EBay Buyer Messaged Me After Almost One Year Saying Item Not Received

[wicks-n-suds]

An eBay buyer messaged me today almost 1 year to the day of buying an item from me saying they didn’t receive it. I have not responded yet as all the red flags are there. I went through eBay seller hub and was able to find the order. It doesn’t say it it was delivered but a tracking number had been entered. I can no longer track this item. Even if the item was lost they never bothered to message me. I’ve had people try to scam me before but should I refer them to eBay? They had 30 days to make a claim. They just apologized for sending the message so late. Seems suspicious.

[dinomitesales]

There is nothing you can do, and also nothing the buyer can do. They only have thirty days from the latest estimated delivery date to open a claim with eBay, and they're well outside of any timeframe offered for buyer protection through PayPal or a credit card chargeback.

Apologize to the buyer for the item not being received but tell them that unfortunately too much time has passed for anyone to resolve the situation. If they choose to be argumentative then tell them to reach out to eBay for further assistance and stop responding to them.

[recped]

Who cares about red flags?

Just (politely) tell them there is nothing you can do for them given the length of time that has passed.

They can't open any type of claim with eBay, unless they are a super mega volume user of Amex they can't do a credit card chargeback, they can't leave feedback, all that leaves is annoying you which is easy enough to deal with by simply not responding after your first reply.

You might want to add their user name to your blocked buyer list.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

It's almost certainly not a scam. If it is a scam, it might be the world's worst scam. They have no buyer protection from eBay.  You aren't obligated to refund them.

If you're the nicest guy in the world, you could refund them. I think most people would not. There is a reason why buyers are supposed to contact you within a reasonable time to report an item didn't arrive. It doesn't just involve their eligibility for eBay protection. Had they contacted you sooner, you may have been able to interface with Canada Post or USPS and find the package. Additionally, you may have been able to get a payment from the shipping carrier as an insurance settlement. It's simply not fair for the buyer to expect you to refund them a year later. 

If someone gave me reasonable proof of an error I made, and it was a few days after the buyer protection, I am not saying that I wouldn't go out of my way to resolve it to their satisfaction. The point isn't that as a seller you should go "hahaha you have no protection, sucker!" - It's that waiting an entire year makes it impossible for you to do anything to resolve the problem and is completely unreasonable. 

[38e_avenue]

I had almost identical case last month. My answer was "I am sorry, but I can't do anything. It's too late". 

I blocked the buyer and his country immediately.  

A refund? Not possible after 12 moths. Sending a replacement? Why? To have another item lost? 

[marnotom!]

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@38e_avenue wrote:

I had almost identical case last month. My answer was "I am sorry, but I can't do anything. It's too late". 

I blocked the buyer and his country immediately.  

Why did you start excluding the buyer’s country from your "ships to" locations?

[38e_avenue]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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Why did you start excluding the buyer’s country from your "ships to" locations?

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He ordered 3 items from me. The first one about 14 months ago, the last one about 4 months ago. "None or them arrived". Seriously? So why he did keep to order from me? No tracking (Brazil). Thank you! No more shipment to Brazil.   

Had a similar case with Bahrain. 3 items ordered, only the first arrived. I refunded the 2 last orders. Then the buyer became NARU.  A few months later tried to buy again using another nickname (but the same shipping address).  Bahrain is blocked since. 

[wicks-n-suds]

Thank you to those who posted a response. It’s been very helpful. I just messaged this buyer and told them it’s way too late to resolve this situation and that they only had 30 days with eBay to make a claim.

[38e_avenue]

Do not forget to block the buyer - and the country, if the order came from unusual location.  

[byto253]

And don't discount the possibility that the person has ordered confused and did receive this one.  

[38e_avenue]

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@byto253 wrote:

And don't discount the possibility that the person has ordered confused and did receive this one.  

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Well, it's what happened to me years ago: "I'am not sure if I got your item, or not" 😉

[fergua3]

Hard to believe stuff like this happens.  How could a buyer not notice the item they ordered didn't arrive for a year?  But then suddenly, after almost a year, notice it didn't come?  It's not a scam per se....worst case it could be someone who is desperate for dough contacting every person they've bought something from in the last many months hoping to get some refunds from some of them.

However, some credit card companies do allow for refunds for INR within a year, so you are not totally out of the woods.

As an aside, Brazil's postal system is horrible.  I had nothing but problems shipping there.  Lots of theft and lost packages.  When they do get delivered they are usuallly very slow.  Brazil Customs is a big part of the problem too, apparently, rejecting and confuscating items.  I blocked Brazil and all of South America, many years ago.