I bought an iPod off of eBay. I did not receive shipment. The seller shows that that UPS claims to have delivered it. There is no signature.
Am I responsible for tracking this down or the seller? I say that UPS is the seller’s representative and the seller is responsible for tracking my package. I paid in good faith and did not receive my goods and it is his business to find out why.
What do you think?
You should ask the people over at eBay’s forums.
Have you contacted the seller? Make sure to give him/her a chance before filing a complaint.
Of course. I have done so.
How would doing that provide me with people’s opinions from here? It is the (mostly) intelligent people here that I want to hear from.
Once it gets into UPS’s hands, the seller no longer has any control over it. He can look into it all he wants, but only UPS will have any answers, and they may as well give them to you first-hand and in a timely manner than wait for the seller to email you. You both should be looking into it, in my opinion. Best to consult the experts on ebay about wheter you’d be entitled to a refund if UPS messed up.
Does UPS leave stuff on property if there’s no one home? Cuz it may have been stolen.
You do need to contact the seller, and let them know that UPS seems to have screwed both of you over, and that both of you need to harass UPS about this.
I run an eBay store and we had a similar problem as this recently. And I’ve also had experience with FedEx doing stuff like this too. If you don’t request signature service they just dump it anywhere. If they screwed up and left it somewhere where someone could steal it, they owe you money.
~Tasha
The blame is on UPS, not the seller. I would try to work with the seller to track the package down. If that doesn’t work see what the specifics were in regards to refunds on the ad when you bought the item. I know that when I sell things on ebay I always say “all sales final” at least once in the ad to let people know that once you pay it is your item and I will not be held responsible for things I have no control over.
This is why you should always, always specify “signature confirmation” or “restricted delivery” for expensive or irreplaceable items, as someone must sign for the item. “Delivery confirmation” merely means that it was delivered, whether it was stolen or even delivered to the wrong house is another matter.
UPS represents the seller, they are the seller’s agent. It is the responsibility of the seller to get me my goods. That is what they accepted my payment for - both for the goods and the shipping cost. If I had engaged UPS on my own, then it would be my responsibility to track down the package. The seller engaged them and I was not given a choice of shippers.
In the real business world it works as I have laid it out. Amazon makes sure that what they send me is received by me. If it isn’t, they ship a new one. Perhaps I will have to resign myself to accepting that eBayers are not real businesses. But they wish to be treated as such. They want to be paid as such.
Amazon is a large company that has the resources to have policies like that. If the seller provided you with a valid UPS tracking number that indicates that the package was shipped to your address, then that is the extent of their responsibility for the transaction. They have no control over what happens to the package after it is shipped.
Most sellers on ebay are small merchants. In the “real business world” they would be referred to as sole proprietors. Typically, these merchants run on slim profit margins so they can’t afford to simply ship another one (if they even have another one to ship). I have no idea what sort of merchant you bought the ipod from but I’m speaking about the general environment of commerce on ebay.
Your issue is with UPS. If their website indicates that the package was delivered to your address then something happened to it after delivery. The merchant (unless they have a stated policy saying otherwise) completed their responsibities for the sale in full. Yes the shipper is the seller’s agent, and this is why shippers use tracking numbers so that these disputes are not reflected upon merchants or themselves.
You paid in good faith and they shipped in good faith. You got screwed by someone else.
It is the seller’s responsibility to follow up on the tracking to make sure it arrived. You won an auction for an I-pod it is their responsibility to make sure it gets to you. If they can provide a Proof of Delivery it would be your problem.
IMHO it would be irresponsible if they did not require a signature on such an item. But if UPS shows they delivered the package I’d say tough luck on reimbursement. It would be worth noting in negative feedback
According to the UPS website, either the shipper or receiver can file a lost package report, but only the seller can submit a claim.
Are you certain that it was actually sent by UPS? Is it possible that the seller has lied to you about shipping it? I’m assuming you have a tracking number that indicates it was shipped.
I think that if UPS shows that the item was delivered to the requested address, leaving negative feedback would be an asshole-ish move.
Negative feedback can have serious consequences for merchants (especially small ones) on their sales. If the seller shipped the product, then they should not have to bear damages for events that happen outside of their control.
IMHO its not unreasonable to ship an item without a signature being required. I would be annoyed if a seller did so without my request since items are delivered during business hours when I’m in the office. Having a signature requirement would mean that I would have to make an extra trip to UPS to pick up the item (or cause a delay because I would have to sign the ‘delivery attempt’ slip that they leave so i could get it the next business day).
It all depends on what details were specified in the auction listing to determine what would be reasonable to expect in regard to the seller’s (or buyer’s) liability.
If UPS shows that they delivered the item, there is absolutely no justification for leaving negative feedback. The seller did all he could do. Either UPS lied about the delivery or the item was stolen from the buyer’s premises. In either case, this is not the seller’s fault.
If I were you - and I have nearly 1000 feedback now on Ebay, most from sales, so I think I have a little experience with this - I would have the seller send me the tracking number. Then I would check that number myself. If the UPS system tells you it was delivered to your address (either online or talking to a person), then you need to initiate a search from your end. The seller ought also to initiate a search from his end.
Also (unless this is literally impossible), never rule out the possibility that it was delivered to someone else - a neighbor who is holding it for you and has forgotten to give it to you, a child, a spouse…many times, a “lost” item has actually been delivered, brought indoors, set aside, and no mention is made to the person expecting it. I’ve had it happen to me, at my own house. I’ve seen it happen to other people.
If UPS says it was delivered without signature or in a non-secure location, and you do not have a standing ‘no signature delivery’ or ‘leave it anywhere’ option on file with them, you may have recourse.
It’s also possible your seller never did ship it, and is providing a phony tracking number. You need that tracking number to try to verify for yourself, with UPS, that it was sent to you.
So. Stay polite with the seller until you KNOW there’s no hope. Get the tracking number. Get on the horn with UPS. Get talking to others who may have taken receipt of the item for you. Good luck.
Despite sympathies for the seller expressed in some posts above (“did everything he could”), the seller is responsible for getting the item to you. His responsibility does not end with getting it to a UPS office.
I do not know exactly where liability lies if UPS is authorized to deliver without a signature and their records show they left it on your doorstep. I think it is still the seller’s responsibility for not requiring a signature. When I buy camera quipment from a (non-eBay) seller, they instruct UPS that a signature by an adult is required at the delivery address. Can’t deliver to a neighbor, can’t let my 10-year-old sign if I’m in the bathroom, can’t deliver it to an alternate address (like my office). That give the vendor absolute assurance they can get it delivered and prove it was delivered. If any seller does anything less they are assuming some risk.
Yes, but being “right” won’t necessarily help Khadaji get his iPod. He’d be a fool to sit around waiting for the seller to act, instead of pursuing everything possible on his own end, as Chotii suggested.
The justification is if they sent a item over a hundred bucks and didn’t require someone sign for it. I would never send an item of that value without a signature required. I think it is irresponceable to do so. If UPS was able to lie about delivery or if someone stole it, it was because the seller didn’t do all they could to take reasonable percausions. Thus I would leave negative feedback.
If the item is of lesser value I can understand the seller not requiring a signed delivery. In which case I’d say the seller is assuming the risk and should replace the item should it not show up for any reason.
A common lement is that the little stores are being pushed out by the big retailers. You have given an excellent example as to why this happens. It may be true that they do not have the resources to deal with this - how much less so does an individual? Why should I be out 120 dollars becasue their agent failed them? They are a business. They are responsible for taking my money both for an item and 20 dollars for shipping. Twenty dollars is far more than the cost of shipping. I know, because I have just shipped some packages via UPS. I also insured my items and it still came to less than 20 dollars.
The seller has not done every thing he could. He has not filed a claim on my behalf and as Dewey Finn pointed out, only the seller can make a claim. I can report it, but only they can make a claim.
When I pay Scotts Lawn to mow my yard and they farm it out to a local contractor, and when it doesn’t get done they do not say that I should call the local contractor. They send someone out to take care of it. Their agent failed them, so they fix it. If you pay someone to do a job for you, it is up to you to deal with that person - not your customer, you.
The bottom line is, I paid them in good faith and it is their responsibility to make sure that I get the item.
As you pointed out, I have learned a costly lesson: The little guy can’t afford to give good service, I shhould only deal with larger companies.