoid them next round which will likely be about a year from mow....

[sunstone]

Which is why i just turned down an international sale. The minimum $25.00 postage not including ebay fees ,and ebays and paypals refund policies mean i stood to lose more than i would profit on the sale.