UK buyer claims he never received package from February

[peterkat2020]

Hello,

I have a buyer from the Uk who made a purchase on Feb 17 2021 who is now claiming he never received the package.  I regret selling to him in the first place as I only sell within Canada and USA so not sure how he was able to contact me or view my listing in the first place, lesson learned.  Unfortunatley I did not add tracking so no way to find out where the package went.  The last delivery date was March 16 and this guy messaged me yesterday.  I don't see the sale in my sold items list on eBay but it was a transaction through Paypal so I found it in there.  Do I tell him to open an INR or can I just give him a full refund through Paypal and block him? 

Thank You

[15westcoast]

Peter,  I only ship to Canada and the USA because I have had this same thing

happen from a UK buyer.  I will ship to UK if the buyer will pay the extra for

tracking.  I give them this option and check the price at the nearby post office.

If they agree, I invoice them and ship.  If not, I will not ship.  Tracking is the key !

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

Unfortunatley I did not add tracking

When we ship without tracking we are gambling that the additional income from untracked shipments is greater than the lost income from refunding on Not Received claims.

The destination has nothing to do with it, except that internationally tracked shipping is much much more expensive than untracked.

My notes show that a 100-199gr package shipped with tracking will cost at least$31.55 while untracked it would be only $6.39.

You can't win a Dispute.

Do tell him to open one anyway, "to keep the transaction and refund on record", and IF he does, refund promptly.

If he doesn't, and scammers dislike being on the record, do not refund.

You can also tell him that if he lets you know when the shipment arrives you will re-invoice him. Be polite and apologetic. He may well be truthful.

Passing thought-- did you use Surface shipping? If you did, he's right, it hasn't arrived.

[jt-libra]

"Do tell him to open one anyway, "to keep the transaction and refund on record", and IF he does, refund promptly.  If he doesn't, and scammers dislike being on the record, do not refund."

======================

Good point ... something I'll do in future if the situation crops up.

[peterkat2020]

I shipped using International Air but with out the tracking so that was my mistake.  I should have gone with my gut feeling and not ship to the UK.  After completing that purchase the buyer asked me to sell him more items which I refused and I am glad I did so.  I thought maybe he was upset I did not allow him to purchase more items and decided he'd claim months later he never received the package, either way this was a mistake on my part and will not repeat it again.

[byto253]

Is there not a time limit to make a claim for on an item not received?

[marnotom!]

Buyers have up to 30 calendar days after the last estimated delivery date to file a non-delivery claim with eBay and 180 calendar days after payment to make the same sort of claim through PayPal.

Frankly, just looking at the timeline and nothing else, your buyer’s claim appears reasonable and not out of line.

Something to consider about your buyer’s request to purchase more items from you is that you might be able to package them all together and ship them by trackable Xpresspost International for a comparable price or even less than shipping them as individual air small packets (tracked or untracked).

[valuestore]

Good rule to stick by,  when there are issues with an order buyers have to go through the ebay process of filing a case or return . period.  They may try to get you to refund or cancel a shipped item, dont fall for that.. they have to report non delivery and returns to ebay.  no exceptions. 

[needsmorerobots]

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@peterkat2020 wrote:

I shipped using International Air but with out the tracking so that was my mistake.  I should have gone with my gut feeling and not ship to the UK.  After completing that purchase the buyer asked me to sell him more items which I refused and I am glad I did so.  I thought maybe he was upset I did not allow him to purchase more items and decided he'd claim months later he never received the package, either way this was a mistake on my part and will not repeat it again.

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Be aware I'm experiencing back logs when it comes to shipping items to Europe. 

My most recent package (a DVD) to the UK via airmail took just under 7 weeks.

So if your buyer is claiming it hasn't arrived, it probably hasn't arrived.

I had another buyer during the winter season who never received their DVD 3 months later (sent via airmail). And I know he's telling the truth because he bought the same item from a seller I recommended after he had already been refunded.

Postal in the US and Canada may be running smoother since the Christmas crisis but Europe or getting enough planes to send packages to Europe is still a problem.