Buyer Claiming Item Not Received.

jimbob210
New Community Member

I sold an item on ebay as "collection only"

The buyer promptly paid through Paypal. 

The buyer organised for a courier to collect the item from my house, he sent me all the relevant tracking information and kept me copied into any correspondence with the courier with regards to organising suitable collection and delivery times. 

Once the item had arrived, the buyer sent me a text message to say that he had received it and he was very happy. 

A week or so later the buyer filed a claim with PayPal to say that the item had not arrived.

 

Paypal refunded the buyer the value of the item (£1000)

 

I have provided evidence in the form of the tracking number provided by the buyer which shows the item was collected from my address and delivered to an address that he has specified, I confirmed with the telephone agent that they were able to access this info and submit as evidence. 

I have provided evidence in the form of screen shots from the Courier's internal system showing that the item was signed for and includes a picture of the item in the buyers doorway taken by the delivery driver.

I have provided evidence in the form of screen shots of text messages from the buyer to say the item had arrived and he was happy.

I have provided evidence in the form of screen shots of the ebay listing showing the item number and "Collection Only" as the postage method. 

 

After the item had left my possession the buyer changed the delivery address with the courier to something different to the one stated on Paypal's records.

 

Paypal insist that as there is a discrepancy between the buyers given address and the address that the item has been delivered to they are unable to close the case in my favour and it is the sellers responsibility to ensure that the item is shipped to the correct address... even though it is collection only.

 

Fact check:

 

  • Item sold as collection only
  • Buyer arranged courier
  • Hard evidence provided that item was collected and delivered 
  • Buyer claims to have not received item

Surely this is an issue with the buyer and the courier? Not something the seller can be penalised for with the evidence provided?

 

The people in the claims and resolutions dept at PayPal seem to be using their common sense to see the the evidence provided shows that I am innocent and as such they keep reopening the case, although when this case gets given to the "back office" it always gets closed in the buyers favour due to the address discrepancy. 

 

It seems like this case is not being considered objectively and not all the facts are being taken into consideration by the "back office"

 

The law has been broken and the evidence I have provided is compelling enough to prove my innocence in a court of law, I would obviously prefer it not to get that far as this is becoming an enormous waste of my time and a real source of stress, but if it does then I will be ready. 

 

My next step is to contact Action Fraud and provide them with the evidence. 

Paypal seem to be operating as a law unto themselves, acting as judge jury and executioner without taking into account the full facts of the case. 

 

I am aware now that this is a very common scam but unfortunately most of the sellers have no proof that the item has been collected/delivered and as such they lose their money. 

I'm keen to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience but been able to provide hard evidence as to what process you went through. 

 

Thanks

 

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2 REPLIES 2

Ladyinblack78
Contributor
Contributor

I had similar bad experience, I lost money time and item in the same time.

Both like seller before and buyer after. They refunded the buyer based on nothing in three days.

And me now I have a claim open since more than one month with no response from the delivery company and paypal do nothing no refund I received yet.

They deny evidences deny responsibility for their mistakes they don't look into cases but they use automatic system for deal with cases.

Customer service absent and useless they kidding me many times saying lies and to the messages and email they answer with stupid automatic reply.

I don't know anymore what I must to do for get my rights. Im wasting time since 4/12/18 and which fault i have? Personally I think that PayPal act as a mafia. They also tried to charge me for a fee for item not sold eBay same then I sorted that but I would like how work this system. 

Has been last time that I used eBay and PayPal.

I'd like to know about the action fraud you talk in your message please.

Thank you

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coachrickyepps
New Community Member

Sorry you went through this, I had a similar problem with a buyer and trying to see if there's anything I can do about it or am I just out of an item and out of the money. I was the seller in this scenario and located in the US, the buyer was in the UK. So the buyer purchases an item from me while on vacation in Greece without my knowing that until way after the fact. The item was purchased on 7/3/20, tracking shows courier attempted delivery a couple of weeks later. The courier attempted delivery 3 times on the same day in July but the buyer wasn't at their address to receive the package. Fast forward a few weeks later in August/September now, buyer files a claim with eBay stating they never received their package. I look at the tracking and that's when I realized the item was attempted delivery 3 times at the buyer's address in the UK and now the item is in Germany. Thankfully, eBay dismisses the claim in my favor (the seller) because it's the buyer's responsibility to receive their package and the buyer admitted to being on holiday in Greece at the time of attempted delivery. Now we're into October and the buyer decides to file a claim with PayPal. As the seller, I provided the tracking number and screenshots of eBay dismissing the case as well as screenshots showing the tracking details. I put in the case details/description, "surely PayPal will side with the seller just like eBay had previously because the seller was at no fault." As the seller, I properly packaged the item, printing a shipping label and shipped the item internationally, the buyer receiving the item is out of my hands. Well at least that's what I was thinking, unfortunately PayPal sides with the buyer because they say that there's no proof the item was delivered. So now as the seller, I've lost an item that's currently sitting at a shipping center in Germany, I'm in the US and the buyer gets their money back so they have no worries in the world and I'm sure this will happen again to some other seller who's none the wiser. Is there anything I can do? I should have reported the buyer when this dispute first happened and in the future I will but now it's been past 90 days. At the time this happened I thought there was no way eBay or PayPal would side with the buyer for a dispute that the buyer is responsible for and at fault for. Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions! 

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