eBay problem...what should I do?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Fellow Dopers, I need some advice on what to do…

So, through eBay, I sold some items to a person out in California in late December. He sent me the payment for them, and then I shipped them in two separate packages via US Priority Mail to his address the first week in January. The person got one of the packages, but claims to have not received the second package (even though it was shipped at the same time to the same address at the same post office). I’ve been in constant e-mail communication with the guy since all this started to try to resolve it, but just now, he has sent me an e-mail saying that he will post negative feedback on my perfect eBay profile if I don’t reimburse him the money ($35) for the value of the second package.

While I (foolishly, in hindsight) opted not to get Delivery Confirmation/Tracking or Insurance when sending out the package, I do have the receipt I got from the Post Office, showing indisputable proof that the two packages were, at the very least, supposed to be sent to his Zip Code via Priority Mail.

Now, I am not sure what to make of this situation. I’d like to think that this guy is telling the truth about not receiving the second package (he has all positive feedback), but the other part of me is saying that perhaps he isn’t (my friend thinks this guy may be trying to scam me). Either way, I am definitely in a pickle.

If he is telling me the truth about not receiving the second package, what possible recourse do I have? Does the Post Office have any procedures in place for reimbursement of lost packages, even though I did not purchase any Insurance for the package? Since Delivery Confirmation was not purchased at the time the package was shipped, does the Post Office have any sort of internal logs or some other tracking manifest that could indicate that the second package was not delivered? Assuming the guy is telling the truth, I don’t think I should be responsible for reimbursing him when it appears to be the fault of the Post Office for losing the package.

If the guy is simply trying to scam me, I also have very little recourse and can do little if he posts negative feedback (other than replying to his feedback). I’m hoping to avoid tarnishing my perfect eBay feedback score at all costs, but I just don’t know what to do. :frowning:

Has anyone here ever been in a similar situation? If so, what did you do? Perhaps some Dopers who work in the Post Office could offer some valuable advice…?

2

Others may disagree, but personally I’d take this as a lesson to do delivery confirmation/tracking in the future, and would pay out. Not just cos of the feedback thing, but cos if you can’t confirm one way or the other, then you really have to believe the guy.

Unless someone knows some way of confirming receipt through the Post Office - perhaps the local post office keeps a log of who collects packages?

3

This is only one man’s opinion, but I suspect you’re going to have to chalk this up as a $35 lesson.
I hope someone can come along and tell you otherwise, but I think you are screwed without the Delivery Confirmation or Insurance. I’ve taken the same risk in the past and so far gotten lucky, but it is a roll of the dice.
As to whether or not the buyer is trying to scam you, I doubt you’ll ever know. It’s certainly possible, especially if he knows (through your e-mails?) you didn’t buy the Delivery Conf/Tracking.
“But I’m not cynical!”

OTOH, at least (the very least) take whatever documentation you have to the post office and ask someone what your options are. You might get lucky.

Hey! It could happen!

4

Make him aware that threatening to leave negative feedback in ebay terms is “feeback extortion” and with the emails he has sent you, ebay can and will suspend his account.

If your auction gave any indication that you will not be responsible for items lost in the mail then tell him that. In a polite manner.

I have had parcels go “missing” (domestic and international) and no-one has ever left the threatened negative feedback.

If he does leave negative feedback, you have the right to retaliate (assuming you haven’t left feedback yet). You can also state in the followup the true facts.

One negative will not kill your ebay standing. In future consider an additional fee for tracking and if the buyer does not take you up on it, it is all in their hands.

5

From various eBay help pages:

Encourage the buyer to go this route, and I suspect they’ll go quiet. (How did they pay for the item?) I’d value $35 above a single piece of negative feedback.

6

More relevant still:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-fraud-shipping-concerns.html

7

Since you guys seemed to have answered the OP’s question, and since we have an Ebay question open, may I have a thread derail?

Here’s my problem. Last week, I set up a new (My first) Ebay account. I set it up, and posted my first sale. The item up for bid was a Ukulele. All went well, and item was set up. Within 12 hours, I had two bidders. Within 18 hours my Auction was shut down, My account frozen, a letter from Ebay saying I am banned for life.
This all happened on Weds. I used no bad language. The pictures I took were my own, as well as the description. I e-mailed them back (now several times) for an explanation and have heard nothing. They say they usually respond in 24-48 hours, but nothing has come so far. This has been driving me nuts since then. Any ideas why I was so fiercely squashed?

8

Thanks, everyone, for your opinions. GorillaMan, I actually e-mailed the buyer a scan of the receipt, showing that the packages were, at the very least, paid for and shipped to his Zip Code. So far, I haven’t heard from him yet. I will definitely contact eBay if he goes ahead with his threat to leave negative feedback, especially now that the burden of proof seems to be on his shoulders…

Caught@Work, thanks for the tip. While his e-mail to me was not threatening per se, now that I think about it, it does sort of feel like extortion. “Either pay me $35 or I will leave negative feedback” was essentially the gist of his e-mail. :rolleyes: Unfortunately, I did not mention anything in the item’s auction description about not being responsible for packages lost through the Post Office.

In any case, I have definitely learned my lesson from this. From now on, every eBay payment or package that I send will be Registered with Delivery Confirmation. I’ll let everyone know how this whole thing turns out (as the buyer told me he will wait until January 31st before leaving negative feedback if he does not receive the package or my $35).

9

I’m not terribly experienced with ebay, but what is the point of negative feedback except to complain when you didn’t receive what you purchased? Is negative feedback some kind of anathema that you dare not invoke its name? I guess I don’t understand why he ought not be able to post negative feedback.

Now, there’s just no way to tell if he’s lying, so I’m not saying he isn’t, just that if he were telling the truth he’d have a legitimate complaint.

10

I doubt it. I have brought this to ebay’s attention on one occasion, and they completely ignored me. I now have one negative feedback from some asshat that told me up front he would lie and leave negative feedback if I complained about his failure to ship an item.

You can find a good deal on ebay, but nowhere save for the possible exception of a Shanghai market is “buyer (and seller) beware” more appropriate. The management has no interest in anything other than collecting their fees.

11

I understand your viewpoint, but after having proven to this guy that I did indeed ship him the packages (by sending him a copy of the receipt), I think that with him saying that he did not receive the package, the burden of proof shifts to him, doesn’t it? It’s one thing if I didn’t ship him the package, but it’s another if I did and the Post Office turns out to be responsible for losing the package. Just as easily as he could say he didn’t receive the package, I could just say that he did receive them and, for example, is just trying to scam me by demanding his money back.

I have the proof showing that the packages were dropped off to the Post Office and were to be shipped to his Zip Code – where’s his proof that he didn’t receive the package?

12

How would someone prove this?

13

Truly, the burden remains with you - there’s no proof that the item you mailed was the item he paid for, after all. So, it’s not absolute proof. Check with USPS, there is some sort of lost package form you can file. Doing so might shake the package loose from wherever they stuck it. I’ve had packages go missing; sometimes they just take forever. My mother’s Christmas present to me never made it. :frowning:
You mght want to check eBay’s Seller Discussion boards. This issue comes up a lot; the consensus is the seller bears the burden, always.
I’d assure him you are working on this and don’t want a neg. How is his feedback? That might give you a clue as to whether he’s running a scam.

14

You can respond to negative feedback on your feedback profile. And really, no one cares if you have 1 negative. Keep the 35$, get a tracking number from now on and forget about it.

15

I’m cynical because I think that he saw that the packages had no delivery confirmation stickers and hoped he’d threaten you into giving him a refund.

You did, indeed, send it. And while you could have paid extra for confirmation, he could have also purchased buyer protection.

16

Well, just in case anyone is interested in how this situation has turned out…

The buyer did indeed leave negative feedback this morning, so my flawless eBay feedback rating is history. :frowning: I’ve already replied to his negative feedback, but he continues insisting that I pay him the $35 which he claims that I owe him, despite the USPS being clearly at fault here. :rolleyes: He is claiming that it is eBay policy that the seller must ensure that the package arrives to the buyer. But is it really? After all, if he wanted me to purchase delivery confirmation, he could’ve suggested it to me, no? I would’ve gladly offered it to him. How can I be held responsible for the USPS losing a package? It was sent Priority Mail, not via third class on mules and donkeys. Ugh… :mad:

17

This is total the seller’s problem. You need to refund the purchse price and next time don’t cheap out on insurance and shiping by a method that comfirms delivery.

18

the seller has to try to recover the price of the merchandise or the merchandise it’s self from the shipper. It’s yours until the person receives the product, and signs the slip saying received in good order. I worked in shipping for 8 years.

19

This rings true to me. My boyfriend is currently waiting on a large check that his publisher says they sent to him. They are telling him that it’s his problem that he has not received the check, because of course they sent it to him via the post office. That’s absolutely ridiculous, but he had to go through quite an ordeal to get them to send out another check, which we probably won’t get for a month.

Unfortunately, it seems like this guy may very well be lying, and I’m sorry that it has negatively affected your rating, but I just can’t see how he’s at fault here.

20

Negative feedback has effectively completed the transaction and negotiations.
Leave him negative feedback in return and move on.

Do not refund the money. He chose to end negotiations by leaving negative feedback so your transaction with him is complete.

I rarely insure unless asked so if something goes atray, tough luck to the buyer. I am not an enterprise or a small business, I am an individual so I won’t be responsible for actions that are out of my control.

Have I been the buyer in the same scenario? Yep and I sucked it up when I couldn’t get a refund.

So I accept it works both ways.